There are several reasons you may want to send a Takeoff file, covered in our "What's the Difference..." article. A Takeoff File only includes the data for a bid, not the images. This file can be used to update an existing bid (without the risk of removing/deleting pages you forgot to include), and for creating a bid in Quick Bid so you or another user can price the project.

From the Bids or Image Tab,

• Click File > Export, or right-click on the Bid when viewing the Bids Tab,
• Choose "To Takeoff File"

• Browse to the location where you want to save the file.
• Update the name of the file - it defaults to the Bid Name with an incremented number in parentheses.
• Click Save.

Once saved, you can send this *.ost file to anyone via e-Mail or any file-sharing service you like. Takeoff Files are pretty small so they are usually no problem for most e-mail services.

Exporting to a Bid Package (*.osp file)

Exporting Bid Data to a CSV File (*.csv)

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