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It is important to understand how to get around the Digital Production Control (DPC) interface - which buttons do what, how to set percents, how to send/receive information. In the next few articles, we will talk about the program itself - please take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the DPC controls, menus, and toolbars.


There are seven toolbars available in Digital Production Control: Main, Navigation, Tools, Zoom, Work Date, Quick Takeoff (Measurements), and Annotations. The Main, Navigation, Tools, Zoom, and Annotation toolbars are the same as On-Screen Takeoff.


Many Toolbar functions are repeated on the File, Edit, View, Tools, Image, and Bid menus, discussed in the next article.


p>The Digital Production Control View menu showing the Toolbars submenu


Note

Anytime you are wondering what a button does, just hover your mouse pointer over the button - you will see a tool tip identifying what the button does.


Main Toolbar


The Main toolbar provides application functions such as opening databases, printing, and deleting. Some functions are not available depending on your license and role.


the Digital Production Control Main Toolbar shows below the Program menus on the Image Tab







































































Button

Name

What it does/How it is used...

Shortcut Key

the new button looks like a sheet of paper with a dollar sign inside

New

The New button is a multi function button - you can add a new condition, database, bid, or child bid, or folder, depending on your current focus.

<Ctrl> + <O>

the open button looks like a manilla folder

Open

Opens the Open Databases window.

<Ctrl> + <O>

the print button looks like a printer

Print

Prints whatever currently has focus.

<Ctrl> + <P>

the print preview button looks like sheet of paper with a magnifying glass on the right

Print Preview

Previews whatever has focus (before sending to a printer)

<Alt>, < F>, <V>

the delete button is a red X

Delete

Deletes whatever currently has focus. Be careful when deleting - some deletions are permanent and cannot be 'undone'

<Delete> Key

the undo button is a leftward pointing curved arrow

UnDo

Undoes the last action

<Ctrl>+ < Z>

the redo button is a rightward pointing curved arrow

ReDo

Redo the last UnDone action

<Ctrl> + <Shift> + <Z>

the cover sheet button is a yellow box, usually with a text label on the right

Cover Sheet

Opens the Cover Sheet for the selected project.



the send button is an envelope with a green arrow pointing to the right, usually with a text arrow

Send

Allows user to send the project or DPC Changes to another user.





Bid View Indicator

Displays the Base Bid or accepted Change Order name current selected in the Bid View tab. You can also use the Bid View tab in the Cost Code window to quickly switch between a Bid and its Change Orders.


Navigation Toolbar


The Navigation Toolbar is how you flip through the pages of your project. You can use the drop down list to select a specific page; use the black arrow keys to go to the next or previous page or; use the green Back/Forward buttons; or to go to the last view. When you click on the Pages Drop Down list, you can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to quickly cycle through the pages.


the Digital Production Control Navigation toolbar is located immediately below the program tabs, on the left


The drop down lets you choose a specific page quickly (hit Ctrl+G to open a "GoTo" box).


Note

When you have the Pages drop down open, you can use your mouse's scroll wheel to cycles through the pages very quickly.





































Button

Name

What it does/How it is used...

Shortcut

the back button is a green circle with a left-facing arrow in it

Back

Last view (may be a different page or a different zoom)


the forward button is a green circle with a right-facing arrow in it

Forward

Return to the previous view after the Back button (above) is used


the previous page button is a black left-facing arrow

Previous Page

Go to previous page in project

<Page Up>

the next page button is a black right-facing arrow

Next Page

Go to next page in project

<Page Down>


Note

Before sending a job the field, collate the pages to maximize the foreman's efficient. See Related articles for information on preparing a job for DPC.

Tools Toolbar


The Tools Toolbar houses basic application function buttons for interacting with the plan/takeoff on the Image Tab.


the Tools toolbar is located immediately below the program Tabs to the right of the Navigation toolbar
















































Button

Name

What it does/How it is used...

Shortcut

the Select tool button is a left-facing upward-pointing arrow

Select Mode

Selects objects or takeoff

<Spacebar>

the Takeoff Tool button is a crosshair that allows you to draw takeoff (measurements) on your plan

Takeoff

Performs takeoff

<Spacebar>
the Spacebar toggles between the Takeoff and the Select Tools

the Zoom to region Tool button looks like a magnifying glass

Zoom (to Region) Tool

Used to Zoom In or out on the current page - left-click to Zoom In and right-click to Zoom Out or rope an area to zoom into it

<Ctrl> + Left (IN) or Right (OUT) mouse button
Scroll Wheel on mouse

Zoom full page button looks like a sheet of paper with a magnifying glass over it

Zoom Full Page

Zooms to a full page view of the current page (fits to page)

<*>

Magnify tool button

Magnify Tool is a rectangular magnifying glass

Magnify is a tool used to magnify a region of a plan without zooming in. Select the tool and click on the area to magnify.


Pan tool button is a hand

Pan Tool

Click and drag to pan around the image

<Alt> + Scroll Wheel up/down
< Shift> + Scroll Wheel - side to side



Zoom Toolbar


The Zoom Toolbar changes how the image is currently displayed to see more/less detail as needed.


the Zoom toolbar is located to the right of the Annotations toolbar
















































Button

Name

What it does/How it is used...

Shortcut

Zoom full page button looks like a sheet of paper with a magnifying glass over it

Zoom Full Page

Sets zoom so the full page is viewable in the Image Window

<*>

the Zoom in button is a magnifying glass with a plus sign in it

Zoom In

Zoom in one level

<+> or
< Ctrl> + Right-click or
< Ctrl> + Scroll Wheel forward

Zoom out button is a magnifying glass with a minus sign in it

Zoom Out

Zoom out one level

<-> or
< Ctrl > + Left-Click or
< Ctrl> + Scroll Wheel backward

Zoom to 100% button is a magnifying glass with the number one in it

Zoom 100%

Zooms to 100% (full size) of the current page based on the page size

</>

Zoom to custom percent button is a magnifying glass with a 'u' in it with a drop-down next to it

Custom Zoom

Custom Zoom to a customized percentage. User sets the percentage by typing the amount or selecting from the drop down list.


The Zoom drop-down allows you to select from predefined zoom levels

Zoom drop-down

The Zoom drop-down allows you to select from a list of predefined zoom levels.



Work Date toolbar


The Work Date Toolbar allows the user to select a specific time period for the Image (Percenting), Budget, and Timecard Tabs.


Work Date toolbar is a calendar widget that allows you to select a date


Clicking the black forward and back arrows changes to the next/previous week. Clicking the drop down arrow next to the date opens the Calendar widget where a particular date can be selected.


Work Date calendar widget


Quick Takeoff (Measurements) Toolbar


The Quick Takeoff Toolbar is available to DPC-Foreman licensees. With these tools, a user is able to take simple linear, area, or count measurements but these quantities are not stored in the project (when you switch tools or leave the page, the values are cleared). You must switch to "TKO Mode" to use quick measurements.


the Digital Production Quick Takeoff (Measuring) toolbar allows you to perform measurements on the drawing











































Button Icon

Description

What it does/What it means...

the Quick Takeoff Linear measurement button is a red line with boxes on the ends

Line

Measure a linear object or objects

Quick Takeoff Area measurement button is a red polygon with boxes at each vertex

Area

Measure area objects

Quick Takeoff Count measurement button is a red circle with a white dot in the middle

Count

Count a number of objects

the Quick Takeoff quantity drop-down allows you to see different results for the quick takeoff you draw

Quantity

Indicates measurement quantity

the Quick Takeoff delete button clears the current result

Delete

Deletes all measurements

Quick Takeoff Units button allows you to switch between different Units of Measure for Quick Takeoff

Units

Select unit of measure to use


Quick Takeoff Quantities are cleared when you...


  • Select a different measuring tool (going from Line to Area, for example)
  • Switch pages
  • Close the program or open a different project

Quick Takeoff are cleared when...



The Quick Takeoff Toolbar is only active when the product is in PlanViewer (no-License) mode or in a Bid that has been 'flipped' to DPC mode and the user only has a DPC-Foreman license. If you are a takeoff-licensed user, you have access to many more robust tools.



Annotation Toolbar


The Annotation Toolbar includes options to add Text, Callouts, Highlighting, Dimension lines and Hotlinks/Named Views to a project. These elements are considered Annotation because they do not affect the takeoff quantities - they are simply markups on the image to call out important information or make the plans easier to navigate.


Note

Annotation is not considered "takeoff". When exporting a Bid and selecting "Pages with Takeoff" only, pages that contain only Annotation (no Condition takeoff) would not be included if the export. To include these pages, create a "dummie" Count Condition and place a single count on each page to include in the export.

Annotations toolbar is immediately below the program tabs, to the right of the Tools toolbar


By default, this toolbar is docked to the right of the Tools toolbar.












































































Button Icon

What it does/What it means...

Function

Annotations Dimension Line tool is a line with '4'' next to it

Dimension Tool

Creates dimension line

Annotations Text tool is a large letter 'A'

Text Tool

Insert text

Annotations Highlighter tool looks like a colored marker

Highlighter Tool

Highlight object or text - click the drop down to select a color (defaults to yellow)

Annotations Callout tool is a box with an arror on the right pointing down

Callout Tool

Draws a text box with an attached arrow to draw attention to something important on the plan (defaults to red)

Annotations Arrow tool is a right-upward facing arrow

Arrow Tool

Draws a single-ended arrow (defaults to red)

Annotations Line tool is a simple right-upward facing line

Line Tool

Draws a line (defaults to red)

Annotations Rectangle tool is a simple box

Rectangle Tool

Draws a rectangle (defaults to red)

Annotations Oval tool is a simple oval

Oval Tool

Draws an oval (defaults to red)

Annotations Polygon tool is a pentagon

Freehand Tool (Polygons)

Allows an estimator to click several points surrounding a region of the plan and draws a border around the region (defaults to red)

Annotations Cloud tool is a polygon shape

Cloud Tool

Allows an estimator to click several points surrounding a region of the plan and draws a cloud around the region (defaults to red)

Annotations Ink tool is a squiggly line

Ink Tool

Allows an estimator to draw freehand markups on the plan

Annotations Hot Link tool is a red circle with a right-facing arrow inside it

Hot Link

Creates Hot Links

Annotations Named View tool is a yellow box bordered in green

Named View

Creates Named Views


See Related Articles for more information on using the Annotation tools.









click here to view the previous article Getting Around DPC - Shortcuts

Program Menus click here to view the next article


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