Support
SiteFeed Takeoff guide
How the app works today, step by step. Short articles, no waffle. Written for version 1.9.
Getting started
A takeoff in SiteFeed Takeoff goes the same way every time:
- Open a PDF. Start a project from a drawing in Files.
- Calibrate the page. Tap both ends of a dimension you know and type its length.
- Measure. Pick a tool (Length, Perimeter, Area or Count) and tap the points.
- Check the totals. The Quantities panel shows each tool for the current page or all pages.
- Price it (optional). Open the £ panel and set a rate for each tool.
- Export. Send a marked-up PDF and a CSV.
Moving around: pinch to zoom, drag with two fingers to pan, and use the page arrows in the top bar. Hold a finger on the drawing to bring up the loupe, a magnified view with a crosshair for exact placement.
Opening a PDF
- On the projects screen, tap New from PDF (or Import PDF from Files if you have no projects yet).
- Pick the drawing in Files. It can be on your iPad, in iCloud Drive or another Files location.
- The project opens on page 1, ready to calibrate.
The app keeps its own copy of the PDF inside the project. The original in Files is never changed, and deleting a project doesn't delete it.
Multi-page sets: use the arrows either side of Page 1 of 7, or tap the page number to pick a page from thumbnails. The page list shows which pages are calibrated.
Calibration
Every page needs a scale before you can measure lengths and areas on it. You set it from the drawing: if the drawing says 5 metres, calibrate against it and measure from there.
- Tap Calibrate in the left sidebar. The calibration card appears at the bottom of the sidebar, and the drawing stays live so you can zoom and pan.
- Tap both ends of a dimension you know: a dimension line, a grid spacing, a scale bar or a door width. Hold for the loupe; the ⊕ centre is the exact point. Drag either ⊕ to fine-tune.
- Type the Actual length on the keypad and choose mm or m. Both 2400 and 2,400 are accepted.
- Choose Apply to: This page or All uncal. (every page that has no scale yet). Then tap Set Scale.
Getting it right
- Use the longest known dimension on the sheet, and zoom right in to place the points. A long reference keeps small errors small.
- Check it. Tap the badge to see the reference, the implied scale (for example ≈ 1:100 at 100 %), and options to Recalibrate, Copy to pages… or Check scale. If the PDF was exported at a different paper size, the implied scale will differ from the title block. The calibration is still what counts.
- Check scale lets you measure between two points without recording anything. Use it on a second known dimension or along the scale bar.
- Copy to pages… copies the scale to other pages. The app compares page sizes and rotation first and warns you about any page that doesn't match. Only copy between sheets drawn at the same scale and exported at the same paper size.
- Recalibrating a page that already has measurements asks first and shows the before and after scale. Nothing is recalculated silently, and Undo puts it back.
There's no automatic scale detection. Count tools work without a calibration; lengths and areas don't.
Length, Perimeter, Area & Count
- Length
- Tap the start and end. It finishes by itself. Good for beads, skirting and single runs.
- Perimeter
- Tap point after point along a run of walls. The running total shows as you go. Tap Finish when you're done.
- Area
- Tap the corners. Close it by tapping the first point again, double-tapping, or tapping Finish. Good for ceilings, floors and wall elevations.
- Count
- Each tap places one marker and counts as 1 No. Good for sockets, access panels and similar. No calibration needed.
Undo point removes the last point while drawing; Cancel drops the shape. Undo and Redo in the top bar cover everything else.
Editing a measurement
Tap Select, then tap a shape. The panel at the bottom shows its quantities and lets you Change tool, add or remove cut-outs, or Delete it. Drag any corner point to move it; the loupe helps you place it exactly. If a change would make the shape invalid (for example, edges crossing), the app tells you why and puts it back.
Your own tools
Add a tool with + next to the toolbox name. Give it a name, a type (Length, Perimeter, Area or Count), a line colour, a fill colour and opacity, and a line thickness. Count tools have a choice of marker shapes. Group tools into toolboxes and reorder them as you like.
Turn on Reuse tool to keep the tool armed after each shape. Turn it off and the app goes back to Select after each one.
Totals
The Quantities panel lists every tool with its total, for Current page or All pages. Tap a total for the page-by-page breakdown. The eye icon hides a tool on the drawing and leaves it out of exports.
Snapping
Turn on Snap in the left sidebar (it's off until you turn it on). When you place or drag a point near the drawing's linework, it locks onto it, and a small magenta marker shows exactly where the point will go:
- Square: a corner or where lines cross.
- Circle: the end of a line.
- Diamond: a point on a line.
No marker means no snap: the point goes exactly where your crosshair is.
It won't guess. If two lines are too close to tell which one you meant, it doesn't snap. Zoom in and the choice usually becomes clear.
Snapping works for Length, Perimeter, Area and cut-out points, and when dragging corners. Calibration, Check scale and Count never snap, so your reference points are always exactly where you put them.
Snapping needs vector linework, which most CAD-exported PDFs have. Scanned or image-only pages simply don't snap. A snapped point is stored like any other point, so turning Snap off never changes existing measurements.
Cut-outs
Cut-outs take openings off an area: windows, doors, voids, anything you don't want to price.
- Draw the area first.
- Tap Cut-out in the sidebar, or select the area and tap Add cut-out.
- Trace the opening inside the area and finish it like any other area. Add as many as you need.
Cut-outs are drawn hatched with a dashed outline. To remove one, select the area, tap Cut-outs and choose the one to remove.
A cut-out has to sit inside its area. It can touch the edge (a door on the floor line, for example) but not cross it, and two cut-outs can't overlap, so nothing gets deducted twice. Net can never go below zero.
Pricing
Tap £ in the top bar to open the pricing panel. Every tool used in the project is listed. Tap one to set how it's priced:
- Area tools
- £ per m², priced on gross or net. If the area has cut-outs, the panel shows both, ticks the one that counts and says which (for example Priced on GROSS).
- Length and Perimeter tools
- £ per linear metre, or convert to an area: enter a height and price per m² (for example 42.60 lm × 2.50 m = 106.50 m²). The measured length doesn't change.
- Count tools
- £ per item.
Switch between Current page and All pages. The total sits at the bottom of the panel. Untick Include in estimate to leave a tool out.
Tick Use as default for this tool to reuse a rate on future projects. Projects keep their own rates, so changing a default later doesn't alter jobs you've already priced.
Pricing reads the quantities; it can never change them. Amounts are in pounds with no VAT. Each line is worked out at full precision and rounded to the penny only for display.
Saving projects
There's no Save button. The app saves as you work, and again whenever you leave the project or switch away from the app.
Open a project and you're back on the page, zoom and tool you left. Everything stays editable: move a corner, add a cut-out, change a rate. Undo and Redo work across all of it.
From the projects screen you can open, rename, duplicate or delete a project. Deleting asks first, and it only removes the app's copy. The original PDF in Files is untouched.
Projects are stored on this iPad, in the app's own folder. You can see it in Files under On My iPad, but don't edit those files while the app is open. To keep a copy somewhere safe, use a project backup.
Project backup
A project backup is a single file containing the project and its PDF. Use it to keep a safe copy, or to move a job to another iPad.
- Export: on the projects screen, open the project's menu and choose Export Project Backup…. Save the file to Files, iCloud Drive or wherever you keep your work.
- Import: on the projects screen, choose Import Backup and pick the file. It always creates a new project, so it can never overwrite one you already have.
A backup is not the same as an export. The backup keeps the project editable; an export is a finished PDF or CSV to send to someone.
Exporting
Tap the share button in the top bar, then choose what to make:
- Marked-up drawings only, or Drawings + quantity summary. The summary lists each tool's quantities (with Gross, Cut-outs and Net for areas), a page-by-page breakdown, and the calibration used on each page. Optionally include only pages with measurements.
- CSV
- One row per tool per page, plus a total row for each tool. Opens in Numbers or Excel.
- Estimate
- If you've set any rates, choose Quantity summary only or Quantity + estimate summary. Prices only ever appear on the summary pages, never on the drawings.
Tap Create export…, check the file name (a sensible one is filled in), and tap Done. Then save it to Files or share it straight away by AirDrop, Mail or WhatsApp.
Tools hidden with the eye icon are left out of the export. Your markup is drawn onto a copy of the pages, so the source PDF is never changed.
FAQ
Does it work out the scale automatically?
No. You calibrate each page from a dimension you know. The app then shows the implied paper scale (for example ≈ 1:100) so you can check it against the title block. It's quick, and you always know where the scale came from.
Does it work on iPhone or Mac?
SiteFeed Takeoff is an iPad app.
Do I need an account or an internet connection?
No account. The current version keeps everything on your iPad, and measuring a drawing doesn't need a connection.
Will it change my original PDF?
No. The app works on its own copy inside the project, and exports draw your markup onto a copy of the pages. The file you picked in Files is left alone.
Does it work with scanned drawings?
Yes, once you calibrate the page. Snapping needs vector linework, so a scanned or image-only page simply won't snap. Measuring works as normal.
Can I use Apple Pencil?
Yes. Pencil places points while your fingers pan and zoom. In Settings you can choose Automatic, Pencil only, or Finger & pencil.
Why doesn't 46.40 − 4.59 come to exactly 41.80?
Quantities are worked out from the unrounded measurements and only rounded to 2 decimal places for display. So subtracting or adding the rounded figures by hand can be 0.01 out. The figure the app shows is the more accurate one.
Does pricing include VAT?
No. Prices are in pounds, with no VAT added. Add VAT in your quote if it applies.
Can I move a project to another iPad?
Yes. Export a project backup, move the file (Files, AirDrop and so on), and import it on the other iPad. Importing always creates a new project.
Is it available yet?
Not yet. SiteFeed Takeoff is in private testing.
Contact
Questions, problems or a drawing that won't behave? Email support@sitefeed.co.uk.
If something goes wrong, it helps to include your iPad model, the iPadOS version, what you were doing, and a screenshot. Please don't send drawings containing personal details unless we ask for them.
See the privacy policy for how support emails are handled.