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Drawing Takeoff for PDF drawings and schedules

Count every tag on your drawings

Upload your PDF drawings. QuoteRecon reads the door, window and fixture schedules, counts every tag on the plans with the page it’s on, and shows where a count differs from its schedule.

Try a free takeoff See how it works
  • PDF drawings with selectable text
  • PRO tool. Free trial: 1 takeoff a week, up to 10 pages
  • No subscription required

Files you upload are read once and not kept. Only the results are saved, and you can delete them.

Drawing Takeoff of Ground floor plans.pdf Illustrative example

Door and window scheduleRead from sheet A-601

  1. D-01 Single door12
  2. D-02 Double door4
  3. D-03 Fire door6
  4. W-01 Window18
  5. W-02 Louvre2Not on drawings

Counted on the plansSheets A-101 to A-103

  1. D-01 Single door12Schedule 12Matches
  2. D-02 Double door3Schedule 4Schedule 4, drawings 3
  3. D-03 Fire door6Schedule 6Matches
  4. W-01 Window18Schedule 18Matches
  5. W-02 Louvre0Schedule 2Not on drawings
  6. D-04 Sliding door2Not in a schedule
Counts in this example 3 Match the schedule 1 Differs 1 Not on drawings 1 Not in a schedule

Every scheduled tag gets a result

Start with the counts that disagree, then check them on the pages listed.

  • Matches

    The tag appears on the plans as many times as the schedule says.

  • Differs

    The plans and the schedule disagree. You see both numbers and the pages where the tag was found.

  • Not on drawings

    A scheduled tag that does not appear on any plan in the set.

  • Not in a schedule

    A tag on the plans that no schedule lists, when you ask for its letters.

  • Other codes found

    Code families on the sheets with no schedule, such as finish codes, named so you can count them too.

From a drawing set to checked counts

D-01, D/01 and D01 are treated as the same tag. Sub-numbers such as TL-04.1 stay separate. Nothing is measured: tags are counted, lengths and areas are not.

  1. 1

    Upload the drawings

    One PDF exported from CAD with selectable text: the plans and the schedules for them.

  2. 2

    Schedules are read

    Any table with a Mark, Tag, Ref or Type column, with the quantity when there is one.

  3. 3

    Every tag is counted

    Across all the plans, including sheets drawn rotated, with the page for each count.

  4. 4

    Check and download

    Start with what differs, open the pages listed, and download the counts to Excel.

More about Drawing Takeoff

Then check what suppliers quote

See what changed in a supplier quotation

Compare your reference BOQ or schedule with the supplier quotation. QuoteRecon pairs the items, records what differs, and keeps the source evidence beside every finding. Every item gets one of six results.

Used by construction professionals. Tested on actual BOQs and supplier quotations.

  • Differences

    Paired items where quantity, unit, specification, unit price or total price changed.

  • No differences

    Paired items whose compared values agree. Pairing does not confirm compliance.

  • Missing

    Reference items with no corresponding item in the supplier quotation.

  • Extra

    Supplier items with no corresponding item in your reference.

  • Pairing review

    Possible pairs QuoteRecon could not confirm. They stay separate until you decide.

  • Excluded

    Items left out of the comparison, such as a zero reference quantity.

Open a finding. Read both sources.

Choose any finding in this example. Every value points back to where it was read.

  • Reference and supplier values side by side
  • The original text, quoted exactly
  • Missing and extra items shown as absent
Reference.pdf compared with Quotation.pdfIllustrative example

Specification differs

LED Spotlight

Reference
24°
Supplier
36°
Reference source Reference.pdfPage 1 · Line 6LED Spotlight · Beam angle 24°
Supplier source Quotation.pdfPage 1 · Line 8LED Spotlight · Beam angle 36°

From two files to a clear answer

  1. 1

    Add both documents

    Upload your reference BOQ or schedule and the supplier quotation.

  2. 2

    Check the extraction

    Preview the rows and lines QuoteRecon read from each file before anything is compared.

  3. 3

    Review each finding

    Filter by result, open any item and read both original entries side by side.

  4. 4

    Export or ask the supplier

    Download the report to Excel. With PRO, turn selected findings into supplier questions.

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Walk through a full example

Every tool in QuoteRecon

Drawing Takeoff and four tools for the rest of the job. They run on their own and don’t use your weekly comparisons.

  • Drawing Takeoff

    PROFree trial: 1 a week, up to 10 pages.

    Reads the door, window and fixture schedules in your PDF drawings, counts every tag on the plans with the page it’s on, and flags counts that differ from the schedule.

  • BOQ Health Check

    Free3 a week. No weekly limit on PRO.

    Checks every line’s quantity × rate and every subtotal and total, then flags duplicate lines, broken formulas and items priced at two different rates.

  • PDF to Excel

    Free3 a week, up to 50 pages. No weekly limit on PRO.

    Turns a PDF BOQ or quotation into a spreadsheet with one row per item and a working Qty × Rate formula. Anything it can’t place in the table is listed, not dropped.

  • Bid Leveling

    PROIncluded with PRO

    Lines up 2 to 5 quotes against your BOQ. Items a supplier left out are filled at the other suppliers’ average rate, so you can see who is cheapest on the same scope.

  • Payment Application Check

    PROIncluded with PRO

    Checks a contractor’s payment claim against the contract BOQ, including quantities over the contract, changed rates, items past 100% and lines outside the contract.

See an example from Bid Leveling

QuoteRecon PRO

Takeoffs with no weekly limit, and tools to act on what you find

PRO includes Drawing Takeoff with no weekly limit, on drawing sets of up to 1,000 pages. It includes 25 comparisons every week and 100 successful AI reviews each calendar month, plus the review tools listed here, Bid Leveling and the Payment Application Check, with no weekly limit on the Health Check or PDF to Excel. Source evidence, saved results and Excel export are included on both plans.

Free$03 comparisons a week, plus a takeoff trial
PRO Monthly$4.99per month · no takeoff limit
PRO Yearly$44.99per year · $3.75/month equivalent

Weekly allowances reset Monday at 00:00 UTC. See pricing and how comparisons are counted

  • Drawing Takeoff with PRO

    See each count marked on the drawing, send the designer questions drafted from the results, compare a revised set with your earlier takeoff, and check a supplier’s quotation against the counts. Corrections you make are remembered for later takeoffs.

  • Uncertain-match review

    Confirm, reject or choose the counterpart for pairings QuoteRecon could not confirm. Your decision updates the report and its exports.

  • Quotation revisions

    Compare an original and a revised quotation from the same supplier. Every change reads from original to revised, with both sources kept.

  • AI review and explanations

    Ask for a plain-language review of a report or a single finding. Numbers, units and direction are checked against the report before anything is shown.

  • Clarification Packs

    Turn selected findings into supplier questions you can edit, approve and export. Private notes never leave your account.

  • Comparison Overview

    See what still needs attention in a report, with links to the findings to review next.

Common questions

What Drawing Takeoff reads, and how comparisons are counted.

What does Drawing Takeoff count?

Tags written as text on the plans, such as D-01, W-03 or LT-12. It reads the schedules on the sheets, counts each scheduled tag across every plan and compares the count with the schedule quantity. Add tag letters to count tags that have no schedule. Tags drawn only as symbols, and lengths or areas, are not counted.

Which drawings can it read?

PDFs exported from CAD with selectable text, including sheets drawn rotated on the page. Scanned drawings and photographs can’t be read. The Free trial reads drawing sets of up to 10 pages.

Which files are supported?

Drawing Takeoff reads PDF drawings with selectable text. Comparisons read PDF with selectable text, XLSX, XLS and CSV. Scanned PDFs without selectable text are not supported.

What counts as a comparison?

A completed comparison uses one credit when it finds matched items or pairs to check. Failed attempts, comparisons with no pairs, and exact repeats already counted use no extra credit.

Do exports use my allowance?

No. Reopening or exporting a saved report does not use another weekly comparison.

Do the tools use my comparisons?

No. Each tool has its own allowance. Drawing Takeoff is a PRO tool you can try 1 time a week on Free, and on Free the Health Check and PDF to Excel each run 3 times a week. Files you upload to a tool are read once and not kept. Only the results are saved, and you can delete them.

Does AI decide the counts or the comparison?

No. Takeoff counts come from the text on your drawings. The comparison itself does not use AI. QuoteRecon's comparison engine produces every finding, value and source reference. AI review is an optional PRO tool that explains findings, and its output is checked against the report before you see it.

Start with your next drawing set

Try Drawing Takeoff free once a week, with 3 comparisons every week. No subscription required.

Try a free takeoff See plans and pricing