Design & Take-Off Overview

Design and Take-Off tools are available with the SatQuote subscription plan. Design tools allow you to transform simple measurements into beautiful designs with product representations such as grass, pavers, plants, and landscape elements for showing customers where work will be performed on their property. You also can generate a list of materials and labor needs on the fly.

This article covers:

• What Can I Do With Design & Takeoff?
• Creating and Managing Design Items and Fills
• Adding and Placing Items & Fills on the Map
• Seeing Takeoff and Quote Quantities
• Exporting Images and Designs

What Can I Do With Design & Take-Off?

Design is useful for both Maintenance and Design / Build work to visually show your customer what will be done where and to calculate the labor and materials needs for the project. Design and Take-Off is much simpler easier to use than traditional landscape design software and does not require a degree in CAD to use. In just a few minutes you can transform a measurement into a full landscape design and takeoff list.

Creating & Managing Design Elements

When creating a design element, first choose the Element Type:

• Shape elements are counted in quantities of each by the quantity placed on the map. These design elements can include shapes such as circles, squares, or triangles OR realistic designs such as trees, plants, irrigation heads, or furniture available in the design library.

• Area elements are counted in square feet, yards, or meters. They can include items such as sod, a chemical spray, mowing, or pavers. Area element designs are applied to either a single subarea or an entire area with a single click.

• Volume elements are counted in cubic yards and can include items such as concrete, mulch, or gravel. Volume elements are placed on either a single subarea or an entire area with a click.

• Segment elements are counted in linear feet, yards, or meters and can include items such as fencing, pipe, conduit, or edging. Segments can be placed by either drawing a line on the map or using subarea and area perimeters with exclusions to make placing them fast and efficient.

When you select your element type, you will then specify its name and size (required) as well as SKU number, category, color, opacity, conversion rate, cost elements such as labor and materials, and sync settings.

Adding Design Fills to the Map

Design elements can be added to the map by typing in the name of the element you want to add and selecting it to add to the placement list.

• Shape Elements can be placed on the map by selecting "Place" and clicking on the map where you want them to go. They can then be resized or rotated if needed. Size can also be set from the item edit menu.

• Area and Volume fills can be placed on an Area or SubArea by selecting the option you want in the upper left mode window and then clicking a SubArea. Opacities and fill zoom can be adjusted form the edit menu.

• Segment Elements can be placed by either selecting a subarea to place on its perimeter (any segments that have been excluded will NOT be counted) or clicking and creating a compound line.

Viewing Take-Off & Legend

The Legend will update with the total quantities of each element placed on the map along with an icon of the element. You can also view the quantities of each element by both area and subarea by clicking on the element in the left-side design bar. Clicking the "Assign" button in the top menu will reassign all elements placed to the area they intersect. You can also update the quantity you wish to display to your customer by editing the "Quote Qty" field in the left bar. This will update the Legend and quantity on the quote.

Cost Estimation & Conversion Rates

Cost estimation and conversion rates are set on the Product Level in the Pricing Tab. A conversion rate divides the map calculated quantity of the element by the factor you set. Some examples might include: 400sqft = 1 pallet of sod or 1000sqft = 1.5 oz of product or 2500sqft = .25 hours of labor. You can also set cost and revenue items for each of these so that placing a single element will include all related elements. A full tutorial of this feature will be available soon!

Exporting Images & Designs

Exporting can be done by either selecting the download button on the map menu or entering the Quote screen to create a PDF quote with pricing, designs, notes, and photos.