Takeoff Live

Large scale projects require precision and large amounts of calculus so the result can last for years on end without any revisions. Nowadays, it all comes down to machines and computers to process all data and help us go a lot faster through the design. A suitable example is Takeoff Live, an application created to help you measure designs, with options for length and depth.

In terms of design, the application is pretty well-organized, with the interactive preview section taking up most of the space, and panels you can arrange as you see fit. Navigation is easily done with your mouse, with the possibility to pan, zoom in and out, as well as bring up a panel for even easier navigation.

You'll need to set up the default measurement units so the application can properly return values. However, there's no option to select from the existing ones so you need to specify, within a specific range, the value and the corresponding unit.

The application can import a fair number of formats, with PDF, JPG, BMP, PNG, GIFF and TIF being the ones supported, other that the specific type. This enables you to quickly load files exported with specialized drawing applications or directly captured with a scanner component.

Sadly, there's no implemented function that lets you bring up side rulers for enhanced accuracy and, as such, nor can guidelines be created. On the other hand, since there aren't any drawing or editing tools, this is not really a big issue.

Measuring is incredibly easy, with most tools requiring you only to specify certain points that either define a line or a custom area. What's more, if working with blueprints, you can set a default scale to use so measurement is properly done.

You can obtain data regarding length, area, perimeter and volume, all of which can be stored as a total amount, with options to export to a few common file formats, such as XLS. You don't need to keep a text editor at hand, because the application also bundles up a small text utility to quickly write down notes.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Takeoff Live is a practical application with several data customization options that is sure to tell with maximum precision just how long it takes from one point to the other. You could have used a few highlighting or editing tools, such as the possibility to inset text boxes, but it does a pretty good job overall.