Everything in Protake, explained in detail.

Sign up takes 30 seconds — email + password, no credit card. Once logged in, the Dashboard shows your projects list. Each project is a self-contained workspace with its own PDF plans, measurements, and pricing.

1. From the Dashboard, click the green + New Project button in the top-right.
2. Pick a template if relevant (Blank, Apartment, Office, House) — each template pre-seeds wall types so you do not start from zero.
3. Give the project a name (e.g. "Elm Street Apartments — Floor 3") and pick a color for easy identification.
4. The project opens directly in the measurement app — upload your first PDF next.

Projects can hold multiple PDF plans (one per floor, revision, or drawing). Plans are rendered client-side with PDF.js — no server roundtrip, so multi-MB plans load instantly.

1. Drag a PDF onto the canvas, or click Load PDF plan in the left sidebar.
2. Multi-page PDFs open on the first page; use the page switcher at the top of the canvas to navigate.
3. Each plan is stored under the project and synced to your account. You can rename, reorder, or delete plans from the Plans panel.

Before measuring anything, the app needs to know how many PDF pixels equal one real-world metre. Calibration is a one-time step per plan — future plans can inherit the scale.

1. Press S or click the Calibrate tool in the toolbar.
2. Click two points on a known reference in the plan (a dimension line, door width, wall width, scale bar — anything with a known length).
3. Type the real-world length in the popup (e.g. 1000 for 1 metre, 2.40 for a door height). The app accepts mm, cm, m — just pick the unit.
4. Every future measurement on this plan is now in metres automatically.

The measurement app has 4 main regions: the left Sidebar (apartments + wall types tree), the top Toolbar (drawing tools), the Canvas (the PDF with your measurements overlaid), and the right Properties panel (contextual settings).

1. Left sidebar shows your project structure — apartments, inside which live wall types (categories). Expand/collapse with the ▶ arrow.
2. Toolbar across the top has every drawing tool (Polyline, Area, Rect, Count, Opening, Wand, etc). Active tool is highlighted.
3. Canvas is where you draw. Pan with middle-mouse or Space+drag. Zoom with wheel. Fit to page with Home.
4. Properties panel on the right shows details of the selected measurement (length, area, note, height override).

Navigating a large plan efficiently is critical. The app supports multiple pan/zoom methods.

1. Zoom: mouse wheel (up = zoom in, down = zoom out). Zoom is cursor-centric — the point under the cursor stays fixed.
2. Pan: hold middle mouse button and drag, or hold Space and left-click drag.
3. Fit plan to screen: press Home or Ctrl+0.
4. Zoom to a specific area: hold Z and drag a rectangle (box-zoom).

The crumb bar at the top of the canvas shows exactly what you are drawing on: Project → Plan → Apartment → Wall type. Click any segment to jump between contexts instantly.

The minimap is a tiny overview of the whole plan in the corner. It shows your current viewport as a box — drag the box to jump to any part of the plan quickly.

1. Enable via Tools menu → Productivity → Toggle minimap.
2. The minimap appears in the bottom-right of the canvas. Drag the viewport box to navigate.
3. Hide it by toggling the same menu item again.

The workhorse for linear measurements. Click to place vertices along a wall run; the app sums segment lengths live. Use it for every type of linear measurement (walls, pipes, baseboards, linear trim).

1. Press P or click the Polyline tool.
2. Click along the wall: each click places a vertex. Live length appears next to the cursor.
3. Press G before clicking to start a gap (for a door or window opening). The segment before the gap is dotted; the gap itself contributes no length.
4. Press Enter to finish the polyline, or double-click the last vertex.
5. Press Escape at any time to cancel the current polyline.

Measure surface area by tracing a polygon. The app computes m² using the calibrated scale and the shoelace formula (mathematically exact for any polygon).

1. Press A or click the Area tool.
2. Click around the perimeter of the room or surface. A live preview polygon fills in as you click.
3. Click the first vertex again (or press Enter) to close the polygon. Area is displayed in the centre.
4. Use Rectangle mode (R) for perfectly rectangular rooms — click two opposite corners, done.

A faster sub-mode of the Area tool for rectangular rooms. Click two opposite corners — the app auto-closes into a rectangle.

1. In Area tool, toggle to Rect with the mode switcher in the toolbar.
2. Click the first corner, then the opposite corner.
3. The rectangle is finalised immediately — no need to press Enter.

Drag a rectangle on a window/door opening. The opening area is subtracted from the area of the nearest wall/ceiling measurement and listed separately in exports.

1. Press O or click the Opening tool.
2. Drag a rectangle on the opening. Width × height of the rectangle is the opening area.
3. When you export, each opening is itemised under its parent wall so the client sees both the gross and net area.

Click anywhere to drop a marker. Count totals per wall type appear in the sidebar and all exports. Great for outlets, sprinklers, access panels, fixtures — anything countable.

1. Press C or click the Count tool.
2. Click each fixture. Markers are coloured by the wall type they belong to.
3. Right-click a marker to delete it; drag it to reposition.

A magnet-style tool that snaps your cursor to dark pixels (wall borders) as you move. Ideal for tracing walls on scanned plans where pixel accuracy matters.

1. Select Magnetic polyline from the toolbar (magnet icon).
2. Click the start point. As you move, the cursor snaps to the nearest dark pixel.
3. Click to confirm each vertex. The path follows the wall automatically.
4. Enter to finalise.

Click inside a room and the app flood-fills the enclosed area (like Photoshop Magic Wand). Produces a clean polygon even for complex shapes.

1. Select the Wand tool.
2. Click inside a room.
3. The flood fill detects the walls and produces a closed polygon automatically.

If you ever suspect the scale is off (e.g. after switching to a new plan with different dimensions), press S again to recalibrate. Existing measurements are scaled proportionally — you do not lose anything.

Edit mode turns every vertex of every measurement into a draggable handle. Use it to nudge imprecise clicks, extend walls, or reshape area polygons without redrawing.

1. Press E or click the Edit tool.
2. Every vertex becomes a white circle with a dark outline — drag to move.
3. Right-click a segment to insert a new vertex, or right-click a vertex to delete it.
4. Hold Alt+drag to clone a measurement as you drag it — useful for repeating walls.
5. Ctrl+Z undoes each step individually.

Click any measurement to delete it whole. Hover shows a red preview so you know what will be removed.

Splits a polyline into two at the clicked point. Use when you need to change wall type for only half of a long wall run.

1. Press K or select the Cut tool.
2. Click on the polyline at the split point. Two separate polylines remain.
3. Reassign either half to a different wall type via the sidebar.

Drag a box with Bulk select active; everything inside is selected. Then Delete, recolour, or re-assign wall type for all at once.

1. Press B, drag a rectangle over multiple measurements.
2. Use the floating actions bar: Change wall type, Delete, Set height, Add note.
3. Escape clears the selection.

The app continuously snaps the cursor to significant points on existing geometry — endpoints, midpoints, right-angles, 45°. Toggle with N.

Every change is undoable — drawing, editing, deleting, moving, renaming, even bulk operations. Redo works up to 100 steps back.

An apartment is a container for wall types. Use one apartment per flat, floor, office, or whatever unit your client wants billed separately. Exports break down by apartment automatically.

1. In the sidebar, click + Add apartment or right-click the project root.
2. Give it a number/name (e.g. "Apt 1", "Floor 2", "Suite 203").
3. Add wall types inside it. Every measurement you draw belongs to whatever wall type is currently selected.
4. Reorder apartments by dragging; hide with the eye icon.

A wall type (or category) is a labeled, colored container for similar measurements. Every measurement belongs to exactly one wall type, which carries its color, height, rate, and optional Wall Assembly.

1. Inside an apartment, click + Add wall type.
2. Fill in the dialog: Category (Wall / Ceiling / Floor / Opening / Boxout / Linear / Other), Name, Color, Height, Price per m², and optionally a cloud Assembly.
3. The new wall type is selected automatically — your next drawing goes into it.

Presets are reusable wall-type templates stored in your account. Define your typical walls once (e.g. "Type S 2x12.5mm 75mm stud") with color, height, and default rate, and add them in one click to any apartment.

1. Open Add wall type, click the gear icon next to Quick preset.
2. Preset manager opens — add, edit, reorder, or delete presets.
3. Drag-reorder to match your most-used presets to the top.

An Assembly is a cloud-synced recipe: materials + labor + waste + markup, bundled per m². Assign one to a wall type and the app auto-calculates material quantities, labor hours, and cost for every m² of that wall type.

1. Open Add wall type (or edit an existing one).
2. Use the 🧱 Assembly dropdown — "Your library" lists your saved assemblies, "Industry presets" lists the 15 built-in ones.
3. Pick one — the rate auto-fills from the assembly's computed €/m².
4. Manage → takes you to /account/assemblies to build/edit the library.

If your project has 10 identical apartments, build one fully and save it as a template, then apply to the rest with one click.

1. Right-click an apartment in the sidebar → Save as template.
2. Name the template. It is stored in your account (not per-project).
3. Right-click any other apartment → Apply template → pick from the list. All wall types are cloned (names, colors, heights, rates, assemblies).

Mark one apartment as "master" — changes you make to its wall types propagate to linked child apartments. Useful for tower projects with repeating floors.

1. Right-click an apartment → Make master.
2. For each child, right-click → Link to master → pick the master.
3. Now when you add/edit a wall type in the master, propagate with a single click.

An assembly is a named bundle of priced materials + labor phases + markup, expressed per m². For example, a "Type S 75mm Partition" assembly might contain: metal studs 0.6 ml/m², gypsum board 2.1 m²/m² (both sides), tape 3.2 ml/m², 15% markup. Apply it to any wall and the app auto-computes BOM, labor, and cost.

Your assemblies library starts empty. Load the presets in one click — 15 standard drywall assemblies covering interior partitions, wet rooms, fire-rated, acoustic, demising, ceilings, exterior sheathing.

1. Go to /account/assemblies.
2. Click 📥 Load presets in the left sidebar.
3. All 15 presets appear under "Industry presets". They are read-only — clone any one to customise.

Presets cannot be edited directly (they stay stable for everyone). To tweak materials or pricing, clone first.

1. Select a preset in the list.
2. Click 📋 Clone as mine in the top-right. A copy appears under "Your library".
3. Edit freely: rename, change category, adjust materials/labor, tweak waste/markup %.
4. Changes are autosaved every 800 ms — no Save button.

For custom specs, start from blank.

1. Click + New assembly in the sidebar of /account/assemblies.
2. Fill in Name, Category, and Description.
3. Under Materials, click + Add material for each line. Each material has: Name, Category (framing/board/insulation/…), Unit (m²/ml/pcs/kg/bag/roll), Qty per m² (how much is consumed per wall m²), Price per unit, and waste %.
4. Under Labor phases, add each phase (framing, hanging, taping, finishing, priming). Each has hours per m² and €/hour.
5. Set overall Waste %, Overhead %, Markup %.
6. Live preview shows Material + Labor + Final €/m² at the top.

The 15 built-in presets cover the most common drywall specs:

• Interior partitions — Type S single layer, Type S-2L double layer, 100 mm, 150 mm
• Wet rooms — MR (moisture-resistant) gypsum, tile backer board
• Fire-rated — 1-hour, 2-hour, shaft wall
• Acoustic — STC 55+ staggered stud
• Demising walls — between units
• Ceilings — suspended grid + MF
• Exterior — sheathing
• Minimal — bare-bones for quick bids

The Material Calculator is the heart of the estimating workflow. Access from the Tools menu → 🏗 Full estimate. It shows the full priced breakdown of your project across 5 tabs.

The header of the estimator has 6 live-updating fields: Currency, Global waste %, Overhead %, Markup %, Tax %, Contingency %. Any change recomputes all totals immediately.

The landing tab shows 4 KPI cards (total m², materials cost, labor cost, grand total + €/m²) plus a health-check banner calling out unpriced walls or broken assembly references. Below, a breakdown table shows each room with its m², material, labor, and total.

The Bill of Materials. One row per distinct material aggregated across all walls that share an assembly containing that material. Group by category or flatten; search to filter; export to CSV.

1. Each row shows: Name, Unit, Qty (exact), Order qty (rounded up — use this for ordering), Unit cost, Total, Source (which walls contributed).
2. The 🔎 search box filters by material name or source wall.
3. The group selector toggles between category-grouped and flat list.
4. ⬇ CSV exports the visible rows to a spreadsheet.

Labor phases aggregated across the project. Shows total hours per phase, rate, cost, and estimated crew-days (assuming 8h shifts × crew size).

1. Adjust the crew size input — duration recomputes live.
2. Each row breaks labor down: phase (framing/hanging/taping/finishing/priming/install), label, hours, rate, cost, crew-days, source walls.
3. Use the Labor total in the top KPI when negotiating with a subcontractor.

The client-facing printable document. Has a professional header with Date issued / Valid until, editable Client / Project fields, aggregated line items (one per assembly used), and a totals stack (subtotal → waste → overhead → markup → contingency → tax → GRAND TOTAL).

1. Fill in Client name and Project address at the top.
2. Review the line items — each assembly becomes one line, labelled with the assembly name and showing m² × €/m².
3. Add extra line items for scaffolding, permits, dumpster fees, etc. in the "Additional line items" block below.
4. Edit Notes freely (payment terms, warranty, exclusions).
5. Click 🖨 Print / Save PDF to output. Browser print dialog lets you save as PDF.

4 one-click export options: BOM as CSV, Labor as CSV, full estimate as JSON (for integrations / audit), and the printable quote.

Tools menu → QA & review → 🔍 Validation panel. It scans the entire project for common mistakes: duplicate IDs, orphan measurements, zero-length segments, walls without assemblies, apartments without walls, etc.

Issues are grouped into 3 severity buckets:

• ❌ Errors — must fix before exporting (duplicate wall IDs, counts without coordinates).
• ⚠ Warnings — should fix (zero-length segments, orphan measurements, unpriced walls).
• ℹ Info — optional cleanup (stray internal flags, walls without measurements).

Every issue that has a deterministic fix has a Fix button. Use 🛠 Fix all auto-fixable in the footer to run every auto-fix in one click.

A common warning: "Wall is un-priced (no assembly, no rate)". Fix by either assigning an Assembly in the wall-type edit dialog, or typing a fallback €/m² rate.

Given your total project area, compares every standard drywall sheet size and shows which is cheapest once waste is accounted for. Use before ordering to pick the optimal sheet.

Each row shows: sheet size, sheet m², exact sheets needed, ordered sheets (with waste), real waste %, price per sheet (editable), total cost. The cheapest row is highlighted with 🏆 and labelled "Best pick".

1. Pick a waste factor button (5% / 10% / 15% / 20%) to see how that changes the picture.
2. Override per-sheet prices by clicking the € field (saves to your account).
3. Click Preview on any row to see a visual tiling diagram showing productive vs. waste sheets.

Full per-wall breakdown: apartment, wall type, linear m, area m², openings, rate, cost. Opens directly in Excel or Google Sheets with correct decimal separators.

Same data as Excel but plain-text, UTF-8, comma-delimited (or tab if your locale uses comma as decimal). Use for importing into accounting software, databases, or other estimating tools.

Paginated PDF with: cover page, project summary, per-apartment breakdown, quote, and annotated plan page. Works for internal review or as a quick handoff.

The premium PDF: your company logo + name in the header, custom footer, no watermark, all plan pages included with measurements overlaid, table of contents.

Export the current visible view (or the whole page) as a high-resolution PNG. Perfect for pasting into emails, WhatsApp, or site instruction documents.

Export all measurements as DXF — the exchange format every CAD tool understands. Each wall type becomes a layer; measurements become polylines with metadata.

Multi-sheet Excel file: Summary / Per-apartment / Per-wall-type / Openings / Materials. Formulas are live so the accountant can tweak.

Tools menu → Settings → 📜 Export history. Shows every export you have run, with timestamp and format. Click any entry to re-export with the same settings.

Available on Business tier. Send an email invite; teammates join your workspace and see all your projects.

1. Go to Account → Team.
2. Enter the teammate's email and pick a role (Admin / Editor / Viewer).
3. Click Send invite. They get an email with a one-click join link.
4. Pending invites appear in the same panel — resend or revoke any time.

Three role levels control what a teammate can do:

• Viewer — read-only access to projects. Cannot edit measurements, export, or see financial details.
• Editor — full edit access except team management and billing.
• Admin — everything an Editor can do + invite / remove teammates, change roles, manage the library.

If you are a member of multiple teams, the Dashboard has a workspace selector next to your name. Switch between "My workspace" (your own projects) and any team you belong to.

When you are viewing a team workspace, the Recent Activity panel on the Dashboard shows every edit by every team member with who-did-what-when. Use it to audit changes or find out who made a specific modification.

All changes sync to the server within 2 seconds. Two people editing the same project simultaneously see each other's cursors and measurements appear in real-time. Conflicts auto-merge (one per measurement).

For repeated building types (apartments, offices, hotels with standard floor plans), save a finished project as a template — wall types, colors, rates, and apartment structure are preserved.

1. In the measurement app, Tools menu → Project & templates → Save current as template.
2. Name it. It is stored in your account (not per-project).
3. Next time you create a new project, the template appears in the picker.

When creating a new project from the Dashboard, a template picker opens. Pick any of your saved templates plus the 4 built-in ones (Blank / Apartment / Office / House).

Inside an existing project, Tools menu → Project & templates → Import from another project. Imports the apartment + wall-type structure from any other project you have access to. Measurements are NOT imported.

Within the same project, if you have multiple plans (e.g. multi-floor buildings), copy the apartment+wall structure from plan A to plans B, C, D in one click.

Separate from apartment templates — the Category library stores individual wall-type presets. Drag any category from the library onto an apartment to add it instantly.

Tools menu → Productivity. Reads the scale bar printed on most architectural plans automatically (OCR + vector analysis) and sets the calibration for you. Falls back to manual calibration if no scale bar is found.

Draw a chain of sequential dimensions along a wall — each is labelled with its own length plus a running total. Useful for construction documentation.

Add text labels anywhere on the plan. Use for RFIs, site notes, contractor instructions. Annotations are stored per plan and included in all PDF exports.

Tiny overview map in the corner showing your viewport as a box. Drag the box to jump anywhere on the plan instantly. Toggle via Tools menu.

Quick modal converter between metric/imperial/various construction units (m², ft², ml, inches, kg, lbs). Handy for cross-referencing plans from different regions.

A specialised calculator that handles fractions, dimensions in mixed units, and common construction formulas (board feet, concrete volume, rise/run).

Tools menu → Estimate → 💰 Quick pricing. Apply a new rate to many wall types at once: filter by category or name, set a new value (fixed / +delta / +%), and preview the impact before applying.

Load two plans (e.g. a rev 1 and rev 2 of the same floor) and view them side-by-side with synchronised pan/zoom. Spot differences instantly.

1. Tools menu → QA & review → 🆚 Compare plans side-by-side.
2. Pick two plans from the picker.
3. Side-by-side view opens. Pan/zoom is synchronised.

Same idea but as a single overlay with tint. Rev 1 is red, rev 2 is blue — where they overlap, purple. Great for seeing what moved.

Tools menu → Project & templates → 🕒 Revision history. Every time you save a snapshot, it appears here with timestamp, total m², and grand total. Compare any two revisions to see the delta.

Log crew hours per project/day. Used for tracking actuals vs. estimate. Simple form: crew member, role, hours, date, notes.

Mark completion % per wall type or apartment. Progress is visualised as filled bars on the plan — project manager sees at a glance what is done.

Defects, rework items, open issues. Photograph, tag location on the plan, assign to a teammate. Closes out the job.

End-of-day summary: weather, crew present, work completed, materials used, issues encountered. Exports as PDF for the client.

Pre-pour, pre-close, post-inspection checklists. Each item has status (pending / done / N/A) and timestamp.

Track real expenses vs. estimated budget. See variance per category in real-time. Over-budget items flagged red.

Log every expense (receipts, petty cash, fuel, tools). Categorise, attach photo, assign to a project.

Log client payments (deposits, progress, retainage, final). See outstanding balance per project at a glance.

Produce a polished invoice from the project data. Includes line items, totals, payment terms, bank details.

Mini CRM per project: client contacts, subcontractors, suppliers. Free-form notes field for anything else.

When scope changes mid-job, create a Change Order: describe the change, quantify extras, price them out. Generates a formal document for the client to sign.

Every change syncs to your account within 2 seconds. No Save button — just close the tab. Re-opening the project loads the latest state from the server.

If your internet drops, the app keeps working — changes queue locally. When connection returns, queued changes sync automatically. A yellow banner warns you that you are offline.

Draw on a desktop at the office, review on a tablet at the site, approve from a phone on the train. State is identical on every device.

Tools menu → Settings → 📱 Share QR code. Shows a QR that links to the current project. Point a phone at it — the project opens in mobile browser.

Change the currency shown across the app (EUR / USD / GBP / RON / CHF / SEK / NOK / DKK). Currency is per-project, so different projects can use different currencies.

Customise how each measurement category renders: line thickness, dashed/solid, end-cap style, opacity. Helpful for layered plans where many categories overlap.

Toggle anywhere in the app. The preference is saved per-device (via localStorage). All panels, dialogs, and the canvas have full dark-mode support.

Per-category waste %. Overrides the assembly-level waste when set. E.g. you could say "waste 15% on all wall materials but 5% on ceilings because they waste less".

Press ? inside the measurement app for the full overlay, or visit the Shortcuts page for a printable sheet.

• P — Polyline (wall runs)
• A — Area (rooms, ceilings)
• R — Rectangle (fast room area)
• O — Opening (windows/doors)
• C — Count (point markers)
• S — Calibrate / set scale
• E — Edit mode
• K — Cut polyline
• R (while no drawing) — Eraser
• B — Bulk select

• Wheel — Zoom
• Space+drag — Pan
• Middle-click drag — Pan
• Home / Ctrl+0 — Fit plan to screen
• Z+drag — Box zoom
• ] / [ — Next / previous apartment
• } / { — Next / previous wall type

• Ctrl+Z — Undo
• Ctrl+Y / Ctrl+Shift+Z — Redo
• Delete — Delete selected
• Alt+drag (in Edit mode) — Clone
• Shift (while drawing) — 15° constraint
• N — Toggle snap

• ? — Show shortcuts overlay
• Esc — Cancel current action / close dialog
• Ctrl+S — Force cloud save (auto-save is on)
• Ctrl+F — Find (in takeoff sheet)

Account → Profile. Set your full name, company name (printed on PDFs), phone, and profile photo. Company name appears on branded exports.

Four tiers: Free (1 project, watermarked exports), Starter (10 projects, all exports), Pro (unlimited projects, PDF Pro, priority support), Business (everything in Pro + team workspaces, SSO, dedicated support).

Account → Subscription → Change plan. Redirects to Stripe hosted checkout. Prorated billing: you pay the difference for the remainder of the current period.

Account → Subscription → Manage billing. Opens the Stripe customer portal where you can update card, download invoices, and change billing address.

Account → Security → Change password. Requires your current password. If you forgot it, use the "Forgot password" link on the login page.

Account → Security → Sign out of all devices. Revokes every session token. Use after losing a device or suspecting unauthorised access.

Account → Security → Delete account. Permanent — 30-day grace period after which all data is wiped. Export everything you want to keep first.

Most likely PDF.js hit a memory limit (very large scan, 200+ MB). Try: reducing the PDF size via Acrobat ("Reduce file size"), splitting multi-page PDFs into single-page files, or using a vector PDF instead of a scan.

Almost always a calibration issue. Press S, pick a known dimension (e.g. a labelled 1m dimension line on the plan), and enter the real length. Existing measurements are auto-rescaled.

Check your internet. The app caches changes locally and queues them — nothing is lost. When the connection returns, the queue syncs automatically (usually within a second).

You haven't loaded or built any assemblies yet. Open /account/assemblies and click 📥 Load presets, or build your first assembly from scratch.

Pop-up blocker. Whitelist the app domain in your browser's pop-up settings. All exports open via a new blob URL — some browsers treat this as a pop-up.

Most often caused by a wall with both a manual rate and an assembly. Effective rate is: manual rate (if > 0) else assembly rate. If you see a mismatch, check the Wall Assemblies totals in the Overview tab — they account for every wall with assembly_id.

We reply to most tickets within 4 business hours. Use the contact form with as much detail as possible — a screenshot (or screen recording) helps us debug faster.

See what's new and what's fixed in each release. Updates are automatic — no action required on your end.

We love feature requests. Use the contact form (subject: "Feature request") or open a discussion if you are part of our public beta channel. Every request is read and triaged.