Taking off
Set the scale
Calibrate a plan against a known dimension so measurements come out in real units.
Why this comes first
A PDF has no idea how big anything is. Setting the scale is how you tell Tally that a certain distance on the page is a certain distance on site. Until you do, a length is just pixels.
Tally does not let you get this wrong by accident. The editor’s own first tip says it plainly: “Set the sheet scale before taking off. Count, length and area stay disabled until a scale is set.”
Scale is set per plan, because sheets in the same set are often drawn at different scales.
Open the dialog
- Open a drawing from the plans tab.
- Choose the red Set scale button in the toolbar. The same thing sits on the measurements panel beside the drawing, and on the plan tile you just clicked, so take whichever is nearest.
- The Set plan scale dialog opens, with two methods side by side.
If the sheet states its scale
- Choose Known drawing scale.
- Type the number after the colon into Scale ratio (1:n). For a drawing at 1:50, type 50.
- Check Paper size (auto-detected). Tally fills this in from the sheet and marks it as detected, for example “A4 (detected)”. Change it if the drawing was printed or scaled to a different size.
- Choose Save scale. The toolbar button changes to show what the plan is working at, such as “Scale 1:50 @ A4”, and the Count, Length and Area tabs come alive.
The paper size matters as much as the ratio
A ratio only means something against a sheet size. If the paper size is wrong, every length on that drawing is wrong by the same factor, quietly and without any warning. It is the one field here worth a second look.
If it does not state a scale, or you do not trust it
This is the method to trust. You find something on the drawing whose real size you know, measure it on screen, and tell Tally what it actually is.
- Choose Known length.
- Choose Measure on plan, then click both ends of the known length on the drawing. A dimension line or a marked grid spacing is ideal.
- Type what it really measures into Enter length of the line. Include the units, as the field asks: 12.5m or 12500mm.
- Choose Set scale.
Pick the longest known dimension you can find. A small error over a short distance becomes a large error over a long one.
One sheet with more than one scale
Some sheets carry a detail or a blow-up drawn at a different scale from the rest of the page. Sections at the top of the same dialog is how you handle that: add a section, give it a label, and give it its own scale. Until you add one it says there are no sections on this plan, which is the normal case.
Check it before you measure
Measure something else you already know, such as a door or a room, and see whether the number comes out right. Thirty seconds here saves redoing a whole takeoff. Tally stops you measuring on a plan with no scale at all, but it cannot tell that a scale you set is the wrong one.
Set the scale before you draw
Count, length and area remain disabled until you save a scale. Calibrate the sheet first, then start taking off.
Next
With a scale set, you can measure on the plan.