- How do the page navigate Forward / Backward buttons work?
- The Navigate button group is located at the top of the Home tab. Here you will find the
following buttons related to page navigation:
Click the Back button once you have viewed multiple pages by clicking on them in the Pages
side panel, you can go back one level at a time in the reverse order that you navigated by
clicking the Back button.
Click the Forward button once you have navigated backwards through your page selections,
you can go forward one level at a time in the reverse order by clicking the Forward button.
Click here for more details: page-navigate.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Navigate Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can my whole team use TradeTek?
- Yes. TradeTek was developed with teams in mind.
Job files can be stored in central locations and accessed by multiple team members.
Exported / Imported TradeTek files are cross-platform and can be used by other TradeTek
macOS and Windows users.
Click here for more details: designed-for-teams
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group – Storage section: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I manage my job storage location in TradeTek and can I use Dropbox or OneDrive?
- To delete or create a new job storage location, click the Storage button located in the Home tab.
Click the New button, name the new storage location and then navigate to a folder that will contain
the new storage location.
A job storage location can be added on your local computer or a network drive. Search "sharing TradeTek jobs"
for potential issues with Cloud drives and the best way to setup a Network drive.
DropBox or OneDrive can be used to store a backup copy of your local jobs in the Cloud. There are many technical
reasons not to define a storage location in TradeTek that stores files in a Cloud drive.
Click here for more details: job-storage.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I flip a plan page in TradeTek?
- The Flip button group located at the top of the Page tab contains the following buttons
related to page adjustment:
Click the Vertical button to flip the selected page 180 degrees vertically.
Click the Horizontal button to flip the selected page 180 degrees horizontally.
Click here for more details: flip-pages.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Flip Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I create a new job in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Home tab and click the New button located in the Job button group.
Add the Job name or Quote number, optional Job Description and Notes.
Choose the job storage location by selecting from the New Job Location drop-down menu.
Finally, choose the File type to be imported by selecting the appropriate radio button.
Click Next to navigate to the file to create a new job within TradeTek.
Click here for more details: create-job.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- What page display options are available in the Pages side panel?
- Navigate to the Pages side panel.
The red and blue square button to the right of the page name will toggle the page back and
forth between color and black & white.
The light bulb button to the right of the color button will toggle all takeoff items on that
page from visible to invisible.
If the scale on a page has been set, the scale icon will appear to the right of the light bulb.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Where are my exported job files saved on my computer?
- By default, an exported job file will be saved to your desktop.
To change the exported file storage location, update your Preference Default Export Location.
Click here for more details: job-import-export.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I quickly search for a page name in the Pages side panel?
- Type the name in the Search box at the top of the Pages side panel.
The search field allows you to type characters that are compared against the page names,
narrowing the list of visible pages to help find pages faster.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I open an existing job in TradeTek?
- To open an existing job, launch TradeTek and click the Open button located in the Home tab.
Select the job storage location, select the desired job and click the Open button.
Click here for more details: open-job.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How can I verify a roof pitch on a plan page in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Calculation button group located at the top of the Tool tab section.
To determine a pitch on a page, click the anchor point on a page, then move the mouse away
aligning the guideline with a line on the drawing to determine its pitch.
The pitch calculations will be displayed in the box located at the bottom right-hand corner
of the anchor point. Click the second point to terminate the tool.
Click here for more details: pitch-triangulate.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Calculation Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How can I determine angles on a plan page in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Calculation button group located at the top of the Tool tab section.
To determine triangulation on a page. Click three points on the page to set the two legs of a
triangle and the diagonal length, leg lengths and corner angles are provided.
Click on one of the corner circles to select the triangle to delete it.
Click here for more details: pitch-triangulate.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Calculation Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I add or edit job properties in TradeTek?
- To access the job properties of the open job, click the Property button located in the Home
tab. Here you can modify or add new job properties for that specific open job.
Users can also modify or add default job properties from the main Template tab, select the
Set Default Properties tab and double click on Job Property icon. Any changes that you make
here will become the default settings for each newly created job moving forward.
Click here for more details: job-properties.mp4
See TradeTek’s User Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I zoom a page in/out?
- The first option for users to zoom a page is with your computer mouse functions.
Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in/out on the selected page. If this function is not
working, open the Preferences dialog and click the Mouse Wheel Control Zoom checkbox.
The other option is to utilize the Zoom/Pan button group located at the top of the Page
tab, this section contains the following buttons related to page navigation:
Click the Fit Page button to adjust the selected page to the lowest zoom level, allowing
the entire page to be visible in the page area.
Click the Zoom In button to adjust the selected page’s zoom level up one level.
Click the Zoom Out button to adjust the selected page’s zoom level down one level.
Click here for more details: page-zoom-pan.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Zoom/Pan Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How hide / unhide sub-items in the Pages side panel?
- When a sub-item has been added to a page, the “+” and “-" buttons to the left of the page
name allow users to expand or collapse the page making the sub-items either visible or
not visible.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can I rotate multiple plan pages in TradeTek?
- Yes, the Rotate button group found at the top of the Page tab contains the following
buttons related to page adjustment:
Click the Left button to rotate the selected page 90 degrees to the left.
Click the Right button to rotate the selected page 90 degrees to the right.
Click the 180 button to rotate the selected page 180 degrees.
Click the Level button to horizontally level a page, click the Level button and follow the
instructions in the dialog.
Click the Batch button to rotate more than one page at a time, click the Batch button and
select the desired pages and rotate function from the dialog.
Click here for more details: flip-pages.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Rotate Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I scale a page(s) in TradeTek?
- To set the page scale click the Scale button located in the main Home tab in the Dimension
button group. You can choose to either set the scale from the drop-down list or set a manual
scale based on a known dimension on the plan page.
To set the scale from the drop-down list, simply choose the appropriate scale from the list in
the From List tab of the dialog. Selecting the Apply Scale to All Pages checkbox will set the
same scale for all pages in your job.
To set a manual scale, click on the Manual Scale tab and follow the instructions in the dialog.
Once the scale has been set, use the Measure tool to check against several dimensions on the
plan page to ensure that they are matching up.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT THE SCALE HAS BEEN ACCURATELY SET FOR THE PAGE(S).
WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS DUE TO INCORRECT CALIBRATION OF PAGES.
Click here for more details: page-scale.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Dimension Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can I add more job pages to the Page Area display in TradeTek?
- Yes, clicking on a page in the Pages side panel will display the page in the page area.
You can add additional page display tabs by clicking the Add a Page tab above the page and
selecting the desired additional page to be displayed in the Pages side panel.
Clicking on a page tab to select it and then clicking it again will display buttons allowing
you to undock or delete the page tab.
Click here for more details: page-tabs.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Page Area: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I rename a page in the Pages side panel?
- The Pages Side Panel displays all the important plan files from the Job.
A page’s name can be changed by either double-clicking on the page or by clicking the Property
button above.
TradeTek 1.3 speeds up the process of renaming multiple pages in a new job.
Easily move Up and Down the Page panel list to Zoom, Position and Rename pages.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How can I manage my job(s) in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Home tab, select the Manage button located in the Job button group.
Here you can add folders to organize your jobs in, move jobs between folders, move jobs or
folders containing jobs from one storage location to another, copy an existing job from one
location to another or clone a job in the same storage location.
Click here for more details: manage-jobs.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I manage my Pages side panel in TradeTek?
- The Pages side panel contains 8 Pages related buttons.
Add Folder: Adds a folder to the Pages side panel area.
Pages can then be placed inside of the folder for organizational purposes by dragging the
page below the folder. To move the page back out of the folder, drag the page above the folder.
Add Page: Adds more pages to the project.
Duplicate Page: Will Clone the selected page. You can rename the duplicate page at this point.
Delete: Removes the selected takeoff, page or folder.
Property: Make changes to the selected takeoff, page or folder.
Expand All: Expands all pages showing all page sub-items.
Collapse All: Collapses all pages hiding all page sub-items.
Organize: Quickly organize individual pages into select folders in bulk.
Page Title Color: Changes the text color of the active page in the Pages side panel.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User;s Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I import / export a job file in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Home tab.
To export a job file, click the Export button found in the Job button group.
Optionally change the job file name, add an optional password, and click Ok.
By default, the file will be saved to your desktop, click the Change Location button to change
the location for the file to be saved to. To change the exported file storage location, update
your Preference Default Export Location.
To import a job file that has been exported from TradeTek, click the Import button, navigate to
and select the file to be imported.
Job files are cross-platform and interchangeable between Windows and macOS versions of TradeTek.
Click here for more details: job-import-export.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I use the Note Tool in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Page tab.
Select Note from the Markup button group, from the Markup Note dialog, type the note text in
the text area.
Set the font style & size, text color, text alignment in note, note color and note transparency.
To change these settings, locate the Set Default Property tab located in the Template tab.
Click the Link button to add a link to a file stored in the job (will be included in an exported
job file), an external file or a URL.
Click the OK button, click the first point at the top left corner of the desired note position
then click the second point at the bottom right corner of the note.
Click the green circle in the bottom left corner to display the linked item.
Double click in the note area to re-launch the dialog to make adjustments to the note.
Click in the note area to select it then tap the Delete key to delete the note.
Click here for more details: markup-note.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Markup Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I reorder or organize job pages in TradeTek?
- From the Pages side panel, simply left click + hold and drag the selected page or folder
to its new location to reorder the sequence.
You can also easily move pages in and out of folders by left click + hold and drag the
selected page to its new folder location.
To move a page out of a folder, left click + hold and drag the selected page above the
folder name.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I know if I already scaled a page in TradeTek?
- From the Pages side panel, if the scale on a page has been set, the scale arrow icon
will appear to the right of the light bulb button.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I crop as a new page in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Tool tab.
Click the Crop as New Page button to launch the tool.
Click the first point at the top left corner of the desired crop area, then click the
second point at the bottom right corner of the crop area (will be highlighted in blue).
Name the new page then click OK. The new page will be added at the bottom of the page list
in the Pages side panel.
Click here for more details: crop-new-page.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Image Tool Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can TradeTek give Labor Hour totals per job?
- Yes, subitems can be added to assemblies to calculate materials, labor, subcontract, equipment
or item quantities and cost.
Click here for more details: assembly-subitems.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Template Tab – New Assembly Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I take a screenshot of a page section in TradeTek?
- TradeTek users can easily take custom screenshot images similar to 'Snipping Tool's'
functionality by highlighting the area or portion of the page, then copy and paste.
Navigate to the Tool tab.
Click the Copy to Clipboard button to launch the tool.
Click the first point at the top left corner of the desired area then click the second
point at the bottom right corner of the area (will be highlighted in blue).
The selected area is now placed in the clipboard and is available to paste.
Click here for more details: copy-to-clipboard.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Image Tool Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I display the Page Legend in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Tool tab.
Click the Page Legend button to toggle the page legend on and off.
Click the legend to select it and move the perimeter points to resize the legend.
Select and drag the legend to reposition it on the page.
Click here for more details: page-legend.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Image Tool Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can I toggle my page display from black & white to color in TradeTek?
- TradeTek users can easily change a selected page from color to a black & white display and
vice versa.
From the Pages side panel, select the red & blue square button to the right of the page name.
This will toggle the page back and forth between color and black & white.
Click here for more details: pages-side-panel.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Home Tab – Side Panels – Pages: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I take a full Screenshot in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Tool tab.
To capture the entire selected page with all takeoff and page items, click the Screenshot button.
Name the screenshot file and choose the desired file type.
The screenshot file will be saved to the desktop by default. To change the saved location, update
the Default Export Location from the Preferences dialog.
Click here for more details: screenshot.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Tool Tab – Image Tool Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I use the Draw Tool in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Page tab.
Select Draw from the Markup button group, from the Draw Markup dialog select an Arrow,
Box or Pen markup tool, set its properties and click the OK button to launch the tool.
Select a markup tool section and delete it with the Delete key, move a markup section
by selecting it and tapping the arrow keys (hold down the Shift key to speed up),
press the Shift key to undo the last point while the markup tool is active.
To complete a markup tap the Esc key, to end one markup section and start another,
double-click or tap the 'N' key. Default properties can be set for the draw tools in
the Set Default Properties tab in the Template tab.
Click here for more details: markup-draw.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Markup Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How do I use the Highlight Tool in TradeTek?
- Navigate to the Page tab.
Select Highlight from the Markup button group, from the Highlight Markup dialog, select a Box
or Pen highlighter tool, set its properties and click the OK button to launch the tool.
Select a highlighter section and delete it with the Delete key, move a highlighter section by
selecting it and tapping the arrow keys (hold down the Shift key to speed up), press the Shift
key to undo the last point while the highlighter tool is active.
To complete a highlighter markup, tap the Esc key, to end one highlighter section and start another,
double-click or tap the 'N' key. Default properties can be set for the highlighter tools in the Set
Default Properties tab in the Template tab.
Click here for more details: markup-highlight.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Markup Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- How can a shared drive on a local area network be setup and used to store jobs for all TradeTek users?
- This example shows how three computers on the same Ethernet or WIFI network can create and open jobs stored on a shared drive.
While setting up a network is outside the scope of TradeTek, these instructions should guide a system Admin in the Setup process.
Computer A is a Windows computer with shared folder at C:\StorageShared.
Computer B is a Windows computer connected to the same local area network.
Computer C is a Mac computer connected to the same local area network.
Make sure Everyone on the local network has full read/write access to the StorageShared folder.
Computer A
1. This command from a Terminal window assigns drive Z to a shared folder Subst Z: c:\StorageShared
2. The goal is to assign drive Z to that folder when the computer is turned on. This is done with a Startup batch file.
3. With NotePad create a file named setupZ.bat containing this line: subst Z: c:\StorageShared
4. Right click Start menu, type Shell:Startup into Run command window and click OK to present Startup folder.
5. Copy file setup_Z.bat into Startup folder and restart windows. Notice This PC now has drive Z in File Explorer.
6. Start TradeTek, click Storage and then New button. Create a storage location named Shared and select drive Z.
7. TradeTek automatically assigns folder Z:\TradeTek for holding job folders in that storage location.
Computer B
1. Click on This PC in File Explorer and choose command Map Network Drive. Assign drive Z to shared folder on Computer A.
2. Start TradeTek, click Storage and then New button. Create a storage location named Shared and select drive Z.
3. TradeTek automatically assigns folder Z:\TradeTek for holding job folders in that storage location.
4. Repeat this process for all computers on the network.
Computer C
1. When Mac recognizes Computer A on the network, you will see Network on the left side of the Finder window. This may take a few minutes.
2. Within Network window, doubleclick on the Windows computer icon and Connect using the appropriate credentials.
3. Start TradeTek, click Storage and then New button. Create a storage location named Shared and select the shared folder.
4. If you later double-click on the Shared name in Job Storage folder, you will see path /Volumes/StorageShared/TradeTek
Jobs created from Computer A, B or C in the Shared location are accessible to everyone. Only one computer can access a Job at a time.
- How do I pan a page in TradeTek?
- The first option for users to pan a page is with your computer mouse functions.
Right click + hold and drag the page to pan with your mouse.
The other option is to utilize the Zoom/Pan button group located at the top of the Page tab.
Click the Pan button to toggle the cursor to pan mode, allowing you to left click + hold and
drag the page around. Click the Pan button again to toggle pan mode off.
Another Pan page choice is to use the vertical and horizontal scroll bars on the
right side and bottom side of your screen.
Click here for more details: page-zoom-pan.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Page Tab – Zoom/Pan Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- I generated pages for a job from a Bound PDF, but the images are pixelated,
what can I do?
- The most likely cause of this issue is that the PDF file you're using has images in low
resolution DPI. The best solution is to have the author send a new PDF with high resolution
images.
Using graphics software on your computer, there are various work-arounds available for
macOS or Windows.
Here is a work-around for macOS:
1. Hold the Ctrl key while clicking on the Bound PDF and open it into Preview.
2. Drag the thumbnail image for each required page to a folder on your computer.
3. Now open each PDF (containing one image) into Preview and choose the Export command.
4. Export each image as a PNG file with higher DPI (600 or 1200) to a folder.
5. From TradeTek, generate a new job using that folder of PNG files.
Here is a work-around for Window:
1. Open the Bound PDF into Adobe Pro and save each individual page to a separate PDF file.
2. Open each one image PDF into Adobe Pro and export as a 1200 PDI PNG file.
3. From TradeTek, generate a new job using that folder of PNG files.
After loading the new page images into the TradeTek job, you will need to manually scale
the new pages.
Other graphics software on macOS or Windows can accomplish the same goal of constructing
higher DPI PNG files. Rather than performing these steps on each file, some software allows
the operations to be performance across many files at once.
Some tools can export a bound PDF as a layered file. That might cause resolution issues or
make the PDF file unreadable by TradeTek.
Search online for “Convert PDF to Flat File” for instructions on how to fix this issue in
a bound PDF file.
- I'm trying to create a new job but says "Job in Progress" for an extended time.
- Perhaps your computer processor is not able to handle multi-core processing.
When you are creating a new job from a bound PDF file, try unchecking the "Multi-Core Bound
PDF Processing" check box from your Preference dialog.
Click here for more details: create-job.mp4
See TradeTek User's Guide – Job Button Group: TradeTek-User-Guide.pdf
- Can estimators work independently on parts of a big project and then combine their work into one job?
- Yes, TradeTek 1.3 has a Merge Jobs button on the Manage Jobs dialog.
Each estimator creates a separate job to complete their part of the project.
Each estimator deletes pages they don’t use for their part of the project.
Choose a primary job to define Job description, notes and properties.
Merge Jobs combines Primary and additional jobs into new consolidated job.