QS Cad Trial Version Tutorial

1. INTRODUCTION

QS Cad has been designed for direct measurement from drawings on a computer.The drawings can be in the following format: CAD files, e.g. AUTOCAD .DWG or .DXF files Scanned in drawings, e.g. .TIF, JPG, JPEG and .BMP files

Drawings displayed by QS Cad can be viewed either as the complete drawing orzoomed in to any specific part of the drawing such as a single room.Drawings are calibrated using known lengths; this ensures the accuracy ofmeasurements taken from the drawing, thus allowing measurements from drawingsthat are not to a true scale. Generally CAD (.dwg) drawings are auto-calibrated butthe user is advised to check against a known length.

The User sets up layers to represent various measurements, e.g. Floor Finishes orCeiling Finishes. Layers can be switched On and Off to show all or only some of themeasurements on the drawing.Measurements are made directly onto the drawing on the screen using the mouse toClick at each point on the line or area etc. Each measurement can have a Locationand Description code which can be used to create Summaries) of the measurements.

Drawings can be printed with a choice of paper size and because each layer andmeasurement has a colour you can use a colour printer to give an accurate colourcoded record of the measurements made. These print outs can also be used toenhance reports such as Cost Plan's etc.All measurement information can be displayed in a summary form, printed orexported to Excel spreadsheet.

This Tutorial will not cover every possible aspect of using QS Cad, nor everypossible way of using the interface. It is still essential for users to study the Helpfiles to gain a complete understanding of the power and productivity of theapplication. However it should give a thorough introduction into how easy it can be toquickly use the programme to considerable effect. Users should really familiarisethemselves with the basics of Windows ‘point, Click and drag’ mouse operations tomore quickly come to terms with the programme operations

The drawing used for the base QS Cad tutorials is a simple housing estate with 8houses in 4 blocks, numbered 1 – 8.Once you have become familiar with the basic zoom in and zoom out functions youmay wish to review the drawing before proceeding further

HINTNormally when noted in this tutorial –Click means click with the left mouse buttonRight Click means click with the right mouse buttonDouble Click means double click with the left mouse buttonDrag means click on the left mouse button and drag the cursor

across the screen (generally to select an area). A further click will go to that area.

You are now ready to open the drawing.QSCad project manager operates in the same way as a windows tree by expandingdown to the file you require. Select the drawing and Labelled C-Basic Training

Click the OK button.The drawing will open on screen and a message tells us that it needs to be calibrated

Click OK.

You may wish to get a hard copy of the drawings to compare with the CAD version.You can also print out from the QS Cad version; say to A4 or A3 to assist you.

Toolbars can be selected under the Toolbars menu.There is one ‘basic’ Floating Toolbar; others are available for Drainage andSiteworks).

The full toolbar is

The Toolbars can be turned on or off.Toolbars

HINTCAD drawings can be created / viewed in two forms, Paperspace and Modelspace.QSCad measures from the Modelspace view for a number of reasons including: All parts of the drawings are displayed, i.e. if drawing contains ground floor and first floor both are

displayed, in paperspace only one floor would be displayed Faster operation.

The functions of the main tools are listed below:

Open ProjectManager or Open toAdd Drawing

Close Drawing

Save theMeasurement File

Refresh CurrentDrawing Window

Zoom to Extend Zoom In

Zoom Out Zoom to Window bySelection

Zoom to PreviousWindow

PanningDynamically

Repositioning ofDrawing View

Pan Left, Right, Up,Down

Select a PreviouslyCreated View

Display the CurrentDrawing Name fromProject Manager

Open Help File Open MeasurementLayers Window

Measure a Length(Linear)

Measure a Length bySelecting Lines(Linear by Selection)

Measure a Area Measure a Area bySelection

Measure a Number Block Measurement

Measure a Distance Select and Repeat anArea

Select a Length andRepeat it elsewhere

Select a length andrepeat at selectedcentres

Add a Void topreviously measuredarea

Create aMeasurementSummary

Take a moment to familiarise yourself with these buttons. A hint line over the buttonor at the base of the screen gives information when the cursor is placed over abutton.

Click on the Zoom to Specific Area buttonPlace the cursor above and to the left of the dimensioned parking bay (below House2)Holding down the left mouse button drag the cursor down and to the left of theparking bays.An outline will trace the area being selectedRelease the mouse button once the desired area has been selected.The view of the drawing will now zoom in on the parking bays.

Click on the zoom out and zoom in buttons to refine the selection further.

Click on the button to return to view of the complete drawing.

When ready - Repeat the specific area zoom to reselect the large-scale view ofhouse 2 and parking bay.

In the View menu on the toolbar there is an option called Add Current View this willtake a snap shot of the view currently open on the screen and save it so that you canjump to it quickly. Zoom in to an appropriate scale on Plot 1 that you could use formeasurement. View | Add Current ViewTry this now for Plot 2 and repeat the process. To view your saved views you caneither Press View | Select Views (F9) or simply press F9 and the views you havesaved will appear for you to select.When you have the whole site in view you can also select parts of the drawing to viewby again View | Add View from Window by doing this you will then be able to nameand select an area to have as a view. Try doing this for Plots 3 and 4. This will thenappear in the Select Views list as well.The easiest way of navigating around the drawing is to zoom to the scale you requireand then hold the ALT button on the keyboard in order to drag the drawing to thepoint you require.

Remember that there are PAN buttons available on the Toolbar

HINTMaking use of this button is a good and quick way to move from one area of adrawing to another. Explore the new drawing you have just opened in this way.

Even though this is a CAD drawing you still need to perform a Calibration check toensure that the measurements are correct. For this you will need to zoom in on thedrawing to an area with a known length (for this use plot 1). In the File menu selectCalibration Check and the snap toolbar will appear on your screen.

Using the Snap to end tool select the line stating 8800 and snap from one endof the line to the other you should then see the screen below. As the Calibrationcheck is correct select Yes to confirm that this drawing has now been Calibrated.

The drawing is now ready to measure from, however before measurement cancommence we must set up at least one layer.

You may find it necessary to create one layer in order to access all menu commands.

The best way to understand layers is to imagine that you are measuring traditionallyand colouring up you measurements on tracing paper so that you can place eachpiece of tracing paper over the drawing individually or all at once.

To open up the Layer Management window Click Layer Management button,or select Layers from the system menu or type Y as a shortcut. The Layermanagement screen will appear. The help files will detail other shortcuts.

Let us pause to review this dialog.

This hint line is available in the main QSCad window also. A Hint also appears overthe buttons.

To create a new layer either

Click the button

The buttons along the top of the dialog perform anumber of functions. Reading left to right –

1. Save and Exit2. Create new layer3. Delete the selected Layer together with all

measurements4. Refresh the current selection5. Print list of measurement layers6. Access Master Files7. Zoom and Pan8. Access Help Files

The ‘tick‘box Toggles all layers on/off

Type in details: Layer Name, e.g. PARKING.

Click the Layer Colour drop down to choose the colour to be used on the drawingfor the layer (LIME).

Having returned to the Layer management screen left mouse Click the layer enteredin the left hand box to ensure that a ‘tick’ is displayed,

Click once more to switch it off.Repeat the process for all other Layers

Highlight the PARKING layer we will need to measure and

Click (the ‘save and exit’ button) to return to the main screen. Do make sureyou select the appropriate layer.

We can now measure some kerbs as a linear item.Set up ready to measure as previously outlined, e.g. Zoom to a selected area, in this case the area around Plots 1 and 2 – see the

screen shot lower down to confirm the location

Make sure the active layer is KERBS and it is checked.

Select the Line Measurement dialog (you should be familiar with this by now butremember the hint line will appear when you put the cursor over a button).

Complete as below

ClickClick on a start point on the parking bay kerb above House 1 and trace round thethree sides

When you come to the end Right Click and select End MeasurementRight Click to exit measurement dialog.

Reselect the Line Measurement dialogEdit the code by adding ‘curved’ at the end.

Click1. Click on a start point for the curved kerb in front of House 1 and with a series of

Clicks trace the outline.2. When you come to the end Right Click and select End MeasurementMove to the curved kerb outside House 2 and repeat steps 1 and 2.

Right Click to exit measurement dialog.Return to measuring straight kerbsReselect the line measurement dialog and in the Code box Click on the Down Arrowand select the straight kerb from the drop down list.

3. Linear By SelectionWe suggest you read through the whole section before proceeding.

SnapIt is possible to set QS Cad to ‘Snap’ to the end of a line.Snap allows the users when measuring lines or areas to click on a line on the basedrawing and the system will automatically select the nearest end point of the line.Using this option the measurement accuracy will be the same as the original drawing.

The system will locate the line clicked and move the point to the nearest end of theline.

Snap can be switched On / Off from the Snap toolbar and also can be changed toselect ‘Snap to Nearest point on a line’ when measuring lines.

The Snap toolbar will automatically appear whenever a measurement function isselected. i.e. area measurement

Sometime the confusion of lines may disrupt this process but by turning snap off youcan manually select the correct part on the drawing to measure too.

Lines By SelectionAgain select something suitable to measure – The kerbs of a footpath perhaps.

Select from the Measurement menu.The standard line measurement window appears and should be completed asprevious line measurement items.Now instead of clicking on each point of the line just

Click on the line and it will be selected and coloured in automatically. Click on each line until all lines are selected.

Remember we are only measuring lines NOT areas.This type of measurement works the same as Linear Measurement so the lines willbe selected on the same basis but only require the line to be selected once.

The measurement buttons Length, , area and number buttons arenow available to you.

But first -Just reselect the measurement layers button to view the layer, there should just bePARKING BAYS selected so our next measurements will go into that layer.

Also - zoom to the parking bay below House 2. Choose a scale you are comfortablewith – it need not be too large.

Choose our next option from these buttons i.e. to measure an area.

The Area Measurement description screen will appear.

HINT - On Measuring:Using your mouse, Left-mouse Click on the first point of the area, now Click on each change ofdirection of the area. When complete the system will automatically join up the first and last pointselected. For curved areas: Click in small lines to create the curve. As you Click onto thedrawing your chosen style is automatically displayed and this will show on the drawing whenprinted. Once measurement is complete Right-mouse Click and the fill style changes to yourchosen colour for that Layer and is displayed on screen.

HINTNote that the number of layers selected will dictate the layers viewed on screen so itis always possible to have more than one layer checked, what is important whenmeasuring is to have the appropriate layer active. This can be viewed at the bottomof the Toolbar. To avoid confusion it is best to measure with only one layer selected,but this is optional.

Follow the prompts at the foot of the screen to start measuring, treat the parking bayas a square i.e.

Left Click (or in the Tutorial shorthand ‘Click’ on the start of the first bay length,Click on the end of the line or at the first change in direction; keep Clicking oneach change of direction until you reach the final change in direction. NowRight Click to indicate to the system that you have finished measuring the currentrun.

You will be prompted to End AreaClick on this menu item.

The area measured will be hatched.It is possible to carry on measuring another area but for now -

Click the Green Tick and then the Red Cross to Close button in theresultant dialog.

We can now measure the remaining parking bays and show how easy it is to movearound the drawing in the process.

Click on the Zoom to Full Size button (if you are not sure which this is, pass thecursor over the Toolbar buttons and check the hint line at the bottom of thescreen)

Then, in the same way as before,

Select the button and Drag the mouse pointer over plots 3 and 4 making sure to cover its associated

parking bays.

The scale here is somewhat smaller than previously, but is likely to be suitable formeasurement.

Click on the Area Measurement buttonThe area measurement dialog opens. The layer is still Parking Bays.Measure the ‘square’ of 2 Parking bays next to House 3,But -This time Click on the green tick after completing the first measurement, just move tothe parking Bays by House 4 and repeat the process.If your view is not suitable for this,

Click on the button and reselect an area with the Zoom in on SpecificArea button

Repeat the measurement process for the bays next to Houses 4, 5 and 6.Again do not exit Click after completing the measurement of each bay, but

Click on <ALT> on the keyboard and drag the drawing down to reveal Plots 7 and8 and measure the relevant parking bays, then drag the drawing again to bringPlots 1 and 2 back into view and measure the parking Bay next to Plot 1.

Now after completing this measurementClick again to exit the measurement dialog. (You will realise that you could movestraight away into measuring something else by amending this dialog)

Users must judge for themselves the level of zoom needed to obtain the necessaryaccuracy.

Zoom out and then Drag to select Plots 7 and 8 and their gardens.

Click on the button Change the layer to SOFT LANDSCAPING

Make sure this is the only active measurement layer

This will exit the dialog.

Click on the buttonEnter details as shown

Click the GREEN TICKStart to measure the rear gardens of Plots 7 and 8. Follow the principle of earliermeasurement, left Clicking at each change in direction.

HINTRemember – especially for a beginner it isbest to measure with just the active layervisible i.e. ‘ticked’

HINTWe suggest you read through Section8 before commencing in order to get afeel for how and where you will needto move a round the drawing

Note that the start point always traces a ‘guide’ line to the current entry. Trace the outline of the gardens until the final point is completed then

Right ClickSelect End Area

Now at this point do not Right Click again to end the routine but Hold <ALT> and Drag the drawing or use the Right Pan Button on the Toolbar

Click with the left button

When you reach the final change in directionRight Click and

Select End Area, and

HINTThe garden boundaries are a series ofstraight lines. Where the boundary is‘curved’ these lines are much shorterand more Clicks will be necessary. Thescale should be sufficient for thisexercise but if greater accuracy isrequired in future the scale can beincreased. Users should beware thoughof measuring to too great a scale to beof effective merit.

NOTEThere are other options underthis menu that youmay wish to consider but fornow we will wait until later inthe Tutorial to use some ofthem.

Green tick and then Red Cross to close the measurement dialog.At this stage you could try measuring all or part of the remaining rear gardens.

All the items we measure are referenced.Each measurement sequence will show its unique code.

4.2. DELETE A MEASUREMENT

To show this first turn on the Parking Layer so that this level is shown. Select Edit | Select and Delete | Selected Items

Click inside the Parking Bay area on the lines. Once the correct area has been selected right click (As it says in the task bar at

the bottom of your screen)Click the Green tick to confirm deletion of this item.

Confirm that you want to send this item to the Recycle Bin Layer (Items sent to theRecycle Bin Layer can be restored at any point).To restore the items in the recycle bin layer simply select Edit | Recycle Bin Layer |Select and Restore ItemsSelect the item to restore and right click, selecting the green tick to return.

4.3. MEASURE A VOIDGo to the Garden of Plot 1 and zoom in to show the pond area.

Click on the Void button.Click on the Lines inside the area you are taking the Void from.Measure round the outline of the Pond as before. Right Click to end themeasurement and Click on the Green Tick. Click on the Red Cross to exit the mode.You are simply left with a white ‘deducted area.

The perimeter of the void will be included within the perimeter of the measured item.If you use the display information button you will see that no information is displayedif you click on the void

Click on the button to Zoom Out

Click on the button and then

Click on the button within this dialog to access the Layer Managementdialog

Change active layer to Soft Landscaping and turn the previous layer off Fill in the dialog properties as shown

In this instance we will use the Marker O+.

Any outstanding features of this dialog not yet utilised will be covered in futurelessons.

ClickA Point Style dialog opens – this will select a size for the default marker.

Click on all the trees in the gardens within the site boundary, there should be12nr, but do not confuse one for the ‘pond’

After entering the final tree,Right Click and select End Measure then the Red Cross

The marker will be the same for all measurements with this description.

In the Same way as we did Numeric Measurement you can do Block Measurementselecting all Identical Items within the Drawing to Save Selecting each item

individually. To do this Click on the Block Measurement Button and select theitem you wish to count. QSCad will then automatically select all identical items withinthe drawing and Count them and Reference each item for Summary.

Once all items have been selected you will need to describe them.

For this example select the Block Measurement Button and Select the trees

When all trees have been counted the Number Measurement Box will automaticallyappear select the Description as Trees and Put this on the Soft Landscaping Layer.This will identify all the selected trees and put them on this layer with the UserDefined Marker.

Once the items have been selected you can then choose to exclude some or all ofthem from measurement.

This button will remove all selected items

This button will allow you to select a specific region to count within

You will need to click the Green Tick Twice after measurement in order toconfirm this. Then Simply Right Click to exit Block Measurement.

Components allow the user to create a set of variables and to apply formulas tothese variables, which effectively allow several things to be measured at once. Forinstance foundation details can be measured at the same time as a perimeter, ordoorframes and partition deductions measured whilst counting doors.

Components are potentially very powerful so read on to learn more. The topic is alsocovered in the QS Cad Help files.

Before going further though, Select the PAVING layer in the Layer Management andmake it the active layer.

Component LibrariesAlthough it is possible to create all rogue Components it is recommended thatComponents that may be of general use on a number of projects are firstly created ina Component Library.

Select, Components | LibrariesThe following window will appear:

First we need to create a new Library. Click on the (New Component) buttonand a popup window will appear

Type in a new Library name, Training, and click OK.

Enter a unique Component Code or name; this description will be used to select it infuture. Say Brick Block Paving.

Click OKThe name can be changed when incorporated within Drawing Measurement File.

The Component screen is effectively a Spreadsheet that has to be used in a moreformal way than normal.

Before creating a component let us just read on to consider it further…

Cells are referenced in the standard spreadsheet way, e.g. A1 being the Top Left cellin the grid.

Try entering the details as follows into the main Spreadsheet

4 Brick Block Paving =A2 M25 Sand Blinding =A2 M26 Type 1 Granular

Material=A2*0.15 M3

7 Edgings =B2 M

8 Excavation =A2*E2 M3Columns D-G can be used to enter Hidden Calculations i.e. Quantities or DimensionsEnter Exc Depth in Column D and 0.25 into Column E.

You can also change the component so that it measures for Length, Area or Number,for instance the number of doors a component could be set up to include frames andpartition deductions.

Any Formula that is entered is entered as you would on a normal Spreadsheet.

Description Column:Contains the Measurement Code when you create a QS Cad Summary.

Calculation Column:This column contains the calculation that gives the quantity value for the descriptionentered. This can be a number or calculation.You can relate the Cell calculation to the measured value by using the NUMBER,LENGTH, and AREA as noted above. Or you can use a cell reference, i.e. B2. Anyother Cell value can also be related by using standard spreadsheet referencing e.g.2*A4 for twice the value of Cell A4.

Note: You can incorporate a number of standard Formulae; see the Help file.

Unit Column:Click in the cell and select one of the predefined unit values.

NB. If you enter information into any cell in a row in the bottom part of the grid thenyou must enter a value in all cells in the row.

Once you have completed you Component you can Exit using the button.The other buttons on the Toolbar

Editing Existing Library Components:You can edit and existing Library Component by selecting it from the LibraryComponent dropdown

Column Description Calc. Unit

Measuring using Components is very similar to standard Measurement.Zoom to a view suitable for measuring the perimeter of a house block.

As with a standard measurement select, Area Measurement from the Toolbar.The measurement set up box appears as normal

Select Brick Block Paving from the Description Box, as this is the Component it willappear shaded to tell you there are hidden details related to this object.Now measure as normal.Once the Area has been measured, Right Click to end measurement mode.

Try measuring the Paving around units 1 and 2 using the Brick Block PavingComponent.

SummariesWhen creating a Summary with items that has Components attached the process isas for creating standard QS Cad Summaries.You will note that the Code description is prefixed with [C] to indicate that the itemcomes from a Component.What you will notice however is that for one area measurement a whole range ofother items have been measured as well.

Components are potentially very powerful. We recommend users give them carefulconsideration.

Click on the button in the Toolbar to extract data.Select all the layers (this dialog can act as a filter to help organise your list ofmeasurements).

The green ‘tick’ button acts as a toggle all on / off.

The list can be saved to Excel or to print , select File | Print

If print is selected the details can be edited before printing.

The list can be summarised by Clicking the button.This shortened list can be printed or saved to Excel

From this screen a further button will create a MDB database file. This file canbe read by Masterbill’s BQ packages, Masterbill Elite, Mb3, plus EstimatorPro andCost Planner and permits the rapid and flexible importation of data into thesepackages.

A perimeter is automatically stored when measuring an area, it is also possible to listout the volume of an area (if the additional dimension has been set) and also thearea related to a length (utilising the additional dimension)Go back to – or reopen – the first summary dialog.

If you select any of these then QSCad will automatically recalculate the totals.

HINTThe check boxes in the printout are only for the convenience ofthe surveyor. Their purpose is user-definable.

Finally with QSCad you are able to print the Coloured up Drawing.

Before Printing you can also attach a Legend to the Drawing to show what each ofthe Hatched Areas Mean by scrolling down to the bottom of the Measure Tab on theToolbar and Selecting Legend Setup/Create

You can also decide which Layers you wish to Include in the Print out by Selecting orDe-Selecting them when importing into the Legend.

Included within QSCad is a print routine allowing you to print either the Whole or Partof the Drawing. As shown below you can choose to either Print the Drawing to Fit thePage Print to Scale or Posterise the Drawing.

The Easiest way to Print from QSCad is to use FILE | Print Complete Drawing asshown above.