BidScreen Cloud update: multi-file bids, stitched site sheets and layers

Before you measure anything, the plans have to be in shape. On a site job that usually means a civil set from one engineer, a grading plan from another, an aerial from the owner, and two sheets that only make sense side by side. Getting all of that into one takeoff used to take several trips through the upload screen. This BidScreen Cloud release is about that part of the job.

Start a bid with every file at once

The Create Bid window now takes several files in one go: PDF, DXF, DWG, LandXML, TIFF, PNG, JPG and WEBP. Each PDF gets its own page picker, so you can take 5 of the 7 sheets in the civil set and the one grading sheet from the other PDF in the same step. The footer keeps a running count, like "6 pages from 3 files," before anything is created.

• Rotate every page, or one page, before it's created.
• PDFs can be up to 300 MB each.
• CAD and image files need the Pro plan.

Add pages without leaving the takeoff

The Add button in the Pages panel now opens one window, Add to this project, with three sources: your computer, the project's documents, and stitching sheets into a site sheet. Drop a file and it's routed by what it is:

• A PDF opens its pages so you can tick the sheets to add.
• A DXF or DWG asks whether it's a sheet or a set of surfaces.
• A scanned sheet, aerial or ortho becomes a page. A GeoTIFF sets its own scale and location.
• A takeoff export (.json) replaces the annotations on the page you're on.

Nothing is added until you pick, and the new pages land in the page list without a reload.

Stitch sheets into one site sheet

Earthwork and site work are easier on one sheet than across three. Pick Stitch sheets into a site sheet, tick the sheets in order, arrange them in the stitch editor, and add the result to the project. You can also trim title blocks first, with an auto-detect that looks for them for you.

• It keeps the real scale. Our two 1" = 20' sheets came in as a 1" = 20' site sheet. No re-scaling.
• The source sheets step aside. They're hidden from the page list so you don't take them off twice. They aren't deleted, and the change can be undone.
• It exports once. The stitched sheet prints once, with one legend, and only source sheets you actually took off are included.

One honest limit: automatic alignment needs sheet numbers or matchline callouts on the sheets. Without them, you place the sheets yourself in the editor.

Layers

Under a site sheet in the Pages panel, Add a layer lays another sheet over it: a takeoff page, a project document, or a file from your computer (PDF, DXF, DWG, LandXML, TIFF, PNG, JPG or WEBP). Use it for existing over proposed, an aerial under the plan, or a revised sheet over the old one.

• A new layer comes in fitted to the sheet at 60% with multiply blending.
• Line it up by clicking two points on the sheet, then the same two points on the layer.
• Each layer has its own opacity and on/off switch, and the original sheet stays underneath. A sheet can hold up to 6 layers.
• Snapping can follow the layer's lines as well as the sheet's.

Fixed: labels show up where your mouse is

When you hovered a shape, its label used to sit in the middle of the shape. On a long run or a big area, that could be far from what you were looking at, or off screen. Now the quantity and class show up right at your mouse, and they stay sharp at any zoom. The running total you see while drawing stays sharp at any zoom too.

Try it

Everything above is live in BidScreen Cloud now. Log in at app.vertigraph.com and start your next bid with every file at once.