Search sheets and follow sheet links
Zip Takeoff reads each sheet's number from its title block, indexes the text on every sheet for search, and turns printed references to other sheets into links. Correct names keep links and addendum matching working; renaming and reordering need an estimator seat.
What it's useful for
- Before you finish a bid, you search a removal item's number to list every sheet that mentions it.
- A plan note says SEE DWG C-501, and one click opens that detail sheet.
- The engineer's PDF puts details ahead of plan sheets, and you drag them into the order you take off.
- You left a question in a markup note, and searching a word from it finds the sheet again.
Check and fix sheet names
The Sheets panel lists every sheet by its title-block number, with its subtotal for each condition (a named, colored measurement group with a unit) underneath.
- Look for sheets still named Page N.
- Hover the sheet and click Rename page, the pencil icon.
- Type the printed sheet number and press Enter.
- To re-read every title block, click the auto-name button beside the Sheets heading.
Reorder sheets
- Press on a sheet's ⋮⋮ grip in the Sheets panel.
- Drag it; a line shows where it will land.
- Release to drop it above the sheet under the line.
- To move a sheet into another plan set, drop it on a sheet in that set.
Search every sheet
Search covers every sheet in the project, ignores capitals and spaces, and also finds text in markup notes and callouts.
- Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on a Mac) or click the Search sheets box under the sheet list.
- Type a pay item code or a word and press Enter.
- Click a result to open that sheet with the matches highlighted.
- Click ✕ beside Search sheets to clear the results and highlights.
Jump to a referenced sheet
A sheet number printed on the drawing becomes a link, shown as a blue dashed box, when another sheet in the same plan set has that name.
- Make sure Select is active (press V).
- Find a sheet reference on the drawing, such as a SEE DWG note.
- Click the blue dashed box around the sheet number to open that sheet.
Limits and checks
- Auto-naming reads title-block text. Sheets it cannot read stay "Page N". Rename anything wrong, because addendum matching uses sheet names.
- A reference links only when it matches another sheet's name in the same plan set and looks like a sheet number (letters, a hyphen, digits, such as C-102).
- Search reads the PDF's own text. Scanned sheets are read with character recognition, which can misread or skip words.
- On sheets that carry real text, words the CAD plot drew as outlines are not searchable.
- Renaming, reordering and auto-naming need an estimator seat. Any seat can search and follow links.
Questions
Does sheet search work on scanned plans?
Yes, with limits. Scanned sheets are read with character recognition, which can misread or skip words, so a search there can miss matches.
Why didn't a sheet reference become a link?
A reference links only when another sheet in the same plan set has that name and it looks like a sheet number, such as C-102. Rename the target sheet to its printed number.
Can I move a sheet into another plan set?
Yes. Drag it by its grip and drop it on a sheet in the other plan set.
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