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 or
zoomed in to any specific part of the drawing such as a single room.
Drawings are calibrated using known lengths; this ensures the accuracy of
measurements taken from the drawing, thus allowing measurements from drawings
that are not to a true scale. Generally CAD (.dwg) drawings are auto-calibrated but
the user is advised to check against a known length.
The User sets up layers to represent various measurements, e.g. Floor Finishes or
Ceiling Finishes. Layers can be switched On and Off to show all or only some of the
measurements on the drawing.
Measurements are made directly onto the drawing on the screen using the mouse to
Click at each point on the line or area etc. Each measurement can have a Location
and 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 and
measurement has a colour you can use a colour printer to give an accurate colour
coded record of the measurements made. These print outs can also be used to
enhance reports such as Cost Plan's etc.
All measurement information can be displayed in a summary form, printed or
exported to Excel spreadsheet.
This Tutorial will not cover every possible aspect of using QS Cad, nor every
possible way of using the interface. It is still essential for users to study the Help
files to gain a complete understanding of the power and productivity of the
application. However it should give a thorough introduction into how easy it can be to
quickly use the programme to considerable effect. Users should really familiarise
themselves with the basics of Windows point, Click and drag mouse operations to
more quickly come to terms with the programme operations
The drawing used for the base QS Cad tutorials is a simple housing estate with 8
houses in 4 blocks, numbered 1 8.
Once you have become familiar with the basic zoom in and zoom out functions you
may wish to review the drawing before proceeding further

HINT
Normally when noted in this tutorial
Click
means click with the left mouse button
Right Click
means click with the right mouse button
Double Click
means double click with the left mouse button
Drag
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 expanding
down 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.

HINT
CAD 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.

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 and
Siteworks).
The full toolbar is

The Toolbars can be turned on or off.

Toolbars

The functions of the main tools are listed below:

Open
Project
Manager or Open to
Add Drawing
Save
the
Measurement File
Zoom to Extend

Close Drawing

Zoom Out

Zoom to Window by
Selection
Panning
Dynamically
Pan Left, Right, Up,
Down
Display the Current
Drawing Name from
Project Manager
Open Measurement
Layers Window
Measure a Length by
Selecting
Lines
(Linear by Selection)
Measure a Area by
Selection

Zoom to Previous
Window
Repositioning
of
Drawing View
Select a Previously
Created View
Open Help File
Measure a Length
(Linear)
Measure a Area

Refresh
Current
Drawing Window
Zoom In

Measure a Number

Block Measurement

Measure a Distance

Select and Repeat an

Area
Select a length and
repeat at selected
centres
Create
a
Measurement
Summary

Select a Length and

Repeat it elsewhere
Add a Void to
previously measured
area

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

Click on the Zoom to Specific Area button

Place the cursor above and to the left of the dimensioned parking bay (below House
2)
Holding down the left mouse button drag the cursor down and to the left of the
parking bays.
An outline will trace the area being selected
Release 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
Click on the

and zoom in

buttons to refine the selection further.

button to return to view of the complete drawing.

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

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

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

Even though this is a CAD drawing you still need to perform a Calibration check to
ensure that the measurements are correct. For this you will need to zoom in on the
drawing to an area with a known length (for this use plot 1). In the File menu select
Calibration 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 end
of the line to the other you should then see the screen below. As the Calibration
check is correct select Yes to confirm that this drawing has now been Calibrated.

The drawing is now ready to measure from, however before measurement can
commence 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 traditionally
and colouring up you measurements on tracing paper so that you can place each
piece 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 Layer
management screen will appear. The help files will detail other shortcuts.

Let us pause to review this dialog.

The buttons along the top of the dialog perform a
number of functions. Reading left to right
1. Save and Exit
2. Create new layer
3. Delete the selected Layer together with all
measurements
4. Refresh the current selection
5. Print list of measurement layers
6. Access Master Files
7. Zoom and Pan
8. Access Help Files
The tickbox Toggles all layers on/off

This hint line is available in the main QSCad window also. A Hint also appears over
the buttons.
To create a new layer either
Click the

button

Type in details:
Layer Name, e.g. PARKING.
Click the Layer Colour drop down to choose the colour to be used on the drawing
for the layer (LIME).
Having returned to the Layer management screen left mouse Click the layer entered
in 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 sure
you 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 but
remember the hint line will appear when you put the cursor over a button).
Complete as below

Click
Click on a start point on the parking bay kerb above House 1 and trace round the
three sides
When you come to the end Right Click and select End Measurement
Right Click to exit measurement dialog.
Reselect the Line Measurement dialog
Edit the code by adding curved at the end.

Click
1. 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 Measurement
Move to the curved kerb outside House 2 and repeat steps 1 and 2.
Right Click to exit measurement dialog.
Return to measuring straight kerbs
Reselect the line measurement dialog and in the Code box Click on the Down Arrow
and select the straight kerb from the drop down list.

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

Snap
It 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 base
drawing 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 the
line.
Snap can be switched On / Off from the Snap toolbar and also can be changed to
select Snap to Nearest point on a line when measuring lines.
The Snap toolbar will automatically appear whenever a measurement function is
selected. i.e. area measurement
Sometime the confusion of lines may disrupt this process but by turning snap off you
can manually select the correct part on the drawing to measure too.

Lines By Selection
Again 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 as
previous 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 will
be selected on the same basis but only require the line to be selected once.

The measurement buttons

now available to you.

Length,

, area and

number buttons are

But first Just reselect the measurement layers button to view the layer, there should just be
PARKING BAYS selected so our next measurements will go into that layer.
HINT
Note that the number of layers selected will dictate the layers viewed on screen so it
is always possible to have more than one layer checked, what is important when
measuring is to have the appropriate layer active. This can be viewed at the bottom
of the Toolbar. To avoid confusion it is best to measure with only one layer selected,
but this is optional.

Also - zoom to the parking bay below House 2. Choose a scale you are comfortable
with 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 of
direction of the area. When complete the system will automatically join up the first and last point
selected. For curved areas: Click in small lines to create the curve. As you Click onto the
drawing your chosen style is automatically displayed and this will show on the drawing when
printed. Once measurement is complete Right-mouse Click and the fill style changes to your
chosen colour for that Layer and is displayed on screen.

Follow the prompts at the foot of the screen to start measuring, treat the parking bay
as 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 on
each change of direction until you reach the final change in direction. Now
Right Click to indicate to the system that you have finished measuring the current
run.
You will be prompted to End Area
Click 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
resultant dialog.

and then the Red Cross to Close button in the

We can now measure the remaining parking bays and show how easy it is to move
around the drawing in the process.
Click on the Zoom to Full Size button (if you are not sure which this is, pass the
cursor over the Toolbar buttons and check the hint line at the bottom of the
screen)
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 for
measurement.
Click on the Area Measurement button
The 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 to
the 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 Specific
Area 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 and
8 and measure the relevant parking bays, then drag the drawing again to bring
Plots 1 and 2 back into view and measure the parking Bay next to Plot 1.
Now after completing this measurement
Click again to exit the measurement dialog. (You will realise that you could move
straight away into measuring something else by amending this dialog)
Users must judge for themselves the level of zoom needed to obtain the necessary
accuracy.

Zoom out and then Drag to select Plots 7 and 8 and their gardens.
Click on the
button
Change the layer to SOFT LANDSCAPING

HINT
We suggest you read through Section
8 before commencing in order to get a
feel for how and where you will need
to move a round the drawing

Make sure this is the only active measurement layer

This will exit the dialog.

HINT

Click on the
button
Enter details as shown

Remember especially for a beginner it is

best to measure with just the active layer
visible i.e. ticked

Click the GREEN TICK

Start to measure the rear gardens of Plots 7 and 8. Follow the principle of earlier
measurement, left Clicking at each change in direction.

HINT

The garden boundaries are a series of

straight lines. Where the boundary is
curved these lines are much shorter
and more Clicks will be necessary. The
scale should be sufficient for this
exercise but if greater accuracy is
required in future the scale can be
increased. Users should beware though
of measuring to too great a scale to be
of effective merit.

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 Click
Select End Area

NOTE
There are other options under
this
menu that you
may wish to consider but for
now we will wait until later in
the Tutorial to use some of
them.

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 direction

Right Click and
Select End Area, and

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 the
Recycle 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 Items
Select the item to restore and right click, selecting the green tick to return.

4.3. MEASURE A VOID

Go 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 the
measurement 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 displayed
if you click on the void

Click on the
Click on the

button to Zoom Out

button and then

Click on the
button within this dialog to access the Layer Management
dialog
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 future
lessons.
Click
A 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 be
12nr, 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 Measurement
selecting all Identical Items within the Drawing to Save Selecting each item
individually. To do this Click on the Block Measurement Button
and select the
item you wish to count. QSCad will then automatically select all identical items within
the 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 automatically
appear 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 User
Defined Marker.
Once the items have been selected you can then choose to exclude some or all of
them 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 to
confirm this. Then Simply Right Click to exit Block Measurement.

Components allow the user to create a set of variables and to apply formulas to
these variables, which effectively allow several things to be measured at once. For
instance foundation details can be measured at the same time as a perimeter, or
doorframes and partition deductions measured whilst counting doors.
Components are potentially very powerful so read on to learn more. The topic is also
covered in the QS Cad Help files.
Before going further though, Select the PAVING layer in the Layer Management and
make it the active layer.

Component Libraries
Although it is possible to create all rogue Components it is recommended that
Components that may be of general use on a number of projects are firstly created in
a Component Library.
Select, Components | Libraries
The following window will appear:

First we need to create a new Library. Click on the

and a popup window will appear

(New Component) button

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 in
future. Say Brick Block Paving.
Click OK
The name can be changed when incorporated within Drawing Measurement File.
The Component screen is effectively a Spreadsheet that has to be used in a more
formal 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 cell
in the grid.
Try entering the details as follows into the main Spreadsheet
Column

Description

Calc.

Unit

4
5
6

Brick Block Paving

Sand Blinding
Type 1 Granular
Material
Edgings

=A2
=A2
=A2*0.15

M2
M2
M3

=B2

8
Excavation
=A2*E2
M3
Columns D-G can be used to enter Hidden Calculations i.e. Quantities or Dimensions
Enter 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 and
partition 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 description
entered. 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. Any
other 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 then
you must enter a value in all cells in the row.
Once you have completed you Component you can Exit using the
The other buttons on the Toolbar

button.

Editing Existing Library Components:

You can edit and existing Library Component by selecting it from the Library
Component dropdown

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

Components are potentially very powerful. We recommend users give them careful
consideration.

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 of
measurements).
The green tick

The list can be saved to Excel

button acts as a toggle all on / off.

or to print

, select File | Print

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

HINT
The check boxes in the printout are only for the convenience of
the surveyor. Their purpose is user-definable.

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 can
be read by Masterbills BQ packages, Masterbill Elite, Mb3, plus EstimatorPro and
Cost Planner and permits the rapid and flexible importation of data into these
packages.
A perimeter is automatically stored when measuring an area, it is also possible to list
out the volume of an area (if the additional dimension has been set) and also the
area 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.

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 of
the Hatched Areas Mean by scrolling down to the bottom of the Measure Tab on the
Toolbar and Selecting Legend Setup/Create

You can also decide which Layers you wish to Include in the Print out by Selecting or
De-Selecting them when importing into the Legend.
Included within QSCad is a print routine allowing you to print either the Whole or Part
of the Drawing. As shown below you can choose to either Print the Drawing to Fit the
Page Print to Scale or Posterise the Drawing.

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