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Using the Sketch tool in Reports Now™
Using the Sketch tool in Reports Now™

Draw a property floor plan with the handy Sketch feature in Reports Now™ and your property square footage is calculated automatically.

Riley DiMarco avatar
Written by Riley DiMarco
Updated over a week ago

Start by selecting the Sketch tab from the menu on the left side of your screen. The icons along the top of the Sketch tool allow you to:

  • Zoom Out

  • Center and Fit

  • Zoom In

  • Undo

  • Redo

  • Calculate Total Gross Living Area

  • Reset Canvas

On the left side of the page there's a menu full of useful tools to make sketching even easier including editing Area Information (keep reading to learn more about this), add labels, duplicate areas, delete and more. You can find this menu on the Freeform

Decide which room or floor of the house you want to start off with - this is totally up to you! Use your mouse to select where you want to draw your first line or use the number pad and arrows from the menu on the right of the screen.

Example of Using the Number Pad & Arrows:

I want to make a wall that goes 10 feet to the left on my sketch.

1. Select the "Wall Length" box and type "10" OR click "1" then "0" from the number pad to enter the wall length.

2. Select the arrow that points to the left (below the number pad), and click "Enter."

The 10 foot line has now been drawn and I can continue this same process, or use my mouse, for the remaining walls for this area.

Continue drawing out the sketch until you've finished your first section of the property. Please be sure to close the shape when you're finished sketching each floor, room or area of the property so that the square footage and perimeter will automatically be calculated for you. This is an example of a closed shape:

Anow Pro Tip: The Sketch tool will try to predict where your next line is going (see the dotted line in the red box below). If it's the last wall you're sketching for that area, and if it's accurate, you can select "A" on your keyboard to easily close off the area and add a label.

When the shape is closed, a list of room/area labels will appear for you to choose from. The label you select will appear in the center of the shape you've drawn, along with the total square footage for that area.

Click here for information about adding default and custom labels to your sketch!

To edit the details for that area, click on "define" the area (the area will turn blue when selected), then click the area you want. Next, click on apply to add the area that you want.

On the "Define" option that appears on the left hand side can:

  • Edit the area name

  • Mark this area as a "Living Area" (any marked living areas will be included in the Total Living Area square footage calculation on the "Sketch" page of the report)

  • Choose to show the Area label (square footage)

  • Choose to show the Perimeter label

  • Choose to show Text label (area name)

You can edit the Area Info settings as many times as you need until you're satisfied before you save the sketch.

Anow Pro Tip: Clone a shape by selecting it and clicking Clone Area. Move the shape around using the arrow keys on your keyboard, sketch menu, or your mouse. Note: You will need to Define the area before Cloning.

Continue this process of sketching out shapes and labeling them until you've finished the entire property. To manage how Gross Living Area is calculated and which areas of the property are included in that calculation, click on Calcs icon.

A window will appear that gives you the power to choose whether each area is included, subtracted, or excluded from the overall Gross Living Area calculation.

Please Note: If an area has "Is Living Area" checked off in the Area Info section, by default, it will be automatically included in the GLA calculation.

Save your sketch to update the "Sketch" page of your report.

This is what the Sketch page of your report will look like. You can see all of the areas you've sketched out, along with calculations for Living Area per individual area and the Total Living Area.

Feel free to contact our friendly support team if you have any further questions!

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