How to Count Items on a PDF Drawing for a Takeoff

To count items on a PDF drawing, open the drawing in a PDF editor with a count tool, start one count group for each item type, click once on every symbol of that type, and read the total for the group. Then check the totals against the schedule and export them to a spreadsheet. In Notch the tool is Count in the Measurements flyout, and each count group keeps one running total across every page of the document.

This guide uses an electrical example: duplex receptacles, GFCI receptacles and light fixture types on a set of floor plans. The same method works for doors, windows, plumbing fixtures, sprinkler heads, diffusers and anything else you price by the each.

What do you need before you count items on a PDF drawing?

You need the legend or schedule for the trade, a list of the item types you will count, and a decision on how you want the totals split. A count does not need a page scale, because it is a tally, not a distance. Set the scale anyway if you will measure lengths and areas on the same pages.

1. Find the symbol legend for the trade, usually on the first electrical, plumbing or mechanical sheet.
2. Find the schedule that goes with it: the light fixture schedule, the door schedule, the plumbing fixture schedule.
3. Write the list of item types you will count, one line per type. A fixture schedule with types A, B and C is three count groups, not one.
4. Decide whether you need totals by floor, by area or only for the whole set. That decides how you name and group the counts later.
5. Note any symbols that look alike, such as a duplex receptacle and a GFCI receptacle, which often differ only by a letter next to the symbol.

How do you count items on a PDF in Notch?

Choose Count from the Measurements flyout, name the group in Properties, then click once on each item. Each click drops a mark, and the status strip shows the group's name and running total while you count. Measurement tools, Count included, are part of the Solo and Pro plans, and the 14-day free trial covers them. See pricing for current plans.

1. Open the PDF to the first page you will count.
2. Open the Measurements flyout on the tool rail and choose Count. The shortcut is ⇧⌥C (Shift+Alt+C on Windows).
3. In Properties, type the group's name, for example "Duplex receptacle".
4. Pick a symbol and a color for the group. The symbols are Dot, Circle, Square, Square outline, Triangle, Diamond, Hexagon, Star, Cross and Plus.
5. Click once on each item of that type on the page. The tally in the status strip steps up with each click.
6. Go to the next page and keep clicking. The marks add to the same group and the same total.
7. Press Escape when you are done with that item type.

To count the next item type, choose Count again. Choosing the tool again starts a new group, so give it a new name, symbol and color before the first click. If you skip the name, Notch numbers the groups "Count 1", "Count 2" and so on, which is hard to read in an export.

You can also start a count from New take-off in the Measurements panel. It arms the tool with Properties open, so you name the group before the first click. The measurements and calibration docs list every measure tool.

Worked example: an electrical floor plan

The numbers here are placeholders to show the method, not typical values for a real project. Say the electrical set has two floor plans, and the fixture schedule lists three fixture types.

Count one group across both floors before you start the next. Looking for one symbol at a time leads to fewer misses than marking everything on a page in one pass.

Give each group a symbol and color that stands out from the drawing's line work and from the other groups. When you finish, every symbol of a type on the page should be covered by a mark of the matching color. Anything left uncovered is a missed item.

How do you check a count is right?

Scan each page for uncovered symbols, compare the totals with the schedule where it gives quantities, and look for items counted twice. A count is wrong in one of three ways: an item was missed, an item was counted twice, or an item went into the wrong group.

Some door and fixture schedules list quantities. Treat them as a cross-check, not as the answer. The plans and the schedule can disagree, and the contract documents govern which one you price.

When you check a group in Notch, select one of its marks and look at Properties. The Count group section shows the total as "N on M sheets", so you can see at once if a page was skipped.

Fix a miscount

Delete the extra mark or add the missing one. Clicking a count mark selects the whole group, so pick the single mark first before you delete it.

1. Right-click the mark that is wrong and choose Select this mark only.
2. Press Delete. The group total drops by one.
3. To add a missed item to an existing group, open the Measurements panel and click Add marks to on that group's row. The Count tool arms on that group, and the next clicks add to its total.
4. To change a group's name, symbol or color, select any of its marks and edit it in Properties. The change applies to every mark in the group, on every page.

In the Measurements panel, expand a count group to see each mark listed as #1, #2 and so on with its page number, so you can find the mark that is wrong. To remove a group entirely, use Delete on the group's row, which deletes the group and all its marks.

How do you get per-sheet and whole-set totals?

A count group gives you the whole-set total. For per-sheet or per-floor totals, group the list by page. Notch shows both without a second count.

1. In the Measurements panel, open Group & sort and group by page. Each page shows its own subtotal.
2. Stack grouping levels for more detail, for example cost code and then page.
3. For a table, open the Worksheet from the status strip or with Ctrl+Shift+L (⌘⇧L on Mac). Use This sheet to see only the page you are on, or Group to nest the rows by page, layer or another field, with totals per group.

If you need totals by floor and the floors are on separate pages, grouping by page is enough. If one page holds two areas, put each area's counts on its own layer and group by layer. The worksheet docs cover filters, grouping and custom columns.

How do you export counts to Excel?

Click Export CSV in the Measurements panel, or export from the Worksheet, and open the file in Excel. Both are part of the Solo and Pro plans.

The Export CSV file has one row per mark, with the group's name, type, layer, page and cost code. In Excel, a pivot table with the name as rows and page as columns gives the same table as the worked example above. The Worksheet export saves the table exactly as you have set it up, including filters and grouping, so you can group by name first and export the summary.

To put the totals on the page itself, the Legend tool in the Text flyout draws a key of each measurement's color, name and total. It exports with the document, which helps when you send a marked-up set to a subcontractor or supplier for a quote.

How do you count items in Bluebeam Revu?

Bluebeam Revu has a Count tool and, on its Core, Complete and Max plans, Visual Search, which finds repeated symbols for you. The steps below are from Bluebeam's own support pages for Revu 21, checked November 2026.

Count by hand in Revu

1. Go to Tools > Measure > Count, or click the Count icon in the Measurements panel.
2. Click each item on the page.
3. Press Esc when you are finished.
4. To add to an existing count, right-click any mark in the series and choose Resume Count.

Revu groups counts by page or Space in the Markups list, and the Count column shows each group's total. To total one item across pages, Bluebeam's Count tool page says to give each count the same Subject and sort the Markups list by Subject.

Count with Visual Search in Revu

Bluebeam's Count tool tips page (Revu 20 and 21) gives these steps:

1. Open the Search panel (Alt+1) and select Visual Search.
2. Click Get Rectangle and draw a box around one symbol.
3. Click Search and check the results you want to keep.
4. From the Check Options menu, choose Apply Count Measurement to Checked.

Bluebeam's Visual Search overview advises drawing the rectangle as close to the symbol as you can and adjusting the Sensitivity slider if the results are off. It says the feature needs a Core, Complete or Max plan. Check Visual Search results the same way you check a hand count, because a symbol with a line running through it or a letter beside it can be missed or matched wrongly.

Revu exports counts in a Markup Summary as a PDF or CSV.

Notch and Revu side by side

Notch is our product. It does not search the PDF for symbols, so on a very large set with hundreds of identical devices, Revu's Visual Search can save clicks. Notch's strength is that one group holds one item's total for the whole document, with per-page subtotals from the same marks.

Frequently asked questions

Can you count symbols on a PDF automatically?

Some tools can. Bluebeam Revu's Visual Search finds repeated symbols and applies count marks to the results, on its Core, Complete and Max plans. Automatic results still need checking, because symbols with text or lines through them can be missed. Notch does not search for symbols; you click each item.

Do you need to set the scale to count items on a PDF?

No. A count is a tally of clicks, so it does not use the page scale. Set the scale if you will also measure lengths or areas on the same page, because those depend on it. The steps are in How to Scale a PDF Drawing.

How do you avoid counting the same item twice?

Count each area of the building on one plan only, and skip enlarged plans that repeat the main plan unless they show items the main plan does not. Watch match lines. In Notch, expand a count group in the Measurements panel to see every mark with its page number.

Can you count items in a free PDF reader?

Most free readers have no count tool, so you would place a stamp or comment on each item and count them by hand. Notch's Count tool is part of the Solo and Pro plans, with a 14-day free trial, so you can try it on a real set before paying.

Next steps

Pick one item type, count it across the set and check the total against the schedule before you count the rest. Takeoff in Notch covers counts, lengths, areas and the takeoff panel in one place. For the whole takeoff process, see How to Do a Takeoff From a PDF, and if your team is on Revu, How to Do a Takeoff in Bluebeam covers its measure tools in full.