Print All Pages

Good feature request. We'll add to the list 🙂

Hi Michael.

Is just for all pages with takeoffs? Or could it be various scenarios?

Great feature! I would like to see all pages with both takeoffs and markups. Thank you!

Great idea on the print-to-PDF for all pages with takeoff—can we also include the legend?

Actually, let’s go a step further. Dumping static PDFs isn’t the future. What we really need is a hyperlink that looks like a PDF, so recipients can view it electronically, interact with it, or print if needed. Now we’re talking!

I 100% agree Kyle. Export & print to PDF is a band-aid, but a much needed one in the meantime until we can get everyone collaborating inside zzTakeoff. As we get more sharing tools, it will be so fun to get the whole world collaborating on their plans in zzTakeoff 🙂

Development on the legend (first iteration) is completed locally, and will come out with our next release:

@Heber,

I realize I didn’t explain this clearly. The key need here is for ZZTakeoff to generate a cloud-hosted hyperlink that allows anyone to access the takeoff output in a web browser—without requiring a login or having ZZTakeoff installed.

What this would look like:

Instead of forcing users to download static PDFs, the system would generate a shareable link that opens a web-based document with the same visual and functional properties as a PDF but with added benefits.

Example:

🔗 https://takeofftool.com/reports/estimate12345 (Not a real link, just an illustration)

Features & Benefits:

✅ Looks & behaves like a PDF (pagination, zoom, annotations)

✅ No login required (frictionless access for clients, trade partners, etc.)

✅ Live updates (if changes occur in ZZTakeoff, the link reflects them)

✅ Version history (previous iterations accessible via the link)

✅ Interactive elements (clickable takeoff data, cost breakdown toggles....Now that sounds future foward, the Owner would love me!)

✅ Download/print options (if users still need a static version)

Why This Matters:

This moves beyond outdated “dumb PDFs” and transforms how takeoff data is shared—creating a more interactive, accessible, and dynamic experience. Making collaboration easier and more efficient.

Thoughts?

@Kyle

Yes, I agree. Also, thanks for the additional details.

If a user can view the plans in a central collaboration spot (especially with ability to view without login, if an admin has shared to "anyone with link" can access), no need to download as PDF anymore. I guess at that point downloading as PDF could be good for backup purposes, but would not be needed for collaboration via emailing many PDF files around (as many users do today).

Here's another related post:

https://www.zztakeoff.com/app/community/general/collaboration

A little side story:

Many years ago, when paper plans was the norm, a guy told me that digital plans wouldn't work for takeoff because he can't hold his scaling ruler up to the monitor to get measurements. After explaining to him that you can click points to get measurements, the lightbulb turned on for him, and he could see the disconnect between what he was asking for (1:1 scale of plans on a computer screen) and what he really needed (ability to get measurements).

I think once we get collaboration to a point as mentioned in your post, then the lightbulb will turn on for the PDF / Bluebeam users. They don't need to email PDFs around to everyone with lots of old versions all over the place. They just need effective ways to collaborate and communicate about the plans, and they no longer need to do it the "old way".

Thanks for all the input!

The future of PDFs? Less “Print to PDF,” more “Wow, this actually works!”

Kyle/Heber,

I agree to a point. The future is in realtime collaboration…but it is not in collaborative reporting. Everything in the construction industry is moving towards science: materials science, building science and engineering, and finally BIM. See here that the W3C has already been preparing for this forgone conclusion: Building Topology Ontology .

Therefore, we need to move past the idea of a takeoff being a collaborative report on the materials/labor/cost of a project and move toward the idea of it being a basic model of the thing to be built. I’m not suggesting that zzTakeoff needs to be replete with powerful tools for the calculation of everything in a building; it just needs to model the building to the degree that is required for estimating and collaboration purposes.