Here is a video link for our new Improvements

https://youtu.be/Mb3OlPm83ec

01Headline features

Vector Contours — read the lines straight off the PDF

New

A companion tool that extracts the vector linework from your plan PDF so you don't trace contours by hand. Load the sheet's PDF, give each line style a role (existing, proposed, or other), and set elevations by clicking — or use Walk mode: set a start and a step, then click contours one after another and each click assigns the next elevation. It even reads the elevation labels printed on the plan and attaches them to the right lines, flagging anything doubtful with a ? so you review instead of trust.

One button then creates real takeoffs on the page — organized folders, correct properties, every line verified after writing — ready for Grading 2D/3D to grade. Works with vector PDFs (a scanned plan has no line data to read).

Strip before grading

New

Topsoil strip is now handled the way the field does it: strip first, then grade. Inside each strip area, the existing ground is lowered by the strip depth before cut and fill are measured — so Strip, Cut and Fill are three separate dirt movements that never double-count. Topsoil in your cut zones is counted once (in Strip), and the fill needed to replace stripped soil in fill zones is now included in Fill.

It's on by default. If you're mid-bid on the old convention, one checkbox in PARAMETERS (Strip before grading) reproduces your previous numbers exactly, and the plain-English summary always states which convention is active.

Building pads that explain themselves

Improved

Pad semantics were confusing people, so the tool now says them out loud: elevation is the pad's finished top (FFL), thickness is the stone-and-slab build-up, and the dirt is graded to elevation − thickness (the subgrade). Each pad's FEATURES row now prints both — FFL 100.0 → dirt graded to 98.5 — so an elevation/thickness mix-up is visible at a glance, and the Toolbox pad card carries the rule as a hint.

02Quantity fixes

• Every strip polygon counts. Previously, only one strip area per sheet made it into the Strip total — extra strip areas, or one strip takeoff drawn as several sections, were silently dropped. All polygons now count, render in 2D and 3D, and the RESULTS sub-line aggregates them (e.g. 3 areas · 5,482 SF @ 0.50–1.00 ft).
• The right plan sheet, every time. Two community-reported underlay bugs are fixed: the 2D/3D view no longer grabs a busy structural sheet instead of the grading sheet, and switching projects no longer leaves the previous job's sheet behind the new takeoff.
• Missing elevations are called out. A contour line with a surface type but no elevation can't shape the surface — it used to vanish silently. DATA CHECK now warns and names the takeoffs, so nothing gets left at "(no elevation yet)" without you knowing.

Heads-up: your numbers may change

Because strip-first is on by default, any job with a strip area will show lower Cut and higher Fill on its next load — the shift equals the strip volume. That's the double-count correction, not a bug. Untick Strip before grading to compare against your old numbers.

03Quality of life

• Grid defaults to 2 ft (2 m on metric projects) on every load — sharper heatmaps and crisper pad edges out of the box. Drop it to 1 for maximum precision or raise it toward 5 on very large sites.
• Dense linework loads fast. Contours imported from a PDF can carry hundreds of points per line; the engine now streamlines them automatically on load. Volumes are untouched — it only keeps the recompute quick.
• Metric, built in. Start a zzTakeoff project in metric and EarthworkZZ follows automatically — metres in, cubic metres out, write-back in m³. One tool, both unit systems, and a display toggle whenever you want to see the other one.
• Help, rewritten. The in-app manual now covers the full workflow including Vector Contours, strip-first, the pad elevation rules, and the multi-sheet matchline setup.

04What's in the box

ComponentWhat it doesGrading 2D/3DThe engine: cut/fill/strip volumes, watercolour heatmap, 3D terrain, multi-sheet with matchlines, FEATURES breakout, and write-back into your estimate.Grading ToolboxOne-click drawing tools — limit of grading, strip areas with disposition, continuous contours, spot elevations, cut areas, building pads, matchlines.Vector ContoursPulls contour lines and elevation labels straight out of the vector PDF and writes them as ready-made takeoffs.HelpThe full manual, in the app — quick start, property reference, tips.

Thank you to the community members who reported the underlay bugs, questioned the strip quantities, and pushed on the building pad behavior — every one of those reports made this release better. Found something off, or have an idea? Post it in the community; fixes ship fast. All volumes are bank measure — apply your own bulking and compaction factors in the estimate.