PCS Tools & Options

There are additional tools and options in Pro Contractor Studio™ to allow you to automatically generate symbol legends, calculate a list of materials, enter pricing information for materials to generate an estimate of installation costs and more.



		Symbol Legend The Symbol Legend command will create a legend of the equipment and materials that exist on the current design. The legend is a single entity and the text within the legend cannot be modified. You can adjust the font size and color as well as turn on or off the grid lines. If you add or remove equipment from the design screen, click on the Update button to regenerate the legend with the new information. Additional options allow you to move or delete a legend.

		Material List / Estimate The Material List / Estimate command will allow you to calculate a complete bill of materials or create an estimate or proposal of installation costs for the current design. Pricing information and labor for installation may be entered in the Equipment Costs command. You may select each field to appear in the report and adjust the order in which they appear. You may view the information on the screen, send it to the printer, or export the information to one of many different file formats. File formats include Microsoft® Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Word for Windows™, Adobe Acrobat, HTML, XML, ASCII Text and more. The Company Information command allows you to enter or edit information about your company. You may print this information at the top of the material list or estimate at your option.

		Equipment Costs The Equipment Costs command allows you to assign pricing information to each piece of equipment or material on the design screen. You can assign a list price, discount rate, labor rate, part number and a tied assembly to virtually every piece of equipment. This information is used to help price an installation when calculating an Estimate.

		Update Database There will be times when a manufacturer releases new products and the database of equipment or material will need to be updated to reflect the new choices. The Update Database command will allow you to download new product or material from the online database. This command requires a connect to the Internet.

		Options The Options command will allow you to set certain properties to avoid the repetitive entry of information during the design process. For example, in the Symbol Scale Factors area you can type in the desired factor in the text box associated with each different type of symbol. This scale factor setting will increase or decrease the size of the symbols when they are placed on the design screen. To increase or decrease the size of existing symbols on the design, enter the Symbol Scale Factors and click on the Apply button. You can also add layer names to calculate the linear length of all lines drawn on the layer in the material takeoff or legend.