Why count on the PDF
Receptacles, fixtures, data drops, smoke detectors: somebody has to count them, and a missed device shows up later as a short order. The old way is a highlighter and a tally in the margin. It works, but it's slow, it's easy to lose your place on a busy sheet, and when the next revision comes out you start over. On the PDF, every mark is saved and every total adds itself up.
How to count devices on a PDF, step by step
- Start a count. Pick Count → New count and name it for one device type, like “Duplex receptacles” or “2x4 troffers”.
- Click each device. Every click drops a numbered mark and adds one to the total. Click a mark again to take it off.
- Or let Find & Count look. Open Find & Count and drag a tight box around one symbol on the plan, then click Find. Every match gets marked.
- Check the matches. Click any match that doesn't belong to take it out, then click Create count.
- Repeat for each device type. One count per device type keeps separate totals, by sheet and for the whole set.
- Send the totals. Export the Counts CSV for the estimator. The flattened PDF adds count pages, so the totals travel with the drawing.
Video
Count and Find & Count. Count by clicking, or box one symbol and let Find & Count mark every match. Steps written out.
When to click and when to use Find & Count
- Find & Count is fastest on clean CAD sheets where every receptacle is drawn the same way.
- Clicking each device is the better call on a scanned print, a small sheet, or a drawing where the symbols aren't consistent. The totals work the same way.
- Use both. Let Find & Count do most of the work, then click to add any it missed.
Tips for a total you can trust
- Box the symbol tightly. Wall lines, text or a circuit number inside the box make it look for those too.
- Box one on the plan, not in the legend. Legend symbols are often drawn bigger than the ones on the floor plan.
- Watch for look-alikes. A duplex, a GFCI and a quad can differ by a letter or one line. Give each its own count and check the matches.
- Work in a pattern when clicking. Room by room, or left to right in strips, so nothing gets skipped.
- Scan the sheet after. Zoom out and look for a device with no mark: one under a note, a dimension line, or turned at an odd angle.
- Recount each revision. Compare the new print to the old one to see what moved, then update the count.
Count a real set in a few minutes. Free for your first 3 drawings on Windows 10 & 11, every tool included, no account. Pro is $39.99 once.
Free · Microsoft StoreMeasure the runs while you're there
Counts usually come with footage. Pick Measure, use the scale read off the sheet, and measure distances and runs in feet and inches. See how to measure to scale on a PDF.
Getting the totals to the estimator
- Counts CSV: symbol counts and runs, by sheet and for the set, in a file that opens in Excel.
- Flattened PDF: markups burned in, with count pages.
- PDF for Bluebeam / Acrobat: count marks stay editable for an office that uses either one.
Counting in the field? The counts come along in the as-built redlines you send back.
Questions people ask
- Can it count symbols on every sheet?
- Yes. Count totals are kept by sheet and for the whole set, and Find & Count finds the matching symbols across the drawing set.
- Why did Find & Count miss some devices?
- Usually the box was loose, or it was drawn around the legend symbol, which is often bigger than the ones on the plan. Box one device on the plan tightly, then click to add any stragglers.
- Can I get the counts into Excel?
- Yes. Export the Counts CSV for totals by sheet and for the set. The flattened PDF also gets count pages.
- Does it work on scanned drawings?
- Find & Count works best on clean CAD sheets. On a rough scan, click each device instead; the totals work the same way.