The other day a good question came in on the Ask Jason site inquiring about speeding things up in Autodesk Quantity Takeoff (QTO) while doing manual takeoffs. So that got me thinking about how many others many need to know about the shortcut keys in QTO.
Have you ever stopped to hover over a tool and like Linear or Area takeoff and noticed a single letter after the tool description? Well that would be the Shortcut key, just waiting for you to press the key to activate it.
Here is a quick list of the Shortcuts Keys, that you can select anytime:
- Navigation and Selection Tools:
- (N) Select
- (P) Pan
- (Z) Zoom/Zoom Window
- (O)Orbit/Turntable
- Model Takeoff Tools:
- (M) Model Takeoff
- (R) Search Takeoff
- (G) Single-Click Auto Takeoff
- 2D Takeoff Tools:
- (L) Linear Takeoff tool group
- (A) Area Takeoff tool group
- (C) Count Takeoff
- (B) Backout Takeoff tool group
- Markup Tools:
- (D) Shape
- (T) Text
- (Y) Callout
- (S) Stamp
Additional Tools for 2D or Manual Takeoffs:
- Panning During Takeoff: Sometimes you need to "pause" your manual takeoff and Pan around your drawing. Pressing the Spacebar will pause your takeoff and activate the Pan tool, allowing you to move freely around the drawing. Release the Spacebar to return to your active takeoff.
- Changing Directions of an Arc: During Linear takeoff and while using the Arc tool you may want to change the direction of the Arc without having to exit and start over. Pressing (O) while in the Linear Arc mode will change directions of the Arc. Press (O) to change the direction back
- Ortho Mode (aka straight lines): During Linear or Area Takeoff, holding the Shift Key down will allow you to enter into temporary Ortho mode, which will help you to create straighter lines. Release the Shift Key to exit out of Temporary Ortho mode