How to Use Scan Text in Cubit Estimating (v15)

Scan Text

How to Use Scan Text in Cubit Estimating

Scan Text allows you to automatically locate and count specific text labels on your plans. In v15, detection has been improved and result navigation lets you step through and verify each match before counting. This guide explains how to search, review results, create count shapes, and apply them to your estimate.

Contents

1. 1Access Scan Text
2. 2Perform a Text Search
3. 3Review and Interact with Results
4. 4Create Count Shapes
5. 5Use Count Shapes in Your Estimate
6. !Important Notes

1

Access Scan Text

Steps

1

Open your plan

Load your plan in Cubit Estimating.

2

Go to the Home tab

3

Locate the AI Tools section

4

Click Scan Text

iTip: Ensure your plan is correctly oriented and clearly legible before running a search.

iFor the best results, use a vector PDF imported as vector — v15's detection improvements are strongest on vector plans. Image PDFs, PNG, and JPG are still supported, but detection may be less reliable.

Figure 1 – Opening Scan Text

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2

Perform a Text Search

Steps

1

Enter your search text

Type the label you want to locate in the Find Text field.

2

Select a Match Type

• Contains — finds text containing your entry
• Starts with — finds text beginning with your entry
• Whole words only — finds exact matches only

3

Case sensitive

Enable this option if required.

4

Click Search

iThe first search on a plan may take a moment while the plan text is indexed. After that, all searches on the same plan are instant — Scan Text uses the cached index rather than re-processing the plan.

Figure 2 – Entering Search Criteria

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3

Review and Interact with Results

After running a search, results appear in two places

• Listed in the Search Results panel
• Highlighted directly in the Viewport

Interacting with results

1

Expand a result group

Expand a group to view the individual results it contains.

2

Step through results

Use the result navigation controls to move through each detected label one by one.

3

Double-click to inspect

Double-click a result to centre and highlight it directly in the Viewport.

4

Check each highlighted result

Confirm each highlighted result is correct on the plan before creating counts.

5

Tick the results to count

Tick the checkbox beside a result to mark it for counting. Selected results display in your configured Selection colour (Job Settings → Viewport).

6

Sort results

Click column headers to sort by text or count.

iTip: Use result navigation to check each detected label before creating counts — stepping through results one by one makes validation faster and helps confirm matches are correct.

Figure 3 – Reviewing and Sorting Results

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4

Create Count Shapes

Count Shapes convert detected labels into measurable quantities you can use directly in your estimate.

Steps

1

Tick the results you want

Check the checkboxes beside each result to include.

2

Click Create Count

3

Combine variations if needed

To group multiple variations (e.g. Type A and Type A-Rev), select Create one combined count shape.

Created shapes appear in two places

• Directly in the Viewport
• In the Shapes pane under AI Counts

!Always confirm highlighted results are correct before creating counts.

Figure 4 – Creating Count Shapes

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5

Use Count Shapes in Your Estimate

Steps

1

Open the Shapes pane

2

Locate your count shape

Find it under AI Counts in the Shapes pane.

3

Drag and drop

Drop the shape into the quantity cell of an existing line item.

4

Count populates automatically

The total is applied directly to the linked trade item.

Figure 5 – Applying Count Shape to Estimate

AI can and does make mistakes. Always review and verify every result before using it in your estimate — AI-generated shapes, counts, and detections may be inaccurate, incomplete, or miss elements entirely. Use your professional judgement to check all outputs.

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!

Important Notes

• v15 has improved how text and labels are detected, but results still depend on drawing clarity and resolution.
• For the best results, use a vector PDF imported as vector.
• Rotating a plan after running a search may cause highlights to misalign.
• Overlapping or stylised fonts may not be recognised accurately.
• If a trade item is locked by another user, creating a count may not complete.
• Ensure plan orientation is correct before searching.

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