Getting Started

To get started, upload your own drawings or try a demo project.

User Interface

• Navigate back to your projects
• Open Automated Takeoff Menu. Detect beams, braces, columns, and base plates
• Open Export Menu. Excel material list and marked up PDF
• JDSMAKUsers viewing project
• Open Chat. Ask questions about your drawings
• Open Markup Panel. Manually annotate beams, columns, plates, and panels
• Open Annotations Table. View and edit all annotations
• Open Scale Calibration. Set the drawing scale for accurate measurements. See the tutorial here.
• Select and Pan tools
• 3/12Page navigation
• 25%Rotate and zoom controls

Core Features

Exports

Export your completed takeoff to Excel, Tekla EST format, or as an annotated PDF.

Export

PDF

With Annotations

PDF with all markup visible

Original PDF

Clean PDF without markup

Spreadsheet

Complete Takeoff

Summary, Beams, Columns, Plates

Tekla EST Format

For Tekla PowerFab import

• Excel — Member, Grade, Manufacturer, Coating, Length, Weight, Price. Customizable per user.
• Tekla EST — Seamless integration with Tekla estimating workflows
• Annotated PDF — Download PDF with all markup included

Annotations Table

The Annotations Table provides a comprehensive list view of all annotations in your project, with real-time tonnage calculations and powerful organization tools.

Table Columns

Each row displays an annotation with configurable columns. Click the icon to customize which columns are visible:

• Mark — Unique identifier for each annotation
• Name — Material type from your catalog
• Page — Which drawing page the annotation is on
• Length — Calculated length in feet and inches
• Weight — Calculated weight in pounds
• Grade, Mfr, Coating, Camber — Additional material properties

Sorting

Sort annotations by Mark, Type, Page, Length, or Weight using the settings panel.

Interaction

• Click a row — Highlights the annotation on the PDF and scrolls it into view
• Eye — Toggle visibility of individual annotations
• Trash — Delete with confirmation (click once to arm, again to confirm)
• Hash — Toggle mark badges on the PDF canvas

Total Tonnage

The bottom of the panel displays the running Total Steel tonnage for your project. Warnings appear for:

• ⚠️ Uncalibrated pages (length cannot be calculated)
• ⚠️ Members with unknown weight (missing from catalog)
• ⚠️ Columns without height specified

Live Tonnage Display

The right sidebar shows real-time tonnage totals as you work. The tonnage updates instantly when you add, modify, or delete annotations. This gives you continuous feedback on your takeoff progress.

Scale Calibration

The length scale for each page needs to be calibrated for accurate measurements. Each page stores one scale that applies to all measurements on that page. Alkali offers two calibration methods to fit different drawing scenarios.

Navigation & Motion

Nesting

Optimize how cut lengths are nested onto stock bars to minimize waste. Upload or pull cuts directly from your takeoff, compare scenarios with different stock and pricing, and export cut lists to PDF.

Getting Cuts Into the Optimizer

There are two ways to load cuts:

• From a project — Navigate to Export then Nesting Plan. Cut lengths are pulled automatically from your takeoff annotations, grouped by beam type and material.
• Upload a file — Navigate to www.alkali.engineering/nesting and drag-and-drop a CSV or Excel file with columns for Beam Type, Cut Length, Quantity, and optionally Material.

Nesting Interface

Once cuts are loaded, each beam type appears as a collapsible row. The header shows the beam type name, the number of unique cuts, and the total piece count. Click a row to expand it and see:

• Kerf & Trim — The current kerf width and end-trim for this beam type.
• Stock — Click to expand a table of available stock lengths with their limit and $/ft. These values come from the stock config (see below).
• Cut table — Every cut length and its quantity.
• Errors / Warnings — Per-beam alerts (e.g. cuts exceeding max stock, zero kerf, near-duplicate lengths). These also appear as small badges on the collapsed header.

The toolbar at the top provides:

• Run Alkali Nesting — Runs the optimization and generates a PDF cutting plan with color-coded bar diagrams.
• + Scenario — Clone the current scenario. Each tab has independent stock and pricing. Double-click a tab to rename it.
• Clear All — Resets all scenarios and data.

Nesting Output

The optimizer produces:

• PDF cutting plan — Color-coded bar diagrams showing each cut, kerf marker, end trim, and drop-off waste on every stock bar, plus a summary table.

Stock Config

A stock config tells the optimizer what bar lengths are available, what they cost, and any per-beam kerf or trim overrides. Each scenario has its own stock config, so you can compare different suppliers or inventories.

The stock config bar appears above the beam rows with two buttons:

• Download Template — Get a pre-filled CSV with one row per beam type. Columns: Beam Type, Stock Length, $/ft, $/stick, Kerf, End Trim, Limit.
• Upload Stock Config — Drag and drop or browse to upload the completed CSV or Excel file. The config replaces default stock lengths, pricing, kerf, and trim for that scenario.

Scenario Comparison

Compare different stock selections or pricing side-by-side:

• + Scenario — Clone the active scenario. Upload a different stock config to each one.
• Compare — Automatically runs nesting on every scenario, then ranks them by cost (cheapest first) with waste percentage, bar counts by length, and a detailed cost breakdown table.
• What-if testing — Answer questions like "What if I only have 40 ft bars?" or "Is it cheaper to buy 20 ft or 24 ft stock?" by running each scenario independently.

Real-time Collaboration

Work together seamlessly with your team. Alkali synchronizes changes instantly so everyone sees them.

Live Cursors

See where your teammates are working in real-time. Each collaborator has a unique color, and their name appears next to their cursor as they navigate the drawing.

Instant Sync

All annotations, measurements, and notes sync instantly across all connected users. When a teammate adds or modifies an annotation, you'll see it appear immediately without refreshing. Material catalog and tonnage calculations also sync in real-time.

Project Sharing

Invite team members, or make a project public.