Generating Shop Drawings

Generating Shop Drawings

Generating Shop Drawings

Overview

Shop drawings are generated directly from a completed takeoff in MeasureSquare Stone. The program auto-dimensions every piece, labels edge profiles and seam locations, and organises the output into a PDF drawing package — all in a single generation run. No CAD software, no manual drafting, no rework between takeoff and fabrication handoff.

Pre-Flight Checklist

Generating shop drawings from an incomplete or incorrectly configured takeoff produces drawings that need to be regenerated. Run through this checklist before opening the generation dialog.

 

 

Check

Why It Matters

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All pieces have a product applied

Blank pieces appear as outlines only — no material label, no edge profile labels on the drawing.

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All seams are placed

Missing seams mean oversized pieces that exceed slab dimensions. Fabrication cannot cut them as drawn.

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All cutouts are positioned using Set Cutout Position

Cutouts placed at default position appear at the wrong location on the drawing. Fabrication cuts the hole in the wrong spot.

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Edge profiles applied to all exposed edges

Edges without a profile are unlabelled on the drawing. Shop has no instruction for how to finish them.

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All pieces tagged (if generating by tag)

Untagged pieces are excluded from Generate by Tag output. Drawing packages will be missing pieces.

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A shop drawing template is configured

Generating without a configured template uses the default blank title block. Company name, logo, and custom fields will be missing.


Choosing a Generation Mode

MeasureSquare Stone offers two modes for generating shop drawings: Generate by Tab and Generate by Tag. The right choice depends on how the project is organised. Getting this wrong produces either too-broad or too-narrow drawing packages.

 

 

Generate by Tab

Generate by Tag

What it produces

One drawing sheet per project tab. All pieces on the tab appear together.

One drawing sheet per selected tag. Only pieces carrying that tag appear, regardless of which tab they are on.

Best for

Multi-floor or multi-phase commercial projects where each tab is one floor or phase.

Jobs requiring a specific subset of pieces — a single room, a unit type across floors, or any custom grouping.

Setup required

None beyond standard tab organisation. One floor or phase per tab.

Every piece must be individually tagged before generating. Room tags do not inherit to products.

Output

One PDF per tab. Sheet count equals tab count in the project.

One PDF per selected tag. Multiple tags can be selected for a multi-sheet package in a single run.

Typical project types

Multi-family residential, hotel floors, phased commercial build-outs.

Single-family residential with multiple rooms, commercial jobs batched by area type rather than floor.

 

Decision rule: If the project is organised by floor or phase with one tab per unit of work, use Generate by Tab — it requires no additional setup. If you need granular control over which pieces appear together, or the project crosses tab boundaries, use Generate by Tag.

 

Generating by Shop Drawings: Step by Step

  1. Open the Shop Drawing module from the main toolbar.

  2. Click Import Takeoff. The generation dialog opens.

  3. Select the template from the Manage Template dropdown, setting the desired template as the default. This will ensure that all the Shop Drawings have the desired title block

  4. Select how your Areas will be grouped:

    1. Each: This will separate out each Area with its splashes and laminates into individual drawings.

      NotesNote: each side of a seam in an area counts as its own separate area and these will be separated with this method.

    2. Tag 1/2/3/4: This will organize all of the pieces according to the selected Tag, with each different label in the selected Tag getting its own Shop Drawing.

    3. Tab: This will group all the pieces on a Tab into the same Shop Drawing

  1. Click OK. The program processes the project and outputs your Shop Drawings. The pieces are organized according to your previous selection.


 

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Mistake

Symptom

Fix

Generating before all pieces are tagged (Generate by Tag)

The drawing package is missing rooms or pieces. No error message — the missing pieces are silently excluded.

Return to the drawing. Select each piece, confirm tag in the property view. Regenerate.

Relying on room tags to cover products inside the room

Same as above — product pieces appear untagged even though the room has a tag

Tag each product piece individually. Room tags do not inherit to cut-to-size products.

Cutout not positioned with Set Cutout Position before generating

Cutout appears at the default centre position on the drawing; fabrication cuts hole in wrong location

Use Set Cutout Position to define location from corner. Regenerate.

 



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