Virtual Estimator, both the Product and the Service, provide a lot of functionality. However, you may have some simple questions about what we provide that may have been asked previously. Please search through our frequently asked questions below and if your question is not there send us a message so we can update for future enquirers.
Yes, the base Virtual Estimator product only deals with Point-Items, Lines and Planes. These provide the basic item, length and area measurement calculations. The many Plug-Ins we have developed for various companies and industries allow for the materials to be calculated based on these base calculations. So, for instance, you can decide to apply a plane with strips of Metal or Polycarbonate sheeting to determine how many of a given material are needed, or rolls of insulation or lawn turf or whatever. Some of our “mosaic” plug-ins allow for the calculation of roof tiles, floor and ceiling tiles, pavers etc. Our Membrane Plug-In will allow for the calculation of paint, render, concrete, bitumen etc. Accessories for each plug-in also allow all the “bits and bobs” to also be calculated like fasteners, joiners, extras etc.
Yes, you can, simply import the PDF and choose the pages that you want to estimate. Then you can import more PDF files or other image types into Virtual Estimator. The left-hand pane will keep all the pages that you have imported previously. To choose the image you want to work on select it from the left-hand pane and model away.
Absolutely. We’ve developed the software in Java so that it runs natively on both Windows and Mac machines and looks exactly the same on both. This way, you can switch between both machine architectures without needing to learn anything new.
By default, Virtual Estimator supports the major graphic formats used in desktop computing, that being BMP, JPG, TIF and PNG. We also support single and multi-page PDF files. If you require anything else, you can simply snip an image from the desktop and paste that image into Virtual Estimator too.
Cursor Mode is simply a mode that allows you to click on anything or selecting something without changing your plans or estimations. A choice to go to cursor mode is available by right-clicking on the mouse or from the drop-down menu. Once a plane or line is selected you can change the parameters of that plane, like changing the layer, plane or line-type/pitch if required.
That is called snapping. The green line shows that your lines are 90°, Red means the lines forming 45° or 135° while Blue shows straight or horizontal line. Using this function allows you to create a model which is square.
Yes. Click on Options > Shortcut Keys. Then you can choose the function and modify to suit.
Yes absolutely. To do this, you need to click on Insert > Create/Update Plane Type or Insert > Create/Update Line Type or Insert > Create/Update Point Item Type respectively. You can change the colour, identifier name, the pitch, etc.
Sometimes a PDF page is not the right format for Virtual Estimator. We suggest that you use a function like snipping tool or Grab it to select the area of the image you require. Then use the File>Paste from clipboard function to import into the modelling. When selecting the image area make sure you include the longest length in the dimensions so that you can scale the image in the software.
By default, most users will use our reporting output, which allows you to customize your individual reports in Microsoft Word®. You can output as many reports you like per job, thus allowing you to create both internal and customer-facing reports. More advanced users may use our outputs to XML, CSV or Trade Trak to export to countless accounting, ERP and other business management systems.
Sure. We soon hope to have a list of all our plug-ins available in a store-like environment, but for now we include them all with the standard software install. If you need something specific, don't hesitate to contact us directly to let us know your needs and we'll have no issues developing something bespoke to cater for your individual requirements.
Virtual Estimator is developed by 2Bytes, a company that started life as a systems integration organisation. In short, we love helping companies integrate their disparate company systems and would like nothing more than writing an integration component for Virtual Estimator to link to any system you have in your organisation. Just drop us a line and we'll be back with you in no time, discussing how we can assist.
We've made a conscious decision to fix the pricing at $30USD per month per license, because we want users to not feel any stress related to the use of the software from a cashflow perspective. However, we are aware that paying $30USD per month may become a bit of a pain. So, we've allowed the automatic debit of this amount from a credit or debit card using Stripe Payments. Or, users can decide to pay for 12 months use of the software in advance, therefore only having to worry about paying for the software annually. Please contact us for the annual license solution.
Very simple, you can just go to Help > Licensing, click on deactivate, and click on activate. It will automatically reset the license key. If there are any problems please contact us.
Yes, we are building more value-added functionalities to provide you with a variety of choices and other interesting features to make estimation much innovative. If you have any suggestions or would like to discuss a further development to suit your business please contact us.
Virtual Estimator offers a flexible service to support your business. When you are busy out making money and need to more time to provide quotes to your customers, we can help. Simply log into the Virtual Estimator Service Portal and upload your requirements. We will have it back to within 48 Hrs.
Yes of course, when using the scale function choose between Meters, Millimeters and Feet. Generally most users only use one measurement type however if you are in a country that uses both please feel free to contact us to find out the best way to set up your system.