Skip to main content

How to create an estimate from photos, videos, or drawings

Attach photos, videos, PDFs, or drawings in the Handy chat and Handy reads them to build an estimate.

Written by Handoff Support

To create an estimate from files, open the Handy chat, select +, choose Upload files or Project files, and describe what to price. Handy (Handoff's AI assistant) reads your photos, videos, and drawings and builds the estimate.

Available on all plans. Flex includes 50 AI credits a month, and Pro and Scale are unlimited. Works on desktop and in the mobile app.

Attach files in the chat

  1. Open an estimate chat or the global chat.

  2. Select the + button next to the Ask Handy box.

  3. Select Upload files to add files from your device, or Project files to use files already saved in the project. Project files appears only when the chat is inside a project.

  4. Tell Handy which scopes to estimate, and add any dimensions the files don't show.

  5. Send the message.

In the mobile app, the + menu opens as a sheet from the bottom with the same options. Handy reads the files and builds the estimate. You can then refine it with follow-up messages.

What Handy can read

  • Documents: PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, PowerPoint, and plain text files.

  • Images: JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, HEIC, and BMP.

  • Video: MP4, MOV, WebM, AVI, and similar formats.

  • Audio: MP3, M4A, WAV, and similar formats.

Each file can be up to 200 MB in the app. Handy can read up to 20 files at once, and files over 50 MB (PDFs) or 100 MB (other types) are rejected.

What Handy does with each type

  • Photos: Handy identifies materials, conditions, and the type of work. Photos have no scale, so Handy can't measure from them. Give dimensions in your message.

  • Videos: Handy looks at up to 20 frames from the video and transcribes what you say, so narrate scope and sizes as you record.

  • PDFs and drawings: Handy reads the text and the dimensions printed on the page. For long PDFs, only the first 100 pages are searched.

  • Spreadsheets and Word files: Handy reads the rows and text directly, so upload the file instead of a screenshot.

Measure from plans

If you need quantities measured from a plan set, select + > Takeoff mode instead. Takeoff mode scales the drawings and measures them. See the AI takeoff article for plans, credits, and limits.

In the iOS app on supported iPhones and iPads, + > Room scan (Beta) captures a room's measurements for the estimate.

Related

Did this answer your question?