Smart Count: find symbols with AI

For things drawn as symbols rather than words, such as receptacles, sprinkler heads, a fixture type or a keynote bubble, use Smart Count · Symbol. You box one clean example and Plankore finds the rest by the lines that make it up.

It needs a vector PDF. The search matches linework, and a scanned sheet has none. If your sheets are scans, count the tag next to the symbol instead with Smart Count: find text.

Count a symbol

1. In the toolbar's Smart tools group, click the chevron beside Smart Count (Choose what to count) and choose Symbol. The button remembers your choice for next time.
2. The banner reads Smart Count · Symbol · Drag a region containing the symbol. Drag a box around one symbol, as tight as you can.
3. The Smart Count · Symbol panel opens over the canvas with your box under Symbol to count. It reads Reading the sheet's linework… for a moment, then the lines the box picked up are highlighted on the sheet. Orange lines are part of the symbol; the panel reminds you that only orange lines are searched.
4. Refine the template. The tip above the box reads Click to add/drop a line. ⌘ + drag to drop several lines. (Ctrl on Windows). Drop leader lines, neighbouring text and anything that isn't the symbol itself. Click Redraw to start again with a different box.
5. Under Search in, choose Current page, All pages or Select a region. For a region, drag a box on the sheet; the panel then reads Drag a new region to change the search area.
6. Click Search. The panel reads Searching page 1 of 4 · 35% as it goes. Every match appears in the list with its score and is outlined on the sheet.
7. Use the Sensitivity slider to hide weaker matches. It starts at 60%, and the caption reads Showing 14 of 19 matches at 60% and above. Untick any false hits, or double-click a match on the sheet. Select all and the 14 of 19 selected count keep track.
8. Click Auto count. The New Count (14) popup opens, named Symbol count by default. Name it, choose its class and colour, and save.

The result is one count object with a marker on each match, ready to price like any other count.

From a box on the sheet

With Move, drag a box around a symbol and right-click inside it. The menu offers Smart Count · Symbol at the top; choosing it opens the panel with your box as the template. The same menu offers Smart Pattern, which finds repeats of a hatch or tile pattern and makes areas of them. See Smart Area.

Tips

• Box less, not more. The symbol only, not its tag or leader.
• If matches include look-alikes, raise Sensitivity. If it misses some, lower it a little or check that a line you dropped wasn't part of the symbol.
• Matches are found by shape, so a symbol drawn rotated or mirrored still counts.

If something goes wrong

• We can't detect a symbol in this area. Try a clear, distinctive symbol, this works on original PDFs, not scans. The box caught too little linework, or a single straight line. Box a symbol with a few lines in it, or the sheet is a scan.
• No matches. Try lowering the sensitivity, or boxing more of the symbol. Drag Sensitivity down, or redraw the box so the whole symbol is inside it.
• Could not read this sheet's linework. Try again. The linework didn't load. Click Redraw and box the symbol again.
• Symbol search could not be started. Check your connection and click Search again. If it keeps failing, contact support with the project name and page number.
• Too many matches on a busy sheet. Search Select a region instead of the whole page, or raise Sensitivity before you tick anything.