Sketch quick reference for Xactimate desktop

Tools

You can access the following tools through the Tools ribbon in the Sketch view.

Name 
Shortcut 
Description 
Notes 

Room 

Add a room to the sketch 

 

Roof 

Add a roof to the sketch 

Change roof types by pressing the spacebar while the roof tool is active. Press E to add a dormer to the workspace. 

Dormer 

 E 

Add a dormer to the sketch 

 

Deck 

Shift + D 

Add a deck to the sketch 

 

Doorway 

Add a doorway to the sketch 

 

Missing Wall 

Add a missing wall to the sketch 

With the missing wall tool active, select the portion of the existing wall that should be missing. 

Wall 

Shift + W 

Add a wall to the sketch 

Add individual walls to an existing room or create a room from the individual walls. 

Staircase 

Add a staircase to the sketch 

 

Fence 

Ctrl + F 

Add a fence to the sketch 

 

Window 

Add a window to the sketch 

 

Snap Line 

Add a snap line anywhere within the workspace 

 

Properties 

Ctrl + Enter 

Open the Properties window for a selected room or object 

Select a room or object in your sketch before opening the Properties window. 

Break 

Use Break to create a wall or roof offset 

With Break active, click along the wall to add the break. Select and drag the appropriate side of the wall to create an offset. You can also click and drag along the line to create an offset in the middle of the wall. 

Flip Horizontal 

Flip a selected object left to right 

 

Flip Vertical 

Flip a selected object top to bottom 

 

Rotate 

Rotate a selected object by 90 degrees (default) 

If you change the angle of the rotation in the Tools menu, it changes the rotation for the shortcut as well. 

Orientation 

Change the orientation of an object in the sketch 

 

Vertex 

Add a vertex point to a wall in the sketch 

With the Vertex tool active, select a point on a wall in the sketch to create a new vertex (or corner). Drag the vertex point (or the adjacent points) to modify the angle of the walls and corner. 

Scale 

Adjust the scale of a roof in the sketch 

Scale is only available if there is a roof in the active level. 

Flooring Orientation 

Change the orientation of a floor covering in the workspace 

Use Flooring Orientation to set the directionality of the flooring after the flooring line item is placed. 

Reference Block 

Place a reference block in the sketch 

 

Reference Line 

Place a reference line in the sketch 

 

Reference Area 

Place a reference area in the sketch 

 

Reference Point 

Place a reference point in the sketch. 

 

Copy from Underlay 

Copy a room or object from one Sketch level to another 

This is only available when there is a room or object on the level directly beneath the current one. 

Combine Rooms 

 Ctrl + Shift + C 

Combine selected rooms 

With multiple rooms selected, press Ctrl + Shift + C

Separate Rooms 

 Ctrl + Shift + S 

Separate selected combined rooms 

With combined rooms selected, press Ctrl + Shift + S

Snap to Grid 

 Shift + P 

Snap items to the grid. 

Press Shift + P to enable or disable Snap to Grid. 

 

Options

The following buttons and keyboard shortcuts allow you to adjust options and other preferences in the Sketch workspace. 

Name 

 Keyboard Shortcut 

Description 

Notes 

Preferences 

 None 

View and edit preferences for the selected item 

 

Inspect 

 None 

View documented issues and solutions for the selected item 

 

Flooring Cuts Window 

Shift + Q 

Open the Flooring Cuts window 

This option only becomes available once a flooring line item is added to a room. 

Toggle Calculations 

Toggle calculations on and off 

If you are sketching a large house with plenty of carpet, it will be faster to first draw the house, turn off the auto calculations and then place the carpet. Be aware that you should turn it back on while scoping so your totals are calculated correctly. 

Load Template 

  

Open the Template List window to add an existing template to the sketch 

 

Save Template 

  

Open the Save Template window to create a template from the selected rooms 

Make sure you have the appropriate room(s) selected when you select the tool, and it will create a template out of the selection. 

Import 

  

Import images or templates into the sketch 

 

Export 

  

Export a level of the sketch in one of multiple formats 

 

Macros 

Ctrl + M 

Open the Macros window 

You can create your own macros or use those created by others. Run the macro from the Macros window. 

Measurements 

  

Specify rounding parameters for measurements 

You can choose between general measurements and roofing measurements. 

Font Size 

  

Modify the font size for labels and measurements. 

 

Subgroup Labeling 

  

Select subgroup labeling options 

 

Full Screen 

Shift + Enter 

Toggle the full-screen view 

The full-screen view does not take up the entire screen; it removes the Search and Items sections from the view and expands the workspace to fill the space.  

Save View 

Shift + V 

Save the current view of the workspace 

 

Load View 

 Ctrl + Shift + L 

Open a list of previously saved views 

 

 


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