When you add a Plan Set, all the plans are converted to 200DPI, 8-bit color TIFs for use in Takeoff. While this works for most users, if your computer just meets minimum system requirements or you experience significant performance issues, you may want to enable lower-resolution, 2-bit, greyscale images. You can adjust your options so that when the plans are processed, they are converted to 8-bit color TIFs (default) or 2-bit greyscale TIFs. Even plans that are not color benefit from this higher resolution as artifacts are rendered more clearly, with greater precision. We show you some comparisons below so you can see the differences yourself.
By default, the option to "Enable Color Plans" is turned on. The only reason to uncheck (disable) the option is if you never use color or hi-res plans and you run into performance issues during plan processing and uploading. Because plans processed at the higher resolution when "Enable Color Plans" is enabled, they take longer to process, upload, and render on the Takeoff Tab, although with modern computers and internet connections, the performance degradation is usually imperceptible. We recommend you keep "Enable Color Plans" checked because the program shows you the best possible rendering of your Plans.
Enabling or Disabling Color Plans affects all plans processed (added to a Plan Set) after you change the option. If you have disabled the option and re-enable it, existing Plan Sets are not changed from grey-scale to color. If you are working with a Plan Set that was uploaded when this option was disabled, you must add the Plan Set again (after enabling color, of course), and name it "Colored Set".
At this time, only Plan Sets you add through ConstructConnect Takeoff can be displayed in color. All Project Intelligence projects plans are displayed in grey-scale.
To adjust this setting, click your name in the upper-right corner of the Projects and Bids List.
In the menu, select "Settings".
Scroll down to Preferences section, and check or uncheck "Enable Color Plans".
Click Save.
This affects all Plan Sets you create after you change the option. When you create a Project with Color-enabled, other users see color plans, regardless of how their options are set. On the flip-side, if a user who does not enable color plans adds a Plan Set, even though you have this option enabled, the plans you see are grey-scale because that is what has been uploaded to the Cloud.
If this option was disabled when the Plan Set was loaded into the Plan Organizer, turning the option on has no effect on the existing Plan Set. However, you can re-add the Plan Set (after enabling color) using the original drawing files. Just name the new Plan Set "Color Drawings" or something like that and you can access them as Revisions of the Original (greyscale) Set, or even delete the Original Set after saving the color Plan Set.
If your original drawing file is larger than 10MB, the program cannot process it in color/hi-resolution. To prevent issues with the image converter, the program converts the file to a low-res grey-scale image. To retain color, use a tool outside ConstructConnect Takeoff, to adjust the original file so that its file size is less than 10MB.
Comparisons
Color v. Grey-Scale Image
The following are examples of PDF images loaded with the default 2-bit black and white option, and with the 8-bit Enable Color PDF's option.
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Figure 1: Color PDF With Enable Color PDF's Turned Off
Image displayed in 2-bit greyscale. | Figure 2: Color PDF With Enable Color PDF's Turned On
Image displayed in 8-bit color. |
Notice there are "missing" artifacts in the low-res Plan (specifically the very light green objects).
Image Quality (Low-Res v. Hi-Res)
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Figure 3: Greyscale (not color) PDF With Enable Color PDF's Turned Off
Image displayed in 2-bit greyscale. | Figure 4: Greyscale (not color) PDF With Enable Color PDF's Turned On
Image displayed in 8-bit greyscale. |
Notice how much clearer the hi-resolution Plan is? You can see the crisp lines and distinguish between different objects/artifacts easier.
Changing the Order of Pages