What Auto Count Symbol does
Auto Count Symbol is the same engine as Stage 1's auto-detection, but on demand. You drag a box around an example of a symbol on the drawing, and ZeroCount finds every other instance like it.
It's the answer to most "the auto-detection missed half of these" problems in Stage 2. The legend-based auto-detection is wide-net but sometimes imprecise; Auto Count Symbol is targeted — you pick the exact symbol you want more of, and the matching is tuned to that example.
When to use it
| Situation | Use Auto Count Symbol? |
|---|---|
| Stage 1 missed several instances of a symbol that is in the legend | Yes — drag around a missed instance, it'll find the others |
| There's a symbol on the drawing that isn't in the legend | Yes — Stage 1 wouldn't have looked for it |
| You want to count one specific variant of a symbol the legend lumps together | Yes — the targeted match is tighter than the legend-based match |
| The legend version is sized differently from how the symbol appears on the drawing | Yes — drag around the on-drawing version directly |
How to run a manual detection
- 1
Click Auto Count Symbol in the toolbar. The tool sits in the Takeoff dropdown when not linked to a database item, or under Linked Takeoff when you want the new group priced from the start.
- 2
The cursor changes to indicate selection mode. On the drawing, click and drag a tight box around one example of the symbol.
- 3
Release. ZeroCount scans the rest of the drawing for matches.
- 4
A new marker group appears in the sidebar with every match shown on the canvas. Review and adjust as normal.
Make the selection box tight around just the symbol — including a chunk of nearby wall or wiring confuses the matcher and produces fewer correct hits.
Linked vs unlinked manual detection
Two flavours of the tool in the toolbar:
- Auto Count Symbol (under Takeoff) — creates an unlinked Detection group. You can link it to a database item later.
- Auto Count (under Linked Takeoff) — opens the database picker first, then creates a Detection group already linked to the chosen item. Useful when you know up-front what the symbol is.
See Linking to database items.
Adding more matches to an existing group
If you've already got a group and want more matches added to it (rather than starting a new group):
- 1
On the existing group's row in the sidebar, click the + button. The tooltip reads "Adding detections to this group…" and the button pulses while it's active.
- 2
On the drawing, drag a box around a missed instance of the same symbol.
- 3
ZeroCount finds more matches and adds them to this group rather than creating a new one.
- 4
Click the + button again to leave detect-add mode.
This is the right move when Stage 1 underfound a symbol — say it picked up 12 of an obvious 20 sockets. Use the + to add more to the existing socket group rather than creating a parallel one.
What happens to the symbol image
The example you dragged the box around becomes the group's image. It appears as the thumbnail on the group row in the sidebar and in the Excel export's colour-swatch column.
If you don't like the chosen example, you can swap it for another match without losing the markers — use Reimage Group in the group's dotted menu to pick a different match.