> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.paintscout.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating.md). # Estimating - [Estimating Overview](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/estimating-with-paintscout.md): Create, send, and manage professional estimates in PaintScout using production rates, line items, and customer-ready proposals. - [Creating Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates.md): Learn how to create new estimates in PaintScout, navigate the estimate page, and use core estimating features. - [Create a New Estimate](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/how-to-create-a-new-estimate.md): Start new estimates from the dashboard using templates or blank quotes and add areas and line items to build your proposal. - [The Estimate Page](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/introduction-to-the-estimate-page.md): Tour the estimate page interface including title, status, tabs, company details, contact info, estimate ID, date, and sidebar menu. - [Sidebar Overview](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/sidebar-overview.md): Navigate the estimate sidebar menu including activity, chat, follow-ups, calculations, presentation, terms, and payment settings. - [What is a Sales Rate?](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/what-is-a-sales-rate.md): Understand sales rate as total project price divided by total hours to determine project profitability and discount flexibility. - [Estimate Actions](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/estimate-actions.md): Explore all estimate actions including preview, share with staff, create invoice, save as template, copy links, download, and archive. - [Saving & Syncing](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/creating-estimates/saving-syncing-estimates.md): Learn how to save and sync estimates to the cloud in PaintScout to prevent data loss and keep your work updated. - [Areas & Rates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates.md): Add areas and production rates to your estimates, adjust dimensions, coats, and prep hours for accurate pricing. - [Adding Areas](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/adding-areas-to-an-estimate.md): Add and customize areas (rooms or spaces) to estimates with dimensions, area types, surfaces, and automatic price calculations. - [Adding Rates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/adding-rates-to-an-estimate.md): Add and edit production rates to estimate surfaces including custom rates, dimensions, products, and advanced pricing options. - [Adjust Surface Dimensions](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/how-to-adjust-surface-dimensions.md): Override area dimensions on individual surfaces by editing length, width, height or switching to direct sqft/lnft input. - [Adjust Number of Coats](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/how-to-adjust-the-number-of-coats-for-a-substrate.md): Adjust the number of paint coats for individual surfaces using the coats dropdown after configuring rates in account settings. - [Adjust Painting & Prep Hours](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/how-to-adjust-painting-and-prep-hours.md): Manually adjust painting hours and prep time on individual substrates when automatic calculations need fine-tuning. - [Prep Hours](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/areas-and-rates/prep-hours.md): Manually add prep hours to substrates in estimates with automatic cost calculation based on your internal hourly rate. - [Line Items & Options](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/line-items-and-options.md): Add line items for fixed-price work, create options for customers, and manage change orders. - [Add & Edit Line Items](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/line-items-and-options/how-to-add-and-edit-a-line-item.md): Add and customize line items on estimates including pricing options, materials, hours, photos, and notes for detailed project scopes. - [Working With Options](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/line-items-and-options/working-with-options.md): Create optional add-on items or services on estimates that customers can choose to include before accepting their quote. - [Customer Accepted Options](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/line-items-and-options/customer-accepted-options.md): Enable customers to add optional items directly to their estimate before accepting through the customer-facing interface. - [Additional Work/Change Orders](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/line-items-and-options/additional-work-change-orders.md): Add change orders and additional work to accepted estimates or invoices with customer approval and signature workflows. - [Organizing Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates.md): Organize your estimates using grouping, hidden items, copy features, and media attachments. - [Grouping Items](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates/grouping-items.md): Group surfaces, areas, or line items together to organize estimates by floor, house side, surface type, or custom categories. - [Hidden Items](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates/hidden-items.md): Hide surfaces from customer estimates while keeping hours and pricing in totals and showing items on work orders. - [Using the Copy Feature](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates/how-to-use-the-copy-feature.md): Speed up estimating by duplicating areas or line items using the copy feature to avoid rebuilding each from scratch. - [Adding Media](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates/adding-media.md): Add photos, PDFs, and videos to estimates and work orders, review thumbnail previews, and manage file details inline. - [Viewing & Editing Media](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/organizing-estimates/viewing-and-editing-media.md): Preview photos, PDFs, and videos, edit images inline, and view multi-page PDFs. - [Notes & Communication](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/notes-and-communication.md): Add notes to estimates for internal use, customer communication, and crew instructions. - [Notes Overview](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/notes-and-communication/notes-in-paintscout.md): Learn about all types of notes in PaintScout including client notes, crew notes, estimator notes, contact notes, and status change notes. - [Estimator Notes](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/notes-and-communication/estimator-notes.md): Use estimator notes as a personal scratchpad for internal job details that remain hidden from customers and work orders. - [Crew Notes](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/notes-and-communication/adding-crew-notes.md): Add crew notes to areas, surfaces, line items, or work orders to communicate important information hidden from customers. - [Sending & Acceptance](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance.md): Send estimates to customers, understand how they view and accept proposals, and collect signatures. - [Sending Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance/sending-estimates.md): Send estimates to customers via email or text with customizable subject lines, body content, and follow-up settings. - [How Customers View & Accept](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance/how-customers-view-accept-estimates.md): See exactly what your customers experience when they receive, view, and electronically accept an estimate through the email link or on-site preview. - [Accepting On Site](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance/accepting-estimates-on-site.md): Present estimates to customers on-site and capture electronic signatures immediately to speed up the sales process. - [How Signatures Work](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance/how-signatures-work.md): How digital signatures work in PaintScout including setting up your signature, how customers e-sign to accept estimates, and managing signatures on accepted documents. - [Share With Your Team](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/sending-and-acceptance/how-to-share-estimates-and-work-orders-with-your-team.md): Share estimates and work orders with your team via email, live links, or downloadable PDFs for seamless collaboration. - [Managing estimates & work orders](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders.md): Manage sent estimates, version history, search, exports, and crew-facing work orders in PaintScout. - [Managing Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates.md): Manage your estimates with activity tracking, version history, search, export, restoration, and archiving. - [Estimate & Invoice Activity](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/estimate-invoice-activity.md): Track estimate and invoice events including creation, sending, viewing, acceptance, and payments in the activity log. - [Restore an Estimate](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/how-to-restore-an-estimate.md): Restore previously sent estimate versions from the activity sidebar when customers request to revert to an earlier quote. - [Download a Previous Version](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/how-to-download-a-previous-version-of-an-estimate.md): Download PDF versions of previously sent estimates from the activity sidebar to retrieve earlier quote versions. - [Archiving Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/archiving-an-estimate.md): Archive estimates as a soft delete option to clean up your active list while keeping records accessible for reports. - [Search for an Estimate](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/how-to-search-for-an-estimate.md): Find estimates quickly using search by contact name, estimate ID, job address, value, or advanced filtering with export options. - [Filter & Export Estimates](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/managing-estimates/how-to-filter-estimates-and-export.md): Use advanced search criteria to filter estimates and export results to CSV files for external analysis and record keeping. - [Work Orders](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/work-orders.md): Create, share, and translate work orders for your crew with job details, notes, and language support options. - [Working With Work Orders](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/work-orders/working-with-work-orders.md): Create and manage work orders with hour breakdowns, crew notes, hours display options, downloading, and sharing with your team. - [Translating Work Orders to Another Language](https://help.paintscout.com/support/estimating/managing-estimates-and-work-orders/work-orders/translating-work-orders-to-another-language.md): Translate work orders using browser translation tools or add manual crew notes in another language for your team. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. 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