Creating a Project Material List

A powerful feature of Realtime Landscaping Photo is its ability to generate a comprehensive list of the objects used in your landscape. This list, called a project material list, can help you determine what you'll need to purchase in order to build the landscape you've designed, as well as help you estimate how much it will cost.

To create a project material list, select Tools and click Project Material List. A dialog similar to the one shown below appears:

The objects you are currently using in your landscape will appear in the list. To change the description of an item, click the description and enter a new one.

By default the unit prices are all set to $0.00. To enter a price, click the price in the Unit Price column and enter the actual price for the item.

Any changes to the prices or descriptions will be stored in your current landscape design file. However, these changes will not be applied to any other landscape design files. If you want to create a price list and use it in another landscape file, click Save Price List. To load a previously saved price list, click Load Price List.

From a practical standpoint, you will find it easier to use a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel to edit your material list. Each landscape design project is unique, and you'll probably have additional items such as labor, excavation, and other expenses that you may want to account for.

To export the project material list:

1.   Click Export.

2.   Enter the destination filename and click Save.

Realtime Landscaping Photo will automatically detect if Microsoft Excel is installed on your system and ask you if you want to run it. The following is an example of the above project material list exported to Excel.