Footage drives the whole quote, and LightQuoter gives you three ways to get it: measure on the satellite map, measure on a photo using a known reference, or type it in manually. Every quote starts the same way:

Enter the Property Address and click Load Map. Do this first, every time — even if you plan to enter footage manually. The address is what anchors the quote so it can save; if you forget, the app reminds you to press Load Map when you save.

Pressing Load Map again for the same address keeps the points you’ve already placed. Loading a different address asks you to confirm before it wipes the current measurements.

Then pick a mode with the pill toggle next to Measurement: 📡 Satellite · 📷 Photo · 📐 Manual. All three keep their data on the quote; the Source pill in the estimate panel shows which one is currently setting the price, and switching modes asks you to confirm before the total changes.

📡 Satellite (the default)

Click the roofline corners on the satellite map — each click adds a point, each pair of points a measured segment with its length drawn right on the map.

  • Drag any point to fine-tune it; segment lengths update live.
  • Select a point by clicking it, then press Delete or Backspace (or 🗑 Delete Point) to remove it. Clicking a point in the middle of a run only selects it — click it again to deselect.
  • Extend a run from either end: click the run’s first or last point, then click the map to keep drawing from there.
  • ✂ New Run ends the current line and starts a separate one (front roofline and back porch, say). Start the new run on an existing point to branch off it — the two runs share that corner. The table groups runs with subtotals.
  • Joined corners move together when you drag them. To pull one apart, select it and click 🔗 Detach, then drag.
  • 🧲 Snap: On/Off — when on, new points snap onto nearby existing points so corners join cleanly. Turn it off to place points close together.
  • 🏷 ft: On/Off shows or hides the length labels on the lines.
  • ↩ Undo removes the last point you placed. It doesn’t undo drags, deletes, footage edits or pitch. ✕ Clear removes every point and segment — it asks first, and it can’t be undone.
  • The zoom pill in the corner snaps to the sharpest imagery available for that property — click it if the picture looks soft.
  • Any segment length can be edited by clicking its “Flat ft” value in the table; a ↺ button restores the measured value.

Pitch: map measurements see the roof from above, so a sloped roofline is longer than the flat measurement. Pitch is off on every new segment — tap the segment’s + pitch pill in the table to apply the pitch multiplier (the pitch dropdown, default 6/12 ★) to that segment only. The totals bar shows both: “120 ft flat · 134 ft adjusted.”

📷 Photo Measure

For homes where satellite imagery fails — tree cover, new construction, steep angles. Upload a photo (📷 Upload Photo) or grab one with 🛰 Use Street View (pan to frame the roofline, then 📸 Capture).

Photos need a reference — an object of known size that teaches the photo its real-world scale:

  1. Click 📏 Set Reference and pick the object from the dropdown:
    • Single garage door width — 8, 9 or 10 ft
    • Double garage door width — 16 or 18 ft (16 ft is the most common)
    • Garage door height — 7 or 8 ft
    • Front door — 3 ft wide, 6 ft 8 in tall
    • or a custom length you measured yourself
  2. Zoom in close and click both ends of the object. Accuracy here decides the accuracy of the whole quote.
  3. Add a second reference on a different object. Aim for ✓ Confirmed — it means the two references agree within 5%. ⚠ Mismatch means one of them is off: drag its endpoints or redraw it.
  4. Click 📐 Measure and trace the roofline corners, exactly like satellite mode. Runs get their own headers and subtotals, each segment has a + pitch pill, and the total reads “X ft flat · Y ft adjusted.”
  5. To fix a length, edit its Flat ft value inline in the table. Your number sticks even if you later move points or references; ↺ resets it to the measured value.

✕ Clear Lines removes every measured line and your references — it asks first.

📐 Manual Entry

Already measured on-site? Skip the map work: add a row per section — a description (“Front roofline”, “Garage”, “Back patio”) and the linear feet — and + Add Run for more. The summed footage drives the quote exactly as typed; no pitch math is applied to manual entries.

Tips for accurate footage

  • Measure along the gutter / drip edge — that’s where the lights go, so that’s the line to trace.
  • Pitch the rakes and gables, not the eaves. Eaves run level, so their flat length is already right; only the sloped edges need + pitch.
  • Heavy tree cover? Don’t guess on a blurry satellite view — switch to 📷 Photo mode.

Customer view

Footage is for you; you decide whether the customer sees it. The Customer view select in the estimate panel sets what this quote shows on the quote page, invoice, PDF and email:

  • Itemized with footage — every line with its footage.
  • Itemized, no footage — line items and prices, no feet.
  • Single price — one total.

Leave it on Account default to use the setting from your account.

Troubleshooting

  • Save shows “press Load Map” — the address was never located. Press Load Map, make sure the map actually loads, then save again.
  • Satellite image is blurry — click the zoom pill to snap to max zoom. If it’s still unusable, that’s the best imagery available — switch to 📷 Photo mode.
  • New points keep jumping onto old ones — turn 🧲 Snap: Off while you place them.
  • Photo won’t let me measure — you haven’t set a reference yet; the hint reads “⚠ Set a reference first before measuring.”
  • On a phone, use the −/+ buttons to zoom the measuring photo (pinch zoom isn’t supported on the measure canvas — it is on the mockup).