How to Measure Your First Roof in RoofStruct: Trace, 3D Model, Export

Every roofing tool promises fast measurements. The part nobody shows you is the first ten minutes — where you actually learn the workflow. This is that walkthrough. In about three minutes you'll trace a roof from a satellite image, split it into its real facets, get a 3D model with shingles on it, and export a clean report you can hand to a homeowner or a supplier. Measurements are free and unlimited, so open a property and follow along.

▶ Watch the 3-minute walkthrough

Step 1: Trace the outline

Grab the Draw Facet tool from the left rail (or press P) and click each corner of the roof, working your way around the outside. When you get back to where you started, click your first point again to close the shape. That's your main plane — one closed outline of the whole roof.

Don't sweat perfect clicks. You can nudge any point later, and calibration keeps your areas honest as long as the scale is set.

Step 2: Slice it into facets

A roof isn't one flat sheet, and your takeoff shouldn't treat it like one. With the same Draw Facet tool, draw along the interior break lines — the ridges and valleys — starting and ending on the edge of the shape. Each line you draw splits the plane into another facet.

Keep going until every plane on the roof is its own facet. Now each slope carries its own area, so your squares line up with how the roof is actually built and cut — not one averaged rectangle.

Step 3: Name your lines

Switch to the Select tool (press V) and click any edge. A small card asks "What is this line?" — pick Ridge, Hip, Valley, Eave, or Rake. Each type takes on its own color so you can read the roof at a glance.

This isn't busywork. Line types drive the model and the material list: eaves pull drip edge, ridges and hips pull cap. Watch the Lines named card on the right — it counts your progress and turns green once every edge is set. Green means the roof is ready to build in 3D.

Step 4: Set pitch and waste

Open the Setup tab. Set your Predominant pitch — a 6/12 covers most homes. If a section is steeper or flatter, click that facet in the list and give it a Pitch override, and label it while you're there (Two story, Garage, Porch, and so on).

Still in Setup, set your Waste. Pick a preset that matches the roof's complexity — the extra material for cuts, starter, and overlap gets folded into your quantities so your order isn't short.

Step 5: See it in 3D — with real shingles

Click 3D Roof at the top. Your flat trace stands up into a model built from your lines and pitch. Drag to orbit it, snap the camera to Front, Side, Top, or Corner, and tune Wall Height and Roof Pitch. Flip on the overlays — Measurements, Pitch Labels, even Water Flow — to sanity-check the geometry.

Then the part homeowners remember: hit Choose material and drop a real shingle product on the roof, in the color they're actually considering. It stops being a drawing and starts being their house. You can share this exact 3D view with the homeowner from your estimate — but that's a topic for its own guide.

Step 6: Export a branded report

Back on the top bar, hit Export. Your report comes out fully branded — your company name, your logo, your colors — on a clean, client-ready PDF you can send straight to the homeowner or the supplier. Need the raw numbers for a CAD file or a spreadsheet instead? Every format you need is right there in the export dialog.

Where you trip

• Skipping the slice. One giant outline gives you a total area but useless facet data. Take the extra 30 seconds to cut the planes — everything downstream depends on it.
• Leaving lines unnamed. If the Lines named card isn't green, the 3D model and material counts are working from guesses. Finish the edges.
• Forgetting waste. A perfect measurement still short-orders the job if waste is zero. Set it in the Setup tab before you export.
• One pitch for the whole roof. Predominant pitch is a starting point, not a law. Override the porch and the garage, or your squares drift.

That's the whole loop: trace, slice, name, set pitch and waste, model, export. It's free to measure as many roofs as you want, so the fastest way to get good at it is to run three or four of your own. Open a property and trace your first one.