“There were 21 windows, not 20.”
One opening never made it off the sketch. The quote's short and nobody knows until install day.
A-0 Cover sheet · by Retrostack Software
Draw the house.
Mark every opening.
Eyewall™ turns the sketch on the back of a form into a real floor plan with every window and door on its wall. The plan, the takeoff and the problems list are one job, so they can't disagree. The office gets sheets it can quote from without calling the rep.
- OfflineOn the rep's Windows laptop
- 17 × 11A-series plan and takeoff PDF
- 1 recordPlan and takeoff stay in step
A-1 The problem
A takeoff that's typed three times is wrong three different ways.
Paper markup at the house. Redrawn in Word or Paint at the office. Retyped into a spreadsheet for the quote. Every copy is a chance to lose an opening.
“Is that XO or OX?”
Read the slider from inside instead of outside and the wrong panel shows up on the truck.
“The plan says 36, the sheet says 38.”
Someone fixed the spreadsheet and not the drawing. Now there are two truths.
Eyewall keeps one job record. The plan, the takeoff and the problems list all read it, so change one and the others move.
A-2 Try it
Put a window on a wall. Watch the takeoff keep up.
Pick a tool, then click any wall. The opening snaps to the wall, gets the next letter and lands in the schedule. Leave something blank and the problems list catches it.
Window tool: click a wall
Interactive illustration. The real Eyewall runs on the rep's Windows laptop.
A-3 Leak control
Outside looking in. Every time.
XO and OX are the same window seen from opposite sides. A rep standing in the living room reads it one way, the factory reads it the other, and the wrong unit gets built. Eyewall records every configuration and hinge side from the exterior, left to right, and prints that rule on every sheet.
Pick a configuration, then flip where you're standing.
A-4 Features
Built around windows and doors, not general drafting.
No CAD training. Tap a card for the deep dive and real screens.
A-5 Speed
Already have a list? Paste it.
Quick entry reads a grid typed or pasted from a spreadsheet. Columns are found by their header. Rows land in a “Not on the plan yet” tray, and the rep drops each one onto its wall.
- Duplicate marks are caught before they reach the takeoff.
- Missing sizes are flagged, not guessed.
- Quantities can share one mark.
Not on the plan yet
Export takeoff packageSample Residence
Before you export
⚠ Needs review (3) possible, but worth a second look
- F · Unknown glass type OBS
- G2 · Unknown configuration O
- N · Unknown configuration O
What to export
- ☑ A-series PDF package (floor plans, then the takeoff, 17 × 11)
- ☑ Letter rep layout (PDF)
- ☑ Schedule spreadsheet for quoting (CSV)
- ☐ Excel workbook (.xlsx)
Review the warnings above first.
A-6 Accountability
Somebody signs for the gaps.
Eyewall doesn't hide a doubtful opening and it doesn't block the job over one. It lists every gap, links each one to the opening that fixes it, and asks the rep to say they looked. That answer is written into the package.
- A manifest in every package. App version, job revision, output preset and every item the rep marked reviewed.
- Answers that can't disagree. On condos, design pressures and zone 4 & 5 are worked out from the openings themselves.
- Not in scope is a mark, not a deletion. Existing openings stay on the plan with an X, so nobody asks where they went.
A-7 What the office gets
The same set of sheets, from every rep.
Real Eyewall output for a sample house. Tap a sheet to zoom in.
A-8 Setup
Set the standard once. Every laptop draws it the same way.
SalespersonRep 1CustomerSample OwnerAddress100 Example Street
Site condition: Condo
Condo checklist the office's form, in its own order
ElevatorYes
ParkingN/A
Lift or craneNo
Stories12
Board-approved specificationsYes
Design pressuresNo · 3 openings missing Show them
Zone 4 & 5Worked out from the takeoff
Answers come from the openings. Turn on Condo and the checklist appears, with the header filled from the job. Design pressures and zone 4 & 5 are calculated from the takeoff, so the form can't contradict it.
Presets made of layers. Turn parts of the output on or off for one job, or save them as the company's preset. Jobs keep the preset version they were made with.
Your office's columns. Show the fields your quoting desk works from and hide the rest. Filters find what's incomplete, not checked, not placed, needing review or not in scope.
Three looks. Windows, Studio and Blueprint. The sheets print the same whichever one the rep likes.
| Person | Role | Last job | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rep 1 | Rep | Sample Residence | Office has it |
| Rep 2 | Rep | Sample Condo | Waiting for signal |
| Office lead | Admin | None | Active |
The office copy. Once a company switches it on, reps sign in with a company email, saving also sends the job to the office, and “Office has it” shows only after the office confirms. Admins publish company settings once and every laptop takes them. Per company
A-9 How it works
The drawing is a view. The job record is the truth.
What you seeDrawing boardScheduleProblemsCounts
One job recordFloors and wallsOpenings with stable IDsAssemblies
RulesMissing fieldsDuplicate marksPlan vs schedule
OutputsVector A-1 / A-2 at 17 × 11Rep layoutCSV and ExcelManifest
A real Windows app
Installed on the laptop and fully usable with no signal. The sheets are drawn on the computer, not on a server.
Saves that can't half-happen
A save writes the whole new file before it replaces the old one. A dead battery mid-save leaves the last good job, not a broken one.
Files that know their version
An older Eyewall refuses a job saved by a newer one rather than quietly dropping what it doesn't understand.
Built to go everywhere
Web, iPad and Android are adapters on the same core, not rewrites. Every release is checked by automated tests.
A-10 The stack
The middle link, where a job becomes a takeoff.
Roughnote captures it at the house. Eyewall turns it into a plan and a takeoff. Quote Converter Pro prices it inside the owner's rules. One account across all three, with a name on every step.
Roughnote™Who measuredCapture at the house
→
Eyewall™Who checkedPlan and takeoff
→
Quote Converter Pro™Who pricedQuote inside the rules
Leak
An opening is counted twice, or not at all.
SealedDuplicate marks and unplaced openings are flagged before export.
Leak
A slider is ordered backwards.
SealedOne rule for every configuration: exterior, left to right.
Leak
The plan and the sheet tell different stories.
SealedBoth are drawn from the same job record.
One login across the three apps is in development.
A-11 Roadmap
Where Eyewall is headed.
In the alpha now
- Start from a shape, several floors
- Trace a JPEG or PNG sketch
- Openings on walls, one details panel
- Quick entry from a grid
- Photos, notes and markup
- Condo checklist
- Schedule, problems and counts
- A-series PDF, rep layout, CSV, Excel, manifest
- Windows, Studio and Blueprint themes
Next: running a company on it
- Revision history and automatic redlines
- Company templates and favorite products
- Attachments sent to the office with the job
- A builder for mulled and complex assemblies
- A web version for the office
Later: everywhere
- iPad, iPhone and Android
- One login with Roughnote and Quote Converter Pro
- Product suggestions the rep confirms
- Help reading a plan, always confirmed by a person
Plans, not promises. Order can change as dealers tell us what matters.
A-12 Questions
Straight answers.
Do I need drafting experience?
No. Eyewall is built around windows and doors. You start from a shape, drag walls and click to place openings.
What does it run on?
A Windows laptop, installed like any other program. It works fully offline. Tablet, phone and web versions are on the roadmap.
Is it to scale?
The plan is a location key: it shows where every opening is and is marked not to scale. Sizes come from the takeoff.
Does it price the job?
No. Eyewall builds the plan and the takeoff. Pricing happens in Quote Converter Pro or your own quoting process.
Can I use it without the other apps?
Yes. Eyewall works on its own, and it's built to take jobs from Roughnote and hand them to Quote Converter Pro.
Is it available now?
Eyewall is in early access with a small group of reps. Tell us about your team below.
A-13 Get started
Retire the back-of-the-form sketch.
Tell us about your team and we'll draw a real house in Eyewall with you.
Rather email? [email protected]