How to Convert a Sketch to Xactimate (Including PDF Sketches)

How to Convert a Sketch to Xactimate

Short answer: To get a sketch into Xactimate, you need it as an Xactimate project (ESX) or as something Xactimate can build a Sketch from. There are four ways to get there: draw it yourself, import a scan from a measurement app, trace an image underlay, or convert the Sketch printed on a PDF estimate into an ESX. If all you have is the counterparty's PDF, the last option is the only one that doesn't mean redrawing the floor plan by hand.

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You receive a large loss PDF estimate. Reviewing it, you notice there's no paint masking, and no sanding and refinishing on the wood floors. You want to add both and send the estimate back.

To do that, you need the estimate in Xactimate. And the estimate is built on a Sketch, printed on page 24.

That Sketch matters more than it looks. Floor square footage, baseboard linear feet, wall area for paint: every quantity in the estimate traces back to a room's dimensions. The Sketch is the estimate's ground truth. Two parties working from two different Sketches are working from two different estimates. (Why the Sketch is the ground truth)

This guide covers the file types involved, the four ways to get a Sketch into Xactimate, and what to check once it's there.

ESX, SKX, and PDF: what each file holds

In Xactimate, a Sketch is working geometry: walls you can move, rooms you can resize, quantities that recalculate. On a PDF, the same Sketch is a printed diagram with overlapping labels and dimension lines running across the measurements you need. The file type decides which one you have.

A PDF shows you the rooms and the totals, but not the geometry behind them. See PDF vs. ESX for everything else the PDF drops.

What Xactimate can import

Xactimate desktop imports three kinds of files that matter for Sketch:

• Project files (.esx): imported as full projects, Sketch included.

• Underlay images (.jpg, .jpeg, .bmp, .png): reference images you trace over in Sketch.

• Sketch templates (.skx): loaded from within Sketch.

PDF isn't available. To use a Sketch from a PDF, you either save it as an image and trace it, or convert the PDF to ESX.

Four ways to get a Sketch into Xactimate

Which one you use depends on what you're starting with: field measurements, a scan, an image, or only someone else's PDF. Most guides cover the first three. The fourth is the one you're usually stuck with when you're supplementing or reviewing a counterparty's estimate.

1. Draw it in Xactimate

Drawing the Sketch yourself gives you full control and costs nothing beyond your Xactimate license. It needs field measurements or a reference to work from, and it's slow on large losses with many rooms and levels.

If you don't have measurements, you'd have to go back to the property. That's not always possible, and when it is, it adds cycle time and cost to the claim.

2. Import from a scanning or measurement app

Scanning apps and measurement services capture the property on site and deliver a file you import. Check whether yours delivers an ESX directly.

This works well for new inspections. It doesn't help when the inspection already happened and someone else did it.

3. Trace an image underlay

An underlay puts a reference image behind your Sketch so you can draw over it:

1. Save the floor plan as a .jpg, .png, or other supported image.

2. In Xactimate Sketch, import it as an underlay.

3. Set the scale using the longest wall whose length you know.

4. Trace the walls, rooms, doors, and windows.

The underlay is only a guide. Xactimate doesn't turn it into rooms or walls, so you still draw every wall, door, and window yourself.

4. Convert the Sketch on a PDF estimate

This is the case the first three don't solve: you have the counterparty's PDF, the Sketch is printed inside it, and you need it in Xactimate.

Rebuilt by hand, the Sketch and its line items can take eight hours. That's eight hours between noticing a missed item and putting it on the estimate.

ClaimsFlow converts the Sketch on a PDF estimate into an editable Xactimate Sketch, without re-scanning the property:

• Floor plan: areas, rooms, sub-rooms, walls, doors, windows, stairs, and missing walls, at roughly 90% geometry accuracy.

• Multiple levels: each floor gets its own Sketch tab in Xactimate.

• Line items attached: the estimate's original line items map onto the rebuilt rooms, so the file opens as a working estimate, not an empty floor plan.

• Speed: most PDF Sketches convert in five minutes or less.

• Review before download: the Sketch Viewer lets you check dimensions, drill into rooms, surface hidden missing walls, and strip away overlapping labels before you download the ESX.

What's supported today: interior floor plans produced by Xactimate, from the full floor plan diagram at the end of the PDF. Exterior and roof plans, room-level thumbnail diagrams, and floor plans from other sources (such as architectural PDFs) aren't supported yet.

Adopting the counterparty's Sketch puts both sides on the same ground truth. The conversation stays on scope and price, not on whose room dimensions are right.

Which method should you use?

Once you download the ESX, import it into Xactimate desktop or online. See how to import an ESX into Xactimate.

Check the Sketch before you write scope

A file that imports isn't necessarily a Sketch you can build on. In Xactimate, every quantity is calculated from the Sketch, so a wrong wall becomes a wrong line item. Before adding scope, compare against the PDF:

1. Room dimensions match the PDF diagram, including ceiling height.

2. Missing walls separate open spaces, like a kitchen from a living room, the same way they did in the original.

3. Doors and windows sit on the right walls.

4. Every level from the PDF is present.

5. Line items are attached to the right rooms.

6. RCV matches the original estimate.

If a room's quantities don't match, the cause is usually in the Sketch, not the line items. Fix the Sketch, and every quantity that depends on it updates together. For a step-by-step method, see How to Check a Converted Xactimate Estimate for Errors.

Frequently asked questions

Can you convert a PDF Sketch to an ESX file? Not in Xactimate itself, since Xactimate can't import a PDF. A converter such as ClaimsFlow rebuilds the estimate and its interior Sketch as an ESX project you import into Xactimate.

Can I open an ESX file without Xactimate? No. ESX is Xactimate's project file, so you open it by importing it into Xactimate. You need an active Xactimate license to open and edit a Sketch that ClaimsFlow converts.

What's the difference between an ESX file and an SKX file? An ESX file is a full Xactimate project, with the Sketch, line items, and claim information. An SKX file is a Sketch template only.

How long does it take to convert a Sketch to Xactimate? With ClaimsFlow, most PDF Sketches convert in five minutes or less. Redrawing the same Sketch by hand can take hours on a large loss.

How accurate is PDF Sketch conversion? ClaimsFlow rebuilds Sketch geometry at roughly 90% accuracy. Because no conversion is perfect, the Sketch Viewer lets you check dimensions and missing walls before you download, and every converted Sketch is fully editable in Xactimate.

Can I convert exterior or roof Sketches? Not yet. ClaimsFlow currently converts interior floor plans produced by Xactimate.

Convert the Sketch you'd otherwise redraw

Pick the PDF you'd otherwise rebuild by hand. Upload it to ClaimsFlow, check the rebuilt Sketch in the Sketch Viewer, and download the ESX. Your first 150 line items are free at claimsflow.io.

ClaimsFlow is SOC 2 Type II certified.

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Related articles:

• Sketch Is the Estimate's Ground Truth. Now You Can Rebuild It from a PDF.

• Xactimate Sketch Conversion FAQ

• How to Convert a PDF to ESX for Xactimate

• How to Check a Converted Xactimate Estimate for Errors