Start a new bid from photos and a voice note

This is the core of BidCraft, and it's built to happen on your phone while you're still at the job. If you want tips on what to capture, read the field walkthrough checklist first.

Before you start

• You'll get better prices on your first bid if your day rate and rates are set. If you haven't done it, see set up your rate card. If you skip it, BidCraft asks for your day rate the first time you build a proposal.
• Get the BidCraft app on your phone (App Store or Google Play) and log in with the same email and password. Everything below works in the browser too.

The steps

1. Start a new bid

On your dashboard, tap + New bid. (You can also open Projects and tap New Project.)

Type a Project Name, like "Smith hall bath," and the Client Name. Add their phone, email and address if you have them. You can fill those in later, but you'll need an email before you send the proposal. Tap Create Project.

2. Open Capture and set up the room

On the project, tap Capture. This is where everything from the walkthrough goes, one card per room.

Every new job starts with Room 1 ready for your photos. Doing two baths? Tap Add Room and keep each bathroom's photos and notes on its own card. Everything for one room in one place is what makes the bid come out right.

3. Add your photos

On the room card, tap Image. Pick Take photo to use your phone's camera, or Choose from gallery to add shots you already took. You can add several at once, and full-size photos are fine.

Get every wall you're tiling, the floor, the shower or tub, and close-ups of anything that changes the price. A tape measure in frame is a measurement BidCraft can read.

4. Record a voice note

Tap Notes on the room card and pick Voice. Tap to record and talk through the job like you're briefing a helper: the measurements, what's coming out, what's going in, what the client picked, and what you're not doing. Tap again to stop.

Check the transcript, fix anything it misheard, and tap Save as Note.

A room needs a note before it can be analyzed, so don't skip this one. Somewhere quiet? Pick Text and type it instead. Sketched it on paper? Handwritten lets you photograph the note.

5. Add a walkthrough video (optional)

Tap Video, then Add Video, and pick Record now or Choose from gallery. Walk the room slowly and talk while you film.

BidCraft pulls the audio off the video and transcribes it into the room's notes for you. A ✓ Narration tag shows on the video when it's done.

6. Analyze and check the measurements

Tap Analyze on the room card, or Analyze All to run every room at once. BidCraft reads your photos, video and notes and writes the measurements onto the room card.

Check them. Tap any number to correct it. Your numbers always beat the AI's, and anything you said out loud in a note counts as a measured number.

If BidCraft has a question that would change the price, it shows up as a quick check on the room card. Answer it, or skip it and the draft will say what it assumed.

7. Draft the scope and build the proposal

Tap Draft the scope →. BidCraft turns your rooms into a priced list of work on the Scope & pricing stage of Bid, using your rates.

Go through the lines. Change a price, a quantity or a description, remove what doesn't belong and add what's missing. When it reads right, tap Lock & build. BidCraft formats the client's proposal, builds the materials list and drafts the task list, and your proposal opens on the Proposal stage.

What's next

• Something on the proposal not quite right? Ask Biddy to edit it in plain words.
• Ready to go? Send it and collect an e-signature.

Don't have BidCraft yet? Start the 14-day free trial (card required) on the pricing page, and run your next walkthrough through it.