Web Sketch: How to use the Break tool
A practical Web Sketch guide for appraisers based on the How to use the Break tool tutorial.
Use this article when you are working in Web Sketch and need a practical reference while building or reviewing a sketch for a report. The video walkthrough is linked below, and the article restates the workflow in appraiser-friendly terms.
Watch the tutorial
Before you begin
Open the correct report and confirm you are sketching the intended subject, dwelling, unit, or related structure. If the sketch will support GLA, exhibits, or report commentary, keep your field notes, measurements, photos, and assignment requirements available while you work.
What this tutorial covers
- How to split existing geometry into editable segments.
When to use this
Use the break tool when an existing wall or shape needs to be split into separate editable segments.
Video walkthrough in article form
Start in the correct sketch context
This section explains our break tool. The break tool is useful when existing geometry needs to be split for a more precise edit. Draw a shape here.
Go here, and do a Shift + Up, Shift to the left, and we don't have to define this right now. The break tool is very simple. All you really need to do is hover over an existing line and select on your keyboard B.
What that B does, as you can see, is it created a little subsection between this line and this. Do, um, do a break point like here, press B there. When you go into your select tool, you can really just move this however you want.
Adjust walls with care
For example, you can move this wall up here, but now I want this to actually be a little hallway.
Even in a diagonal line, you can also select B when you hover over it. For example, you can do B. While we are in select tool as well, you can just drag this point, and then there you go, and now you have a little wall.
Check each shape before moving on
I like this strategy here of using just perpetual breaking of the lines because it really somewhat allows you to more like mold your shape more than anything as you are drawing.
Start doing more like, uh, here. Do s- like a B there. Break here.
Break there, and so on. I feel like it is somewhat like pottery in a way, right? You are just grabbing at your dots.
You are going like here. Maybe this is going to be here. Maybe this might even be curved at one point.
Maybe you can put this, and this, and this. Move this up. As you can see, you can get to some pretty intricate and granular patterns just using the break tool alone.
This is typically how I use it. For example, we want to finish off this area here and make it a radius.
We already know what to do. Click this, and keep going till it is maybe, um, For example, like three. There.
Click out of it. There the workspace includes this little area as well, and if we want to, of course, move it, move this and zoom out a little bit.
As this walkthrough will extend on this, keep drawing. Draw from this point on here. Now the workspace includes all these pop points available to us.
Draw this, and then draw this too here. Keep it going, actually. Close it.
As we are continuing on with this as well, you can just keep on breaking this into other sections. Press the B here. Press B here.
Move this. Make this maybe a little somewhat a mini hallway here. Still keep that curved.
Maybe we want this to extend out a bit, so then make this grab that there. As you can see, the break tool is very dynamic and probably easily my favorite way just to, to draw in general, even in different drawing tools too And there you go. Now you can see that all of this was really created just using the break tool
Practical workflow
Select the wall or shape that needs to be divided, then apply the break tool at the correct location.
Use the new segment boundaries to adjust geometry, add detail, or separate areas without recreating the full shape.
After breaking the segment, confirm the shape still closes correctly and the calculation panel still reports the expected totals.
Field review tips
The break tool is useful for precision edits, but every split should be followed by a geometry and area check.
Appraiser review checklist
- Confirm the sketch is attached to the correct report and property structure.
- Confirm labels, areas, and totals match your field notes and intended report use.
- Confirm any generated exhibit is readable before relying on it in the report.
- Recheck the report section where the exhibit or calculated area appears.
Related Web Sketch tutorials
This article is part 9 of 14 in the Web Sketch tutorial series. Use the Help Center search for web sketch to find the other drawing, labeling, calculation, and exhibit guides.