Take-up is the deduct that places the mark for a 90-degree stub-up: the amount of conduit the bend itself consumes turning horizontal into vertical. The hand-bender values run by EMT trade size — 5 inches for 1/2", 6 inches for 3/4", 8 inches for 1", and 11 inches for 1-1/4" — and the layout is one subtraction: measure the desired stub height, subtract the take-up for the trade size, and make the bend mark that distance from the conduit end. Back-to-back 90s extend the same logic, measured outside to outside for the second bend.
Take-up is easy to conflate with shrink, but they belong to different bends: take-up is the stub-up’s deduct, fixed per bender shoe and trade size, while shrink is how much an offset or saddle shortens the run because the tube travels a hypotenuse. One is subtracted from a height before bending; the other is added to a measurement along the run. Keeping the two straight — and using the take-up stamped for your bender, since the deducts are properties of the shoe — is most of what separates a stub that lands at height from one that needs a second stick.