Measure Tool

The Measure tool enables you to easily define the distance, area, and perimeter for a set of points based on a scale that you define. If a PDF file does not have an embedded scale, the Measure tool will adapt the file’s default units into inches. For accurate results, calibration enables you to define a custom scale for your document. It is also possible to set different measurement scales for each page in a PDF file. The measuring tools are useful for showing the distances and areas associated with objects in a form or computer-aided design (CAD) drawing. You can also use these tools to measure certain areas of a document before sending it to a professional printer.

Use the measuring tools to measure distances and areas of objects in PDF documents.

Calibrating Measure:

  1. Under the Review tab, click the arrow beneath the Measure button and click Calibration.
  2. Click OK in the Calibration window.
  3. Click on the page to set the measurement start-point, then on another spot of the page to set the measurement end-point (click Escape to restart).
  4. In the Calibration dialog, define the measurement value and choose the appropriate unit from the menu.

5.  Tick the Apply to all pages checkbox to use the same measurement scale on every page of the PDF file.

Measuring Distance:

1.  Under the Review tab, click the arrow beneath the Measure button and click Distance.

2.  Click anywhere on the page to set the measurement start-point (click Escape to restart).

3.  Drag the mouse to the end of the distance being measured, and then click to set the endpoint.

4.  Slide the mouse up or down to correctly display the boundaries of the measurement, and then click again to finish.

5.  You can double-click the measurement stamp to open up an annotation that displays your measurement as a note. Edit as required.

Measure Area:

1.  Under the Review tab, click the arrow beneath the Measure button and click Area.

 

2.  Click anywhere on the page to set the measurement start-point (click Escape to restart).

3.  Drag the mouse to the next segment of the area and click to set a midpoint. You may set as many midpoints as required (click Escape to restart).

4.  When all the paths of the area have been covered, right-click and select Complete to finish.

5.  You can double-click the measurement stamp to open up an annotation that displays your measurement as a note. Edit as required.

Measure Perimeter:

  1. Under the Review tab, in the Annotations panel, click the arrow beneath the Measure button > click Perimeter.
  2. Click anywhere on the page to set the measurement start-point (click Escape to restart).
  3. Drag the mouse to the next segment of the perimeter and click to set a midpoint. You may set as many midpoints as required (click Escape to restart).
  4. When all the paths of the perimeter have been covered, right-click and select Complete to finish measuring.
  5. You can double-click the measurement stamp to open up an annotation that displays your measurement as a note. Edit as required.

Measure tool preferences:

  1. In the File menu, click Preferences.
  2. Click the Measure category.
  3. In the Calibration section, tick the checkbox to disable the message shown before calibration is performed.
  4. In the Snapping section, define the points and paths to which the mouse pointer will snap.
  5. Click Apply and then click OK to save your changes and close the dialog.

Additional resources:

Want to know more? Check out the User Guide for more information.

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Measurement Tool