Introduction to Measurement Tools
Revu's built-in measurement tools make it easy to take length, area, perimeter,
diameter, volume and radius measurements, count from PDFs and perform area
cutouts.
Compatibility
Revu Standard, CAD or eXtreme 10.0 or higher for most functions
Revu Standard, CAD or eXtreme 12.0 or higher for Calibration of Separate X and Y
Scales, Wall Area and Center-out Radius
Contents
Using the Measurement Tools
Calibrate the Page
Select Measurement Type
Measure
Keeping Track of Measurements
Show All Measurements
Curved Measurements
Options
Viewports
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Using the Measurement Tools
Revu's measurement tools can be accessed from three places: the Measurements
tab, the Measure command bar and the Measure toolbar. However, an important
aspect of taking accurate measurements is calibrating the page and since the current
page calibration is only shown on the Measurements tab, this tutorial will use it
exclusively.
To open the Measurements tab, go to
keyboard shortcut Alt+U.
Tab Access >
Measurements or use the
There are three basic steps for using the measurement tools:
1. Calibrate the page
2. Select a measurement type
3. Measure
Step 1: Calibrate the Page
Calibrating sets the scale for the page and ensures accurate measurements. You can
calibrate a page for a single scale or for separate X and Y scales.
If you already know the scale for the page, you can enter the values in the Scale
section of the Measurements tab. However, using the Calibrate tool as shown below
is recommended as sometimes scaling occurs during the PDF creation process.
Calibrating a Single Scale
1. Locate a measured length on the page.
2. Click the Calibrate button on the
Measurements tab.
3. A dialog box might appear with instructions
regarding the use of the Calibrate tool. If it
does, click OK.
4. Click the first point of the known length, then
click a second point to finish the line. Hold
down the Shift key to snap the two points
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horizontally, vertically or diagonally (as appropriate). When the second point is
selected, the Calibration dialog box opens.
5. Enter the distance that the line between these two points represents on the
drawing and select the units in which measurements are to be reported.
6. Click OK.
7. Set the Precision on the Measurements tab. This determines how measurement
values are rounded on the page.
8. To save this scale so that it will be used whenever anybody takes
measurements on this page, select Store Scale in Page.
Note: Use Embedded Scale must be enabled under Options in the
Measurements tab in order to use Store Scale in Page.
Calibrating Separate X and Y Scales
To calibrate separate X and Y scales, begin by selecting Separate Vertical Scale on
the Measurements tab. After that, there will be two scales (one for X and one for Y)
as well as two Calibrate buttons (again, for X and Y).
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Calibrate the X and Y scales separately, just like you would a single scale. The only
difference is that you'll need to do it twice, once using the Calibrate X Scale button
and once using the Calibrate Y Scale button.
Note: If you ever change the scale, clicking the Recalculate button will reset all the
measurements on the page to the new scale.
Step 2: Select Measurement Type
Once the page has been calibrated, click one of the measurement tools at the top of
the Measurements tab. Each of these tools is described below.
If there are any Viewports on your PDF, they might turn blue when you click a
measurement type. This makes the page's Viewports easier to see and more obvious
when you are measuring something in a Viewport (which might use its own scale and
measuring units). See Viewports for more information.
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Step 3: Measure
Measuring involves clicking two or more points on a PDF. The distance between these
points, or the space created within them, will then be calculated using the scale that
was set in Step 1. The following are instructions on how to use each tool:
Length: Use to measure the length of a single line. Click the starting and ending
point to measure length. To measure the cumulative length of a multi-segment line,
use Perimeter.
Area: Use to measure the enclosed area of a shape. If the area is rectangular,
simply click and drag a rectangle to measure. For non-rectangular shapes, click a
point for every corner of the shape, but do not drag. Pressing Backspace will delete
the last control point placed. Pressing Enter will set the end point, enclosing the area
and producing a measurement. Note that giving an Area measurement a Depth on its
Properties tab enables the measurement of Wall Area in the Markups list.
Perimeter: Use to measure the perimeter of a shape or the cumulative length of
a multi-segment line. If the shape is rectangular, simply click and drag a rectangle to
measure. For non-rectangular shapes and multi-segment lines, click a point for every
corner of the shape, but do not drag. Pressing Backspace will delete the last control
point placed. Pressing Enter will set the end point and produce a measurement. Note
that giving a Perimeter measurement a Depth on its Properties tab enables the
measurement of Wall Area in the Markups list.
Diameter: Use to measure the diameter of a circle. Click once to initiate a circle.
Then, move your cursor to match the size of the circle you are measuring and click
again to produce the diameter measurement.
Angle: Use to measure the angle of a corner. Click once on one axis,
then on the angle's origin point, then on the second axis. In the example
to the right, the numbers show the clicks of your mouse.
Radius: Use to measure the radius of a circle. There are two ways to measure
Radius:
l
Center Radius: Click the center of the circle, then click any point on the
circumference.
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l
3-Point Radius: Click three points along an arc or circle to measure the
radius. In the example to the right, the clicks are numbered along the
curve of the circle.
Volume: Use to measure the enclosed volume of a shape. After selecting
the tool, enter a Depth on the Measurement tab, then click and drag a
rectangle or, for non-rectangular shapes, click a point for every corner of the shape,
but do not drag. Pressing Backspace will delete the last control point placed. Pressing
Enter will set the end point and produce a measurement.
Cutout: Use to define any section(s) that need to be excluded from an Area or
Volume measurement (for example, windows and doors on a wall). Click and drag a
rectangle or, for non-rectangular shapes, click a point for every corner of the shape,
but do not drag. Pressing Backspace will delete the last control point placed. Pressing
Enter will set the end point. The original Area measurement will then display a new
value to reflect the excluded section(s).
Note: The Cutout tool can only be utilized within an Area measurement that was
created within Revu.
Count: Use to place symbols on the PDF that represent items you wish to count.
These symbols are then tracked in the Markups list as a
single line item with a grand total shown. After selecting
the tool, open the Properties tab (go to
Tab Access >
Properties or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+P) and set the
color, style, opacity and scale of your symbol. Then click the
locations on the PDF to be counted. Press Esc when you are
finished counting and the Count markups will be placed on
the PDF.
If you get interrupted and need to come back to your count,
simply right-click on one of the symbols and select Resume
Count. If you want to delete one of the count
measurements, right-click it and select Delete '<Count
Measurement Subject>' from Group.
Within the Markups list you can access these symbols and
even change their properties, if necessary. This will update
all the selected symbols on the page at one time, as they are considered a Grouped
annotation. (See the Markups List tutorial for more information).
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Tip: Count markup groups are automatically split up by page, even if they are all
placed at the same time. Giving each of the groups the same easily identifiable
Subject on the Properties tab will make it easier to get a total across multiple pages;
just sort the Markups list by Subject.
Keeping Track of Measurements
Giving each measurement a title within the
Label field of the Measurements tab lets
you customize your measurements and keep
track of them within the Markups list. The
measurement total for each markup is
displayed in the Comments column of the
Markups list. This information can be
copied and pasted into any document by
right-clicking a total and selecting Copy.
Notice that the Measurements table located
in the Measurements tab will update to
show the Current measurement and the
Total measured for each specific type. You
can also do a quick sum of specific measurements by multi-selecting them on the
PDF.
Show All Measurements
To show more than one measurement type for a markup,
select the desired markup and click Show All Measurements
in the Properties tab. Selecting this option will result in all
applicable Area, Perimeter, Volume and Radius
measurements being displayed simultaneously on the drawing
and in the Markups list.
In case the measurement's caption text appears in an
undesirable location, you can move it by holding down the
Shift key and dragging it to a new location. The captions of
Geometric measurements (Radius, Diameter and Angle) cannot be moved.
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Curved Measurements
The Perimeter, Area and Volume
tools can easily measure curved
objects and other uncommon
shapes.
To create a Curved Measurement:
1. Create a rough outline within
the object you want to
measure.
2. Right-click a side and go to
Control Point > Add (the
more control points you add,
the easier it will be to adjust
your curves later).
3. Drag the control point(s) to meet the apex of a curve.
4. Right-click a straight side between any two points and select Convert to Arc.
5. Drag the control point(s) to fine-tune your curve(s) as needed.
Options
The Options section of the
Measurements tab allows you to turn
certain usability options on and off. By
default, the Make Annotation box is
checked. This option tells Revu to
display annotations/markups for each
measurement you make.
If you uncheck the Make Annotation
box, you will not see any markups on the PDF after making a measurement.
Snap Orthogonal will snap the measurement line in 45° increments when taking a
measurement.
Snap to Content will snap the measurement to line up with underlying vector
content (for example, lines in a PDF drawing) to give you the most accurate
measurement.
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Use Embedded Scale will read the scale embedded within the PDF document and use
that scale for all measurements. This must be enabled to use Store Scale in Page
when calibrating.
Highlight Viewports will cause any Viewports on a page to be highlighted in blue
anytime a measurement tool is selected.
Viewports
Viewports allow you to designate areas within the PDF
drawing that are set to a different scale.
To create a Viewport:
1. Open the Measurements tab (go to
Tab
Access >
Measurements or use the keyboard
shortcut Alt+U)
2. Click Add within the Viewports section. You
might be prompted to select the region within the
drawing that should use the new scale; if so, click
OK.
3. Click and drag a rectangle to designate the region. The Add Viewport dialog box
opens.
4. Enter a name for your Viewport and click OK.
5. Enter the scale of the Viewport directly in the Viewports section of the Measurements
tab or click Calibrate to calibrate the scale.
You may add as many Viewports within a single drawing as you would like. Each
Viewport added will be displayed by name in the Viewports list.
When Highlight Viewports in enabled in Options, Viewports are highlighted in blue
any time a measurement tool is selected. This makes the Viewports easier to see and
more obvious when a measurement is being made in a Viewport.
Viewports with the name “Untitled” can affect the accuracy of measurements. These
Viewports are inserted by some PDF creators; they usually do not have a valid scale
and sometimes overlap. If you open a PDF that contains untitled Viewports, Revu will
prompt you to clear them.
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