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 1
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 Tab Access > Measurements or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+U. 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 2
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). 3
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. 4
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: Center Radius: Click the center of the circle, then click any point on the circumference. 5
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). 6
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. 7
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. 8
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. 9