How To Set Up Scale on PDF Drawing in SwifDoo PDF Measuring Tool

How To Calibrate a Scale on PDF Drawing in SwifDoo PDF Measuring Tool

Calibrate Scale on PDF – SwifDoo

Scaling a PDF drawing correctly is crucial for accurate measurements, whether you’re working on blueprints, construction plans, or quantity take-offs. But what happens when the drawing isn’t at its original scale? 🤔

In this tutorial, we’ll break down the step-by-step process of determining the correct scale using a measuring tool in SwifDoo PDF. We’ll go from identifying a known dimension to calculating and applying the scale—ensuring precision in every measurement. 📏💡

By the end, you’ll have the confidence to take off dimensions and quantities from any digital drawing like a pro! Let’s get started. 🚀”

1 – First, download a PDF Area Measuring Tool or software like SwifDoo PDF for Windows. This software must have measuring tools for distance, perimeter and area.

2 – Upload your PDF drawing on Swifdoo PDF software.

3 – Go to TOP MENU >> Annotate >> Measure, and choose Scale Ratio. Enter a ratio of 1:1

4 – Find a known dimension on the drawing. Measure the line using the Distance Tool. Write down the measurement and the known dimension.

5 – Use these two figures to calculate the scale. You can ask ChatGPT to help you with the calculation.

6 – Go back to Measure >> Scale Ratio, and enter the scale. That’s all. You can start taking off dimensions and quantities from the PDF Plan by using the Distance, Perimeter and Area tools. To test and verify your new scale, measure a known dimension on the PDF Drawing using the Distance Tool to see if the measurement matches with the known dimension.

NOTE: Do not use the scale on the original architectural blueprint for taking off. These are scales for print papers – AO, AI, A2 – ARCH A (22.86 x 30.48cm) to ARCH E (91.44 x 121.92cm) (Print Scales). If you are taking off from Paper Architectural Drawings, you will need an Architectural Scale Rule. On a digital PDF Drawing, the method outlined above allows you to implement a virtual version of your architectural scale rule.

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Measure Known Length and Calibrate Scale on PDF – SwifDoo

Example – How To Scale a Drawing on PDF

Find a known dimension on the drawing.

Dimension on plan (known dimension) – 10.89m
At 1:1 scale, the measured length on plan = 7.30cm

Dimension on plan – 10.89m
Measured length on plan – 7.30cm

From the above, you can calculate the scale as follows:

To calculate the scale of the drawing, use the formula:

Scale = Measured length on plan / Actual dimension

​Given:
Actual dimension = 10.89 m = 1089 cm
Measured length on plan = 7.30 cm

Calculation:
Scale = 7.30 / 1089 = 0.006703397 expressed as a ratio 1:149.04

Final Answer:
The scale of the drawing is 1:150 (rounded to the nearest standard scale).

Enter this scale on your PDF Measuring Tool.

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