Measure PDF plans in your browser.Get real numbers off any PDF plan.
Measure square footage, wall lengths and angles right on the drawings. Free, online, nothing uploaded and no scale ruler required.
Drop your plans here
PDF, any size. It stays on your computer.
Three steps. About thirty seconds.
Drop your PDF
Drag the drawing set in, or pick it from your files.
Set the scale
Choose the scale on the sheet, like 1/4″ = 1′ or 1:50, or tap two ends of a dimension you know.
Measure away
Lengths, areas, angles, notes. It all saves itself, so you can pick up tomorrow.
For anyone holding a set of plans.
Homeowners
Check the square footage before you order flooring or sign a quote.
Contractors & trades
Quick takeoffs for drywall, tile and trim, right from the job site.
Designers & architects
Mark up a set, add dimensions and notes, send it back.
The whole toolbox.
Learn the ropes.
- Guide
How to measure a PDF plan
Set the scale, then measure distances, square footage and angles on any PDF floor plan or drawing, free in your browser. Step by step, with screenshots.
- Guide
How to find the scale of a PDF plan
Where a drawing’s scale is printed, what 1/4″ = 1′-0″ and 1:50 mean, why it’s often wrong after printing to PDF, and how to calibrate from a known dimension.
- Guide
How to calculate square footage from a PDF floor plan
Trace each room on the PDF, add them up, and know what counts: walls, garages, stairs, porches. A worked whole-house example with gross vs. net area.
- Guide
How much flooring do I need? Work it out from your floor plan
Take each room’s area off your PDF floor plan, add waste for your material and layout, and round up to whole boxes. Sourced waste table and worked example.
- Guide
How to count items and quantities on a PDF plan
Count fixtures, outlets and columns, total pipe and conduit runs across every sheet, add waste and export the takeoff to a spreadsheet, free in your browser.
- Guide
How to compare two PDF drawings with an overlay
Lay Rev A over Rev B in your browser and see moved walls, new doors and changed dimensions in colour. Free, nothing uploaded, with a worked example.
- Guide
How to measure a PDF to scale on a Mac
Preview can’t measure a plan to scale. Here’s what its numbers mean, every Mac option compared, and how to measure in feet and inches free in Safari.
- Guide
Measure tool greyed out in Adobe Reader: why, and the fix
Adobe Reader measures most PDFs but greys the tool out when a file’s security blocks commenting. How to check, each symptom, and how to measure anyway.
- Tool
Architectural scale calculator
Convert a length measured on a drawing to its real-world length at any architectural, engineering or metric scale, and back, with a table of common scales.
- Comparison
PDF Measure vs. Bluebeam Revu vs. Adobe Acrobat for measuring PDFs
An honest comparison for measuring PDF drawings: what the free browser tool covers, where Bluebeam Revu and Adobe Acrobat go further, and which you need.
Questions, answered.
Is PDF Measure really free?
Yes. Every tool is free to use, with no account, no trial period and no watermark on what you export. Open a PDF and start measuring.
Are my PDFs uploaded anywhere?
No. Your browser opens the PDF and draws it on your own device; the file is never sent to a server. Measurements and markups are saved in your browser’s local storage so they reopen with the file. The site only records anonymous feature-usage events, never your file, its name or the values you measure, and records nothing when your browser sends a Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control signal.
How do I set the scale on a drawing?
Pick the scale printed in the title block, such as 1/4″ = 1′-0″ or 1:50, from the scale menu. If the sheet has no scale, or was printed to PDF at a different size, use Calibrate: click both ends of a dimension you know, type its length, and every measurement follows.
How accurate are the measurements?
As accurate as the drawing and your clicks. Points are stored in the PDF’s own coordinate space rather than in screen pixels, so zooming in lets you place them more precisely. Error comes from the scale setting and from where you click, so calibrate against a long known dimension rather than a short one.
Does it work on a Mac, an iPad or a phone?
Yes. PDF Measure runs in Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Edge on Mac, Windows and Linux computers, on iPads and Android tablets, and on phones. There is nothing to install, so it works the same on all of them. On touch screens the toolbar becomes a bottom dock with larger targets.
Can I measure square footage and do takeoffs?
Yes. The Area tool gives the area and perimeter of any shape you trace, odd corners included. The Takeoff tools count symbols and total length runs into named quantities, such as columns, outlets or feet of ¾″ copper, across every sheet and open PDF, then add a waste percentage for the order quantity and export a CSV for your spreadsheet. It is a measuring and takeoff tool rather than an estimating suite: there are no cost databases or unit prices.
Can I count fixtures or symbols on a PDF plan?
Yes. Choose Count, name the item (say, “Duplex outlets”) and click each symbol: a numbered marker lands on it and the total goes up, sheet after sheet. A click next to a symbol you already counted adds nothing, and clicking a marker removes it. The thumbnails show the count on each sheet, and the takeoff lists every item with its total. On drawings exported from CAD, Find similar (beta) finds the other symbols like the one you counted on that sheet, for you to review before they are counted; on scanned sheets, symbols are counted by clicking.
What can I export or share?
A PDF with every measurement and markup drawn on it, ready to email or print. You can also export the markups as a JSON file and import them into the same drawing on another computer, so a colleague can pick up where you left off. To send a quick look instead, Share makes a picture of what is on screen with a list of the measurements in it, ready to text or email.
Is it an alternative to Bluebeam Revu or Adobe Acrobat for measuring?
For taking measurements and marking up drawings, yes: it covers distance, area, perimeter, angle, dimension lines, callouts, revision clouds and overlay comparison, free and without installing anything. It does not replace the estimating, document-management and collaboration features of those suites.
What kinds of PDF work? Do scanned plans?
Any PDF: floor plans, site plans, elevations, sections, shop drawings and scanned plans. Vector drawings exported from CAD or BIM and scans measure the same way once the scale is set; for a scan, calibrate from a known dimension because the scanner rarely keeps the printed scale. Multi-page sets open as one document, and you can open several files at once to compare them.