Guidance notes for measuring and scaling plans

To be able to measure and scale plans you will need to have Adobe Acrobat or some other PDF software tool. These instructions relate to using Adobe Acrobat Reader DC (free version).  This software is not supplied by Arun District Council, nor does Arun District Council take any responsibility for its use or functionality.

You can download software from Adobe. PLEASE NOTE: For the measuring tools to be available, the PDF file must be opened in Adobe Acrobat (not in a web browser such as Edge).

• Open the Measure Tool by selecting the Tools tab on the top left of the document or select the More Tools icon under the list of tools on the right.

  

• In the Tools menu select the purple Measure tool.

  

• The Measuring Tool panel will now appear above the Plan.

  

• Select the Measuring Tool to open the measuring toolbar and Display Tool box panel:

  

• The Distance Tool box shows information about the measurement, such as current measurement, delta values, scale ratio and precision:

  

Change the scale ratio

• Ensure that the Measuring Tool is active.

• Right click anywhere on the document and select Change Scale Ratio and Precision to bring up the scale ratio box.

  

Note: The scale values are set by default and this will always occur when you first open the scale ratio and precision box.
Check the scale on the plan and use the values below to input the scale ratio:

• 1:20  1cm = 0.2m
• 1:25  1cm = 0.25m
• 1:50 1cm = 0.5m
• 1:100  1cm = 1m
• 1:200  1cm = 2m
• 1:500 1cm = 5m
• 1:1000  1cm = 10m
• 1:1250  1cm = 12.5m
• 1:2500  1cm = 25m
• 1:5000  1cm = 50m
• 1:10000  1cm = 100m

Measuring types

With the scale set, the measuring of the plan can take place. There are 3 different ways to measure:

• Distance tool

  
  
  This tool will measure the distance between two points, which is ideal for measuring the distance of walls or the distance from an elevation to the boundary. Left click on the point you want the measurement to start and double left click on the end point. The distanced measured will appear between the arrows and in the Distance Tool box.
  

• Perimeter tool

  
  
  This tool measures a set of distances between multiple points. Left click on the point you want to measurement to start, then click on the points you wish to mark. Double left click to finish the last measurement. The distance will be indicated in the Perimeter Tool box.
  

• Area tool

  

  This tool measures the area within the line segment. Left click on the point you wish to start the measurement, then click on each further point you wish to measure before clicking on the point from which you started measuring. The area measurement will be calculated in the Area Tool box.
  

Notes:

• At any point when you are measuring, you can cancel the measurement by right clicking on the plan and select Cancel Measurement.
• To delete a measurement markup, select the measurement and press the Delete Key.