Top 5 PDF Measuring Tools You Can’t Miss (Free, Online Incl.)

With the growing need for people to measure the objects in floor plans, CAD drawings, or other PDF documents, PDF measuring tools are doing so with increasing accuracy, reliability and convenience.

We have collected a number of questions on Google that users are eager to get answers: What’s the best PDF measuring tool? Does Adobe Acrobat have a measuring tool? How can I measure a PDF for free? You can all get a satisfactory solution here.

Our article will be especially useful for designers, architects, engineers, Windows and Mac users who have measurement needs in their work or life. Here are the top 5 PDF measuring tools you can’t miss, freeware and online measuring tools also included. Let’s find out!

 Cisdem PDFMaster

A Versatile PDF Measuring Tool with the Highest Precision!

• Measure distance, areas, perimeter, angles in PDF with ease.
• Change a scale when using a measurement tool, like units and precision.
• Easy and accurate measurement with just a few clicks.
• Customize measurement results’ color, opacity, stroke and even style.
• Manage your measurement records orderly, view, comment, or remove.
• Suitable for Windows users and Mac users.
• Other key features: edit, annotate, sign, draw, convert, compress, protect and unlock PDF.

Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.13 or later

Best of All: The Most Precise and Rich PDF Measuring Tool

Measure PDF files and handle digital documents effortlessly, on Windows or Mac with Cisdem PDFMaster. Traditional measurement is tedious and time-saving, but Cisdem gives you a set of useful PDF measuring tools that make working with digital drawings easy and high-efficient.

There are 6 precise PDF measuring tools provided by Cisdem PDFMaster to measure distance, perimeter, polygon area, rectangle area, ellipse area and arc. Each measuring tool allows you to customize a scale, including changing the units of measurement, selecting the measurement precision, and deciding whether to use fractional units. More importantly, unlike some PDF measuring tools on the market, all the measuring results in Cisdem can be retained on the PDF pages when you’re done measuring. This will be a great convenience for people who need to record large amounts of measurement data.

As for these measurement results, you have the option to customize their appearance like color, opacity, stroke and even style, make comments on them, and remove the unwanted ones if needed.

Other Main Features Provided in Cisdem PDFMaster

1. Edit PDF files in Cisdem easily like a word processor.
2. Make annotations and drawings on the PDF pages.
3. Batch convert PDF into/from more than 15 formats.
4. Unlock password-protected PDF files.
5. Protect PDF with passwords, watermarks, digital signature and more.
6. Reduce the size of PDF files in bulk.
7. Manipulate PDF pages simply as you want.
8. Create fillable PDF forms with various form fields provided.
9. Support OCR technology.

How to Measure Distance on PDF Drawings?

1. Download and install PDFMaster on Windows or Mac.
   Free Download   Free Download
2. Upload your PDF by clicking Open Files.
3. Go to Comment > Measurement. Select the Distance tool from the measurement drop-down menu to measure the distance between two points in a PDF. 
4. And select a scale or custom a scale before measuring.
5. Click anywhere in the PDF as the start point, move the cursor to the second point and click the mouse button again.
6. Click on the measured area and the measurement information panel will display on the right-hand. You can even customize line color, opacity, stroke and style by clicking the measured objects.
7. Click Save to complete your measurement.

How to Measure Perimeter in PDF?

1. In the Measurement menu, select the Perimeter tool to calculate the sum of the distances of multiple points.
2. Click to set the start point, move the mouse cursor to place the second point or third point, then double click to place the endpoint.

How to Measure Area in PDF?

Cisdem PDFMaster provides you with tools to measure the area of different shapes. You can measure the ellipses area, rectangular area or custom area. Select the corresponding tool according to the shape of your measurement. Here we take the rectangle area as an example.

1. Choose Rectangle Area in the Measurement menu.
2. Find the area that you want to measure, directly drag your cursor to create a rectangle.
3. Then click the area and you can see the measurement result on the right pane.

How to Use the Arc Measurement Tool?

1. Go to Comment > Measurement > Arc Measurement.
2. Choose three points to measure an angle on the drawing. When you determine the two points on the page, you can already see an angle gauge appear. Click on the end point to determine the degree.

Also, you can check the YouTube video tutorial to measure PDF on PC.

Use the Best Free PDF Measuring Software on Windows and Mac

Parts of you may prefer free PDF measuring software due to tight budget, occasional use or other reasons, if so, here are two optimal free PDF measuring tools available for you, respectively Adobe Acrobat Reader and Preview.

#1. Adobe Acrobat Reader

If you are looking for a basic yet workable PDF measuring tool, Adobe Acrobat Reader DC has got you covered. Most people may not know that the Adobe Reader is not just a reader, it can also let you take accurate measurement of your floor plans, PDF drawings or other files. Without downloading and paying for Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can measure perimeter, distance and area with this free PDF measuring tool.

How Does the Best Free PDF Measuring Software Work on Windows and Mac?

1. Go to Adobe Acrobat Reader > Tools > Measure.
2. Upload your floor plan or other PDF files from your computer or Cloud.
3. Right-click anywhere in the PDF to set measuring tool options. You can set the scale ratio and precision, change the markup label and more.
4. Choose Measuring Tools and start your measuring.
   ► There are 4 Snap Types you can choose, including Snap To Paths, Snap To Endpoints, Snap To Midpoints and Snap To Intersections.
   ► And 3 Measurement Types in the upper right corner are Distance Tool, Perimeter Tool and Area Tool. 
5. Choose File > Save as to download the PDF file you measured.

#2. Preview

There is good news for Mac users that a default image and PDF viewer -- Preview can be a handy PDF measuring tool for free. With the aid of ruler provided by Preview, users are able to measure the size and margins of rectangular selection in a PDF file without having to print it out. It is a great option for those who simply need to measure some rectangles, otherwise you’ll have to turn to a professional PDF measuring tool.

How to Use the Best Free PDF Measuring Software on Mac?

1. Right click on your PDF file and open it with Preview.
2. Go to Tools tab on the top > Show Inspector from the drop-down.
3. Hit the Ruler icon in the floating window.
4. Head towards the Tools tab > Rectangular Selection, drag a rectangle as you need on the page, then its measured data will be shown on the Crop window.

Use a Convenient PDF Measuring Tool on Windows

PDF Annotator provides Windows users two separate tools for measurement: One is Measure Tool, another is Dimension Tool. The biggest difference between the two is that the results of the measure tool are only displayed temporarily and are not saved to a document. The results of the dimension tool used to measure the distance between two points can be permanently retained on the document.

If you have the need to highlight text, reverse order of PDF page, fill in or sign a form, insert blank pages, add page numbers or add comments to PDF, PDF Annotator can solve all for you.

How to Measure PDF on Windows?

1. Upload your PDF file from your local device.
2. First select Tool > Measure to activate the measure tool, then go to Tool > Tool Style, the options you can choose from the drop-down menu are Distance, Perimeter, Area, Angle, Scale and Manage Scales.
3. Select a scale from the list or customize the scale in Manage Sales.
4. Choose the tool to measure the distance between two points, a perimeter between points, an area or an angle in your PDF, and finish with ESC or right click.

Can I Measure PDF Free Online? Sure!

Noting that more and more users have the need to handle PDF documents online, most PDF software have launched the online version. Guess some users still look for free online PDF measuring tools, Foxit PDF Editor Online is picked here to meet all your requirements.

Foxit PDF Editor Online is a cloud-based PDF solution that provides many of the same capabilities as the offline version, measure tool is one of the most powerful parts you can use for free.

The program is equipped with other useful functions, with which you can edit PDF, convert PDF, add watermark, extract images from PDF, share PDF, redact PDF, etc. This tool can help you better manage your PDF files.

How to Use the Best Free PDF Measuring Tool Online?

1. Create an account or sign up with Google Account.
2. Choose a PDF from your computer, OneDrive, Box, Dropbox or Google Drive.
3. Go to Comment > Measure. You can click Distance, Perimeter, Area icon in the toolbar according to your needs. 
4. Once you’ve set the scale ratio on the right interface, you can start your measuring.
5. Multiple options like Snap Types, Export to Excel and Add label you can choose in the sidebar.
6. Once you’ve finished, click File > Save as.

So, which is the best choice for you?

These five top-level PDF measuring tools have their own strengths. More powerful and reliable than other tools, Cisdem PDFMater is equipped with more abundant, accurate, and time-saving measuring tools for Windows and Mac users. Even better, you can freely download it and get a license at a cheap price now!