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?, etc. 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 7 PDF measuring tools you can’t miss, freeware and online measuring tools also included. Let’s find out!
Cisdem PDFMaster
Free Download macOS 11 or later 
Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
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 4 precise PDF measuring tools provided by Cisdem PDFMaster to measure distance, perimeter, polygon area and rectangle area. Each measuring tool will give you many options to customize their appearance like color, opacity, width and style. Besides, 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.
Free Download macOS 11 or later Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7
Go to Editor > Measure. Select the Line tool from the measure drop-down menu to measure the distance between two points in a PDF. 
Cisdem PDFMaster provides you with tools to measure the area of different shapes. You can measure the rectangular area or custom areas. Select the corresponding tool according to the shape of your measurement. Here we take the rectangle area as an example.
Also, you can check the YouTube video tutorial to measure PDF on PC.
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.
Tips: The Measuring tool in PDF Annotator can only be used as a temporary helper for measuring and calculating drawings. To keep the measure record in PDF, use the Dimension tool.
PDF X-Change is a full-featured PDF editor specifically designed for Windows. It has the capabilities of PDF viewing, converting, protecting, etc., as well as PDF measuring. As for its measure feature, 3 types of measuring tool are available: distance, perimeter and area. Still, it gives users much freedom to change the format of the measurement marks on page, like color and opacity. However, only straight lines or straight shapes can be measured in this program, while angle or arc shapes require the help of other tools.
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.
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.
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.
Does PDF Expert have a measuring tool? Can I use PDF Expert for free? These questions are raised in the topic of PDF measurement tools. As people expect, PDF Expert do help users to measure distances, areas, and perimeters effortlessly, however, the measurement tool set is available only for iPhone and iPad devices and requires a pro subscription. Follow the step-by-step tutorial to measure in PDF below if you need.
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.
Tips:
1.If you need to draw vertical, horizontal or lines at a 45° angle, use Shift.
2.Right-click the line you have measured, it’s convenient to change the appearance and general in the Line Properties window.
These seven 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!
Bianca is a senior tech editor and strategist at Cisdem with Over 10 years of experience on PDF related solutions which covers all document editing, annotating, converting and managing etc.
