How to calibrate the scale and count in Bluebeam

How to calibrate a drawing in Revu

1. 1

   Open Calibrate

   Click Calibrate on the Measurements panel, or go to Tools > Measure > Set Scale, choose Custom and click Calibrate.

2. 2

   Draw over a known length

   Click both ends of a dimension you trust. Hold Shift for a straight line, and enable Snap to Content on vector drawings.

3. 3

   Enter the real length

   Type the real-world length and choose its unit.

4. 4

   Apply it

   Choose the pages, set the precision, and select Apply Scale. Use + Add Preset to reuse it on other drawings.

Set the scale or calibrate it?

If the drawing states its scale and you trust the PDF, choose a preset in Tools > Measure > Set Scale, or enter a custom one. Bluebeam generally recommends calibrating unless you are sure nothing went wrong when the PDF was made, because PDFs are often rescaled on the way. Calibrating means drawing a line over a known length; hold Shift to keep it straight, and turn on Snap to Content on vector drawings so the line lands exactly on the dimension.

Carry the scale to the rest of the set

Open Window > Panels > Measurements and choose Add Scale to More Pages, then pick the pages and Apply Scale. For another drawing, save the scale as a preset with + Add Preset and pick it there. A single page can hold more than one scale through viewports, which is common on sheets with details at different scales.

Counting with the Count tool

Start Count from the Measurements panel toolbar, the Measure toolbar or Tools > Measure. Each click places a count marker carrying the running total at that point. Totals for selected measurements appear in the Markups List and on the Dynamic Properties toolbar. The Show Caption property controls the captions on the drawing.

When the scale won't stick: Studio Sessions

Drawings opened from a Studio Session are often scale-protected. A scale you change there is temporary and reverts when you close the drawing, and it only affects markups placed while it was in effect. To apply a new scale to every measurement in a Session drawing, choose Recalculate.

Counting and measuring in ContractorCounter

In ContractorCounter you calibrate once per sheet, then count with grouped markers, or let the AI take the first pass with a marker on every symbol for you to review. Counts and measurements go straight into a Bill of Quantities you can price. The keys match Revu's: Count is Shift+Alt+C and Area is Shift+Alt+A. It runs in the browser, from US$1 a week, billed US$4 every 4 weeks.

Questions about How-to guide