Plan Measure¶
Measure distances, perimeters and areas on a PDF site plan. Set a scale from a known dimension, trace the feature, and export your measurements. Plan Measure runs in your browser, with local project storage and downloadable backups.
Open Plan Measure Download the practice site plan
Use a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad for this walkthrough. The tool opens in a separate tab so you can keep these instructions visible.
Starter: measure a paved pad¶
Allow about ten minutes. The practice drawing shows a 12 m × 8 m paved pad with corners A, B, C and D. This is a synthetic training example, with no real property or project data.
1. Open the drawing¶
Download the practice PDF above. Open Plan Measure, choose Open PDF, and select the downloaded file. Start on page 1. Use Fit or the zoom buttons below the plan to see the pad clearly.
2. Calibrate a known dimension¶
In Scales, choose Add scale → Uniform. Click corner A, then corner B, at the ends of the marked 12 m edge. Enter 12, choose Metres, name the scale Practice pad, and choose Save scale.
Always calibrate from a reliable dimension on the drawing. A printed scale label alone does not establish that a PDF or scan has retained its original size.
3. Check another dimension¶
Choose Line (shortcut L). Click B, then C. The result should be approximately 8 m. If it is noticeably different, use Undo, zoom in, and check your calibration points and units before continuing.
4. Measure area and perimeter¶
Choose Polygon (shortcut P). Click A → B → C → D, then press Enter to finish. The polygon label shows both area and perimeter.
| Check | Expected result |
|---|---|
| Side B–C | 8 m |
| Pad area | 12 × 8 = 96 m² |
| Pad perimeter | 2 × (12 + 8) = 40 m |
Small differences from placing clicks are normal. Zoom in and repeat for a closer result. These values check this practice drawing, rather than setting a tolerance for real engineering work.
5. Save an editable backup and a report¶
Wait for Saved on this device at the bottom right. Click that status and choose Export backup (.planmeasure). This download includes the PDF, scales and editable measurements.
Then choose Export → Format → CSV → Export CSV for a measurement table, or Annotated PDF → Export PDF for a marked-up copy. CSV, JSON and annotated PDFs serve different reporting purposes; keep the .planmeasure file for editable recovery.
To check the backup, open Projects → Import project and select the downloaded .planmeasure file. Confirm that the PDF, scale and two measurements are present. After reopening the app, use Recent projects or Projects to resume a locally saved project.
6. Try a second page¶
The PDF also includes a US Letter page with the same pad drawn at a different size. Move to page 2 and create a new calibration from its 12 m edge. Repeat the measurements and compare the physical results with page 1. Do not copy the first page's scale into this exercise.
Using it with Green Guides¶
Use measured geometry as a recorded input to your review. A traced paved outline does not by itself identify a drainage boundary, establish runoff, size a BMP, or demonstrate regulatory compliance. Continue with the relevant source-backed guidance:
Storage and supported use¶
Projects autosave in this browser on this device. Clearing site data can remove them; download .planmeasure backups regularly. Saved projects are specific to the website address and browser. To move work between browsers or devices, import a downloaded backup.
The public Green Guides site also requests a Cloudflare analytics script when the tool is opened. This can contact Cloudflare separately from the app's local project storage.
Use PDFs up to 100 MB. Password-protected PDFs are unsupported. The walkthrough is tested with desktop pointer input; phone and touch-only authoring have not been validated.
Credits and help¶
Green Guides hosts Plan Measure v2.11.1, by userfypp, under the MIT license. The measurement application is upstream software; this integration adds Green Guides navigation and adapts asset paths and the PDF worker extension for static hosting.