Additional measuring tools

[watrout]

First let me say thanks, so far your program is the only PDF editor software that I've seen that actually gives you the tools to measure directly from the screen. However, it would be nice if the measure tool could be improved a little. For instance, the ability to change the precision & units would be nice. Sometimes I'd like to see inches, sometimes inches & feet, and sometimes metric. Also, a common scale selection box of some sort would also be nice. One last thing, I've seen on some estimating software the ability to calibrate the scale using 2 known points. This would be especially nice for Architectural prints that might have gotten reduced or are not true to their stated scales.

[Tom - Tracker]

The units can currently be changed to cm or mm etc , simply select the measure tool and the units will be displayed in the toolbar.

[mantao]

Is there a way in which we can change the precision (decimal place accuracy) of the measuring tools - they appear to default to two decimal places.

Mark

[mantao]

Unfortunately, so far there has been no response or feedback.

Would appreciate a reply as to whether this is possible from Tracker.

Mark

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello mantao,

Apologies that this topic slipped 'through the cracks'.

No as far as I am aware there is no way to change the precision of the measurement tool. It is up to two digits after the decimal place (so if the value is 1.10 it will be displayed as 1.1 and if it is 1.00 it will be displayed 1)

Regards,
Stefan

[MIKERAUH]

I need more than two 10 mils of resolutiion for the measure tool. To be useful I need to be able to measure to 0.001 inch, and 0.0001 inch wouldn't hurt.

Please give your engineer users a break and upgrade the measure tool.

[Nico - Tracker Supp]

Hi MIKERAUH,

Thank you for your post.
I will add this feature request to the wish list for consideration by the Development team. However, I cannot guarantee that this will be part of the next release.
Thanks.

Sincerely,

[huusa]

I need more than two 10 mils of resolutiion for the measure tool. To be useful I need to be able to measure to 0.001 inch, and 0.0001 inch wouldn't hurt.

In that case you should probably request "scientific" or floating point formatting, i.e. 3,14e0 or number of significant digits.

I also second the "calibration" feature. I often view drawings which have dimension lines and it would be easier to point the ends of a line and input a number representing that distance. Although it's not difficult to do the division manually but would make life that much easier. The software could also help by saving that scale into the file thereby making it unnecessary to calibrate every time a document is opened. I'd guess it's possible to append such data to a PDF file.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hi huusa,

And thanks for your input. A Calibration tool has been requested more than once - so we have noted it down - and will consider it when time allows.

As for storing a scale inside a file - it "might" be possible but I do not believe it would be PDF ISO specification compliant, so it will not work between PDF Viewers/Readers. And our philosophy is that we should only add features that are following the specification and would operate correctly in other applications following the same spec.

Best,
Stefan

[huusa]

As for storing a scale inside a file - it "might" be possible but I do not believe it would be PDF ISO specification compliant, so it will not work between PDF Viewers/Readers. And our philosophy is that we should only add features that are following the specification and would operate correctly in other applications following the same spec.

That's probably a wise philosophy --- if there is a standard, stick to it.

Have you considered this possibly relevant feature of standard PDF 32000-1:2008:

This information enables users of conforming readers to perform measurements that yield results in the units
intended by the creator of the document. A measurement in this context is the result of a canonical function that
takes as input a set of n coordinate pairs...
Beginning with PDF 1.6, such information may be stored in a measure dictionary (see Table 261). Measure
dictionaries provide information about measurement units associated with a rectangular area of the document
known as a viewport.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hi huusa,

Got me there - should have checked the specification myself.
If such a measure dictionary is specified - we can certainly utilize it.

I will discuss this with the Viewer Project leader and post back here what our plans on this are.

Best,
Stefan

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi huusa,

after consulting my development team leader I have found that we will already be implementing this in V3, just not the initial release but a subsequent one. It will be part of what we will likely call the 'Calibration Tool' for measurement object. V3 will also allow you to change the scale after placing the Measurement Tool object whereas now scale must be set prior to placing the object.

I hope that helps.