Calibrate existing dimension line (easily)

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David.P
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Calibrate existing dimension line (easily)

Post by David.P »

Hello Forum and Tracker Support Team,

I know that you can calibrate a drawing, or its dimensional lines, respectively,
using the "calibrate measurement" command.

However, what is the situation in the case shown below:
Image

Suppose I know the "real" length, i.e. width of the orange rectangle. For example, the width is supposed to be 75 mm in reality, or on paper.

Now it should be possible to calibrate the green dimension line by entering the real length into one of the two fields shown under "Scale" in the Line Properties toolbar.

However, this does not seem to work, because no matter in which of the two fields I enter "75 mm", this length of the dimension line is not displayed in both cases. I attach the PDF file below.

Am I doing something wrong?

Best regards,
David
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Calibrate dimension line.pdf
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David.P
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Calibrate existing dimension line (easily)

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, David.P

The two values for dimensions are the "measured distance within the docuemnt" and the "intended scale based on that measurement" so unless you know the exact measured distance on the page, using the page units, you will not be able to easily manually modify this value.
The best way to accomplish this would be to use the Calibrate tool (Ctrl+Shift_C) to create a new measurement, then re-draw the line. AS an example, here I have used the calibration tool and measured the orange object from end to end, which tells me that it is 250.32pt in document units. then i specify that that distance in the document is equivalent to 75mm as you desire. now I can place a new measurement on the page which is at the desired measurement.
image.png
Alternatively, now that I have used the calibrate tool, a new measurement appears in the "scale" menu on the format tab, I can select your measurement, and choose to use that value directly:
image(1).png
Ann tadaa! it works as needed:
image(2).png
The key thing to learn here is that measurements must be automatically determined by the document based on a calculation relative to the original page size. It is not possible to manually input the value. As such, using the calibration tool to create a new measurement, is almost always going to be the easiest way to create a new "scale" to use for changing the values of existing measurements.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

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David.P
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Re: Calibrate existing dimension line (easily)

Post by David.P »

Hello Forum and Daniel,
TrackerSupp-Daniel wrote: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:51 pmThe two values for dimensions are
the "measured distance within the document" and
the "intended scale based on that measurement"
so unless you know the exact measured distance on the page, using the page units, you will not be able to easily manually modify this value.
Thank you, Daniel for your clarifications regarding what the numbers in these two fields mean.

I believe however that the calculation, or display of these two values, respectively, is not optimal and could be rethought.

For example, I duplicated the original dimension line (green) and enlarged the duplicate to the width of the page (DIN A4 = 297 mm).

Image

In the (green) line's properties, however, size information is displayed (193,67 mm in both boxes) that is rather incomprehensible, or not of much use, to the user.

In my opinion, for example, the left field instead could indicate the "actual length on paper", and the right field the "intended length based on the measurement" as you have put it, i.e. the intended, scaled length.

Similarly unclear are the indications in the two fields after a measurement has been calibrated. For example, I have now used the "Calibrate Measurement" function of PDF-XChange Editor to create a new dimension line (blue) with the intended, scaled length of 75 mm.

If I duplicate this (blue) measurement and extend the duplicate somewhat (e.g. to 90 mm), then both fields of the Properties Toolbar show (strangely and confusingly, although not incorrect from a mathematical point of view), the same numbers for both (blue) measurements.

Again, I think it would be better if, for example, the left field showed the "actual length on paper", and the right field showed the "intended length based on the scale", i.e. the 90mm.

This way it would also be exceedingly easy to change the length and/or scale of a measurement line in the simplest possible way, by simply entering the respective desired numerical values in one or both fields.

The (modified) PDF file is again attached below.

Best regards
David
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Calibrate dimension line.pdf
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TrackerSupp-Daniel
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Re: Calibrate existing dimension line (easily)

Post by TrackerSupp-Daniel »

Hello, David.P
David.P wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2022 8:00 am For example, I duplicated the original dimension line (green) and enlarged the duplicate to the width of the page (DIN A4 = 297 mm).
What you see there is correct, 193.67mm = 193.67mm is equivalent to 1mm = 1mm, in effect as you are measuring a 279mm wide docuemnt, the measurement should report exact that value. I am unsure where the confusion is coming from.
David.P wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2022 8:00 am In my opinion, for example, the left field instead could indicate the "actual length on paper", and the right field the "intended length based on the measurement" as you have put it, i.e. the intended, scaled length.
This is already exactly how it works, but not with the items you are focusing on. The left value is the length that was measured during calibration. (IE, if you calibrated the full length of a 297mm page, the value here would be exactly 297mm). The value on the right is the desired equivalent, for example, if you were using a set of plans that was 1:100 scale, you could set this value as 29700mm (or 29.7m), then if you used that scale to measure a 1mm portion of the page, you would see that it accurately reports that distance is 1m.

We cannot change the way this is reported, because the "scale" is not relative to the current object, it is relative to the original measurement that was used to define the scale. This is something which is part of the Specification, and these values are stored within the document so that other software, such as Adobe and Foxit, can all ensure the exact same handling of these items.
David.P wrote: Fri Oct 07, 2022 8:00 am If I duplicate this (blue) measurement and extend the duplicate somewhat (e.g. to 90 mm), then both fields of the Properties Toolbar show (strangely and confusingly, although not incorrect from a mathematical point of view), the same numbers for both (blue) measurements.
Again, this is expected, the two measurements use the same scale, thus if they are different sizes, they should report different total lengths, with the same scale values. This is the purpose of using a scale for measurements within a document. You calibrate with a single "control object" you know the exact size of, and then all other measurements within the document can use that same scale, to show their respective lengths, and ensure that all items are accurately represented.

Kind regards,
Dan McIntyre - Support Technician
Tracker Software Products (Canada) LTD

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Our Web site domain and email address has changed as of 26/10/2023.
https://www.pdf-xchange.com
Support@pdf-xchange.com
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