Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs

Grids, guides, and measurements in PDFs

User grids

You can use grids to accurately line up text and objects in a document. When you enable Grids, it displays a framework of intersecting lines that helps you properly align various elements.

The Snap to Grid option aligns an object with the nearest grid line when you move the object.

To view or hide the grid, from the upper left select the hamburger menu (Windows) > View or directly View (macOS) > Show/Hide > Rulers & grids > Grid. A check mark appears next to the command name when the grid is displayed.

Use grids, guides, and measurements in Adobe Acrobat Pdfs.

To turn the Snap to Grid option on or off, select the hamburger menu (windows)  > View or directly View (macOS) > Show/Hide > Rulers & grids > Snap To grid. 

To change the grid appearance

  1. (Windows) Select the hamburger menu  > Preferences. 
    (macOS) Select Acrobat > Preferences.

  2. From the left panel, select Units & guides.

    Change grid settings.

  3. Change grid settings as follows:

    • To change the spacing between grid lines, enter a value for Width between lines and Height between lines.

    • To change the origin of the grid, enter a value for Grid offset from left edge and Grid offset from top edge.

    • To change the number of subdivisions within each grid square, enter a value for Subdivisions. Subdivision lines are lighter than grid lines.

    • To change the color of the grid lines, select Grid line color square and choose a new color from the options.

Use rulers and guides

Horizontal and vertical rulers allow you to check the size of objects in your document. You can also create guides to easily line up objects, such as form fields. You can change the unit of measurement and color used in the ruler.

  • To view rulers, select the hamburger menu  (Windows)> View or View (macOS)> Show/Hide > Rulers & grids > Rulers.
  • To view or hide guides, select the hamburger menu  (Windows)> View or View (macOS) > Show/Hide > Rulers & grids > Guides.

To use rulers and guides

  1. To create a horizontal guide, drag down from the horizontal ruler or double-click a location on the vertical ruler.

    To create a vertical guide, drag right from the vertical ruler or double-click on a location on the horizontal ruler.

  2. To move a guide, click the guide to select it, and then drag it to a new location.

  3. To delete a guide, click the guide to select it and press the Delete key.

  4. To delete all guides, right-click in the ruler area and select Clear All Guides or Clear Guides On Page.

  5. To change guide colors, go to hamburger menu > Preferences (Windows) or Acrobat > Preferences (macOS) and then from the left panel, select Units & guides. Then, select the Guide color square and select a new color from the options.

Measure the height, width, or area of objects

You can use the 'Measure objects' tools to measure distances and areas of objects in PDF documents. The measuring tools are useful for showing the distances and areas associated with objects in a form of computer-aided design (CAD) drawings. You can also use these tools to measure certain areas of a document before sending it to a professional printer. The measuring tools are available to Acrobat Reader users only if the PDF creator enables measuring functionality.

When you use a measuring tool, the Measurement Info panel shows information about the measurement, such as current measurement, delta values, and scale ratio. Acrobat inserts comments with the values calculated for distance, perimeter, or area.

Measuring tools in Acrobat
Measuring tools

A. Measuring toolbar B. Object being measured C. Measurement Info panel 

  1. From the All tools menu, select Measure object.

    It displays the Measure object toolset on the left panel.

  2. From the Measure object menu on the left, select Measuring tool.

    It displays the Measuring toolbar and the Measurement Info panel.  

  3. To measure areas of your PDF document, select any of the following measurement types:

    • Select the Distance tool  to measure the distance between two points. Click the first point, move the pointer to the second point, and click again.

    • Select the Perimeter tool  to measure a set of distances between multiple points. Click each point that you want to measure. Then, double-click the last point. 

    • Select the Area tool  to measure the area within the line segments that you draw. Click each point that you want to measure. After you’ve clicked at least two points, click the first point to complete the area measurement. 

  4. While measuring objects, do any of the following:

    • To snap the measurement to the end of a line, select Snap to Paths 

    • To snap the measurement to the endpoint of a line, select Snap to Endpoints 

    • To snap the measurement to the midpoint of a line, select Snap to Midpoints 

    • To snap the measurement to the intersection of multiple lines, select Snap to Intersections 

    • To constrain the measurement lines to increments of 45º, hold down the Shift key.

    • To discontinue a measurement, right-click and choose Cancel Measurement.

    • To delete a measurement markup, click it with the Measurement Tool and press the Delete key.

Set Measuring tool options

To set measuring tool options, select the tool, then right-click anywhere on the PDF. It displays the following options:

  • Change Scale Ratio and Precision  - To change the scaling ratio (such as 3:2) and unit of measurement on the drawing areas.
  • Change Markup Label - To add or change the text that appears with the measurement.
  • Disable/Enable Measurement Markup - When enabled, the measurement lines you draw are added to the PDF. When disabled, the measurement lines disappear when you measure another object or select another tool.
  • Turn Ortho On/Off - When enabled, measurement lines are orthographic only.
  • Show/Hide Rulers - Show or hide vertical and horizontal rulers on the page. 
  • Snap to Page Content/Don’t Snap to Page Content - Turn all Snap Enables on or off.
  • Export Measurement Markup to Excel - Save the information for all the measurements in your PDF to a CSV file.
  • Preferences - Open the Measurement (2D) preferences.

Set Measuring preferences

You can set the 2D Measuring preferences to determine how 2D data is measured. To do so, go to  > Preferences and then select Measuring (2D) from the left panel and then configure the following options:

  • Use Scales And Units From Document (When Present) - When enabled, measurements based on the units generated from the original document, if present, are used. Deselect this option to specify the units of measurement manually.
  • Use Orthographic Lines - When enabled, measurement lines are orthographic only.
  • Measuring Line Color - Specifies the color or the line that appears while drawing.
  • Enable Measurement Markup - When enabled, the measurement lines you draw are added to the PDF. When disabled, the measurement lines disappear when you measure another object or select another tool. You can use the default measurement labels or specify your own label.
  • Use Default Leader Length (Distance Tool only) - When deselected, each time you draw a distance measurement, you move the mouse to determine the leader length.
  • Default Line Start - Specifies the appearance of the starting line in distance measurements.
  • Default Line End - Specifies the appearance of the ending line in distance measurements.
  • Caption Style (Distance Tool only) - Specifies whether the distance measurement caption is Inside or on Top of the measurement line.
  • Default Leader Length (Distance Tool only) - Specifies the length of the line leader that appears on one side of the measurement points.
  • Default Leader Extension Above Line (Distance Tool only) - Specifies the length of the leader extension that appears above the measurement line.
  • Default Leader Offset From Line Points (Distance Tool only) - Specifies the amount of blank space that appears between the measurement points and the leader.
  • 2D Snap Settings - Specify snap behavior. The sensitivity indicates how close the pointer must be to the item being snapped. Snap Hint Color specifies the color of the snap line that appears when you hold the pointer over the object.
Note

In Acrobat Reader, Measuring preferences apply to PDFs that have commenting enabled.

View cursor coordinates

The Cursor coordinates show the coordinate position of the pointer within the document pane. The position numbering begins in the upper-left corner of the document. Cursor coordinates also shows the width and height of a selected object as you resize it.

To view x and y coordinates:

  1. (Windows) Select the hamburger menu   > View > Show/Hide > Cursor coordinates.

    (macOS) Select View > Show/Hide > Cursor coordinates.

  2. Move the pointer to view x and y coordinates.

To change the cursor coordinates measurement units:

  1. (Windows) Select the hamburger menu  > Preferences. 
    (macOS) Select Acrobat > Preferences.

  2. From the left panel in the Preferences dialog, select Unit & Guides.

  3. Select the Page & ruler units drop down and then choose a different unit of measurement.

Modify horizontal scaling

  1. Open a PDF. From the global bar in the upper left, select Edit. 

  2. Select the text you want to modify.

  3. Select Horizontal Scaling from the left pane under FORMAT TEXT.

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