Feature Highlight: Scale & Calibration

Marco M · 2025-02-12T18:44:41+00:00

There was an error rendering this rich post.

This week, we're talking Scale and Calibration. Getting accurate measurements starts with setting the right scale and Bluebeam makes it easy with Calibration. With just a couple of clicks, you can ensure your documents are properly scaled so that every measurement you take is precise. Whether you're measuring distances, areas, or volumes, calibration keeps everything accurate and reliable.

What role does the Scale and Calibration tool play in your project workflows?
How do you ensure accuracy in your measurements and drawings?

Let's share some best practices!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBblAaoRYfk

Find more posts tagged with

Revu

Scale/Calibration

Feature Highlight

Comments

STR - Kristin

For the work I do in creating new tools, scale is critical. I use viewports with different scales to verify they are working properly. As for calibration on drawings with no scale noted, I typically use a known measurement, like a door or gridlines, then test it someplace else on the drawing to confirm it's correct.

Brandon Costlow

This is one of my most used tools. I struggle with trusting the measurements though, and could greatly benefit from a deep dive on the topic.

When calibrating, is it best to use the largest known dimension as the benchmark?

My thinking is that the longer my line is, the more of the drawing is taken into account when scaling to the subsequent measurements made. For instance, let's assume we have two known lines to choose from, one at 3" representing a 30' wall and one at 7" representing a 70' 2" corridor. The 3" line representing 30' would result in a scale of (1:10). If I use that scale to measure a line that is 7" long, the result is exactly 70'. Now, if I reverse the order and use a 7" line with a known length of 70' 2" the resulting scale is (1:10.06). Using that scale, a 3" line would be 30' 0-3/4".

Obviously this is an exaggeration of what would likely ever be found, but bluebeam actually calculates measurements with a given point at which the measurement would need to be rounded. If you force it to round at smaller intervals you are making it input calculation errors at a greater rate.

Now, if we have two or more known measurement we can compare results to get the most accurate measurements possible, but when there's only one known measurement I'd recommend taking ALL measurements with a great big grain of salt. Honestly, I would just recommend not trusting any measurement where you are left calibrating the drawing. You can, but there is a level of liability taken when doing so.

All that said, I happily use the measurement tools to perform my BIM tasks. It gets me in the ballpark so I can conduct useful coordination with the other MEP trades and is invaluable to my current workflow.

JJones

A simple one for me was realising you can add your own custom preset to the calibration dropdown menu!

1:250 is a pretty commonly used one with the drawings i receive.

Quick Links

Popular posts

Locked File Issues? Me Too!
Have you ever opened a file and tried to do some annotations and takeoff and it was locked with no permissions for the viewer? Are you unable to even print it to a .pdf or affect any change to it? Boooooo! Me Too. Looking for a workaround? I Found One! Aaaannnd, You're welcome. — If you have a other workaround, please…
Feature Highlight: Rotating Measurement Captions
This week, we'll be highlighting the Rotating Measurement Captions feature in Bluebeam! It's a simple, yet mighty feature that allows a user to rotate Measurement captions. Here's how: Select the measurement markup whose caption is to be rotated. Click the anchor point and drag it to the desired angle. Notice that the…
Feature Highlight: Snapshot
This week, we're highlighting the Snapshot tool! Did you know the Snapshot tool allows you to copy text, images, or vector graphics and paste them as new vector images? You may be asking yourself, "Is the Snapshot tool different than copying/pasting?" And the answer is yes! The Snapshot tool allows you to retain the vector…
Feature Highlight: Adding Actions to markups
This week, we're highlighting how to add Actions to markups in Bluebeam Revu! PDF markups can be configured to perform certain actions when clicked, like jumping to a specific location in a document or opening another file when you add an Action. In addition, Tool Chest tools can be configured to create markups with…
Scroll vs Zoom
Are you frustrated by Bluebeam switching the mouse wheel from ZOOM to SCROLL and back again? Have no fear; there is a solution. Holding down the Ctrl key while scrolling with the mouse wheel allows you to switch between zooming and scrolling. The link below goes into more detail and how you can set the default behavior.
Feature Highlight: Flatten tool
This week, we're highlighting the Flatten tool in Revu! Flattening lets you lock in your markups, making them a permanent part of your PDF. It’s a great way to finalize documents and ensure that all annotations are secure before sharing. Do you or your team use the Flatten feature in Revu? What benefits have you…
Use custom Keyboard Shortcuts
Create a few custom keyboard shortcuts for your most used tools or commands. Not too many, otherwise its hard to remember all of them. I had problems with overlapping Markups. Therefore I use F1 to hide all markups with a single button, even while using different tools, without anything in the way. After completing the…
Feature Highlight: Hiding Markups
This week, we're highlighting how to hide markups in Bluebeam Revu temporarily! Temporarily hide markups in Bluebeam Revu to quickly surface and interact with markups whose visibility is obscured by overlapping markups. Here's how to: Hide Markups: Right-click the markup(s) you want to hide on the document or from the…
Grouping/ Ungrouping the Markups
Hold down the SHIFT key/ window selection and select two or more markups to be grouped. Right-click on one of the selected markups and select Group, or Press CTRL+G.
Results are in: Batch Feature Results are in!
We asked: Which of these BATCH features has helped you out/been the most beneficial to you? …And you answered! Batch Compare Documents was the crowd favorite! "Batch Compare Documents feature compares groups of documents to each other and highlights the differences between them."