Area Measurement

1. Click Area on the Measurements tab. The Area measurement mode is engaged.

2. Click on each point of the desired shape.

   • To remove the last control point, press BACKSPACE.

3. To close the shape, do one of the following:
   • Press ENTER or C after placing the last point.
   • Double-click when placing the last point.

Tips:

• Hold down SHIFT to draw lines that are at horizontal, vertical, or 45° angles.

• Click and drag to place a rectangular shape.
  • Holding down SHIFT while doing so will force the rectangle into a square.

• Click the markup so it is active. In the Measurements section on the Measurements tab, certain fields are available to add detail and dimension to the markup, including:
  • Depth allows for additional calculations, such as wall area or material volume, on the Markups list. To set a depth for the markup, enter a value and select a unit of measure.
  • Slope describes the slope ratio for the measurement, allowing for accurate calculations of materials over a sloped plane. To set a slope, select a unit of measure for it (Pitch, Degree, or Grade) and enter the value in the corresponding field.

A control point defines where two line segments meet in multi-segment markups. Control points can be added or removed from these markups. See Working with Control Points for more information.

Further, the line segments of these markups can be converted to curves or arcs at their control points, allowing them to conform to nearly any shape. See Working with Curved Markups for more information.

Select a markup to reveal its control handles. Each handle controls a different aspect of the markup's size and orientation.

To rotate the markup, click and drag the orange handle outside the markup (when the markup is first placed, it will be at the top). By default, the markup is rotated in increments of 15°; to rotate in increments of 1°, hold down SHIFT while dragging.

The rotation can also be entered in the Rotation field found in the Layout section of the Properties tab.

To rotate the caption, click and drag the orange handle directly over it. By default, the markup is rotated in increments of 15°; to rotate in increments of 1°, hold down SHIFT while dragging.To return a rotated caption to its original position, right-click it and select Reset Caption Position.

To move only the caption, click and drag it while holding down SHIFT. To return the caption to its default position, right-click it and select Reset Caption Position.

To move the entire markup together, click and drag a part of it other than the control handles.

To resize a line or change its angle, click and drag the appropriate yellow handle.

To scale the markup up or down, click and drag the appropriate purple handle.

• Rectangular and square markups do not have purple handles. To scale these markups up or down, hold down CTRL while dragging one of the yellow handles at any of the corners.

See Editing Markups for more information.

The appearance of the Area measurement is configurable, including line and fill color, hatch pattern, line width and style, opacity, plus the font style of the caption and whether or not to show it.

To change the appearance of an Area measurement, select it and click the Properties tab.Go to View > Tabs > Properties or press ALT+P to show the Properties tab if it is hidden.

Appearance Properties

Color: Sets the line color.

Fill Color: Sets a fill color.

Highlight: Makes the fill color and/or hatch pattern transparent so underlying content shows through.

Hatch: Sets a hatch pattern. The associated color selector sets the line color of the hatch pattern.

Scale: Sets the scale of the hatch pattern, from 50 (half the default scale) to 200 (twice the default scale).

Opacity: Sets the line opacity, from 0 (invisible) to 100 (opaque).

Fill Opacity: Sets the fill and hatch pattern opacity, from 0 (invisible) to 100 (opaque).

Line Width: Sets the thickness (in points) of the line. A setting of 0 effectively renders the line invisible.

Style: Determines the line pattern.

Show Segment Values: Select to show the segment lengths on the markup. Select an alignment for these captions:

• Align to Segment: When selected, segment length captions will follow the segment line when it is rotated.
• Align Horizontally: When selected, segment length captions will always be horizontal, regardless of the markup's rotation.

Show Caption: Select to include caption text on the markup. Click Edit to choose which measurements to include.

Show Centroid: Select to show the geometric center of the shape. If necessary, the caption will be automatically adjusted to be below the centroid.

Font: Sets the font used for the selected text. Available fonts are divided into three regions:

• The first region shows all fonts used in the currently selected text element.
• The second region lists the standard PDF fonts that are supported by all PDF viewers. These fonts do not need to be embedded in the PDF when used, thereby cutting down on file size.
• The third shows all other available fonts. When used, these fonts need to be embedded in the PDF.

Note: If you attempt to embed a font for which the viewing and editing permissions do not allow formatting, Vu will display a message indicating the font will not be embedded in the PDF.

Font parameters are retained in the PDF such that even if the original font is not embedded or on the viewer's workstation, a suitable representation of the font will be substituted.

Font Size: Sets the size of the font. While the list shows sizes ranging from 2 to 72, font sizes between 1 to 144 points are supported; just enter the desired size manually. Also, values with up to one digit after the decimal point can be used.

Text Color: Sets the color of text.

Font Style: These settings control the formatting of the text. Options include Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough. Generally, any combination of these styles can be applied to format the text.