Skip to content
Kotelys Try Kotelys
Menu

PDF take-off without AutoCAD: measure the drawing you received

You received PDFs, not the drafting files. To get quantities out of them, there is nothing to redraw: a checked scale and a few clicks on the drawing are enough. What can be done that way, and what still needs drafting software.

By Lucas Bourdeau · · 4 min read

You receive a PDF, not a DWG: the most common case

At tender stage, a contractor receives PDFs: architectural, structural and services drawings. The drafting file stays with its author. DWG is the native format of AutoCAD, a drafting program; to open it and measure in it, you need software that reads it, and the skill to use it.

To count, none of that is needed. A PDF exported from drafting software keeps its lines to scale: you only need the exact ratio between the drawing and reality, then you draw over it.

Set the scale on a known dimension

The scale in the title block is true for the original sheet. A PDF printed “fit to page”, or an A1 reduced to A3, no longer follows it, and nothing tells you. The safe method takes three steps:

  1. choose the longest dimension on the drawing;
  2. click its two ends and type its value;
  3. check a second dimension, in the other direction.

The guide on the scale of a drawing explains the conversions and the pitfalls.

Draw lengths, areas and counts on the PDF

  • Lengths: walls, partitions, kerbs, pipe runs, drawn from point to point.
  • Areas: slabs, floors, façades, roofs, whose outline you click, with their voids and openings deducted.
  • Counts: doors, fittings, manholes, one click per item.

What you draw stays on the drawing, in the colour of the item: you see what has been counted, and what has not yet. The full method, L-shaped rooms and perimeter included, is in the guide measuring an area on a PDF drawing.

When drafting software is still needed

Measuring is not drafting. Drafting software remains the right tool to:

  • change the drawing: move a partition, study an alternative, produce a construction drawing;
  • work in coordinates, on a land survey;
  • calculate earthworks volumes between existing ground and a design;
  • use a building information model.

If all you have is a DWG, print it to PDF at scale from a viewer: it can then be measured like any other drawing.

The site layout plan, on the PDF too

A site layout plan is often produced in drafting software, for want of another tool. Yet it can be laid over the PDF of the site plan: cranes and their jibs, site cabins, fences and gates, machines, signage, all to scale. The guide on the site layout plan says what it must show.

Doing it in Kotelys

Kotelys works only on PDFs and images. There is no drafting to learn: you open the drawing, set the scale, and click what you are counting.

  • When a PDF is imported, Kotelys suggests the scale written on the page when it finds one; “Check the scale on a dimension” gives the difference in %.
  • Length, Area and Count each carry a name and a colour; totals per type are read in the Objects panel.
  • Reports come out as PDF (quantity summary, take-off calculations, annotated drawing set) and as Excel.
  • The Installations menu places cranes, site cabins, fences and machines on the same drawing, with a legend, a north arrow and a scale bar.

Kotelys is free during the beta, by invitation. The announced price afterwards is €24.90 excl. VAT per month per computer, or €249 excl. VAT per year (2 months free), with a one-month free trial. To try it on one of your PDFs: ask for access to the beta.

What Kotelys does not do

Kotelys opens neither DWG nor DXF and does not draw buildings: if your work requires changing the drawing, you need drafting software. More broadly:

  • No DWG or DXF import: Kotelys works on PDFs and images.
  • No pricing or estimating: it gives quantities; prices stay in your own tool.
  • No automatic symbol recognition: every counted item is clicked.
  • No online collaboration: a project is a file, opened by one person at a time.
  • No Mac or web version: Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.
  • No earthworks volumes from a terrain model: a volume is an area multiplied by a thickness.

Frequently asked questions

Is a PDF as accurate as a DWG for a take-off?

A vector PDF keeps the geometry of the drawing. The accuracy of the take-off then depends on the scale you set and on your clicks: hence the check on two dimensions. A scanned PDF needs more checks.

Do I need to know how to draw?

No. Drawing a take-off means clicking the corners of what you are counting, on a drawing that already exists.

What happens if the drawing changes?

In Kotelys, “New revision” takes the take-off over to the new drawing, and a report compares the quantities of the two revisions.

How do I choose PDF take-off software?

With a checklist, run on one of your drawings: see how to choose.

Kotelys open on the site plan of a sample sports hall: site layout drawn (crane, fencing, site cabins), legend with its quantities and totals per type in the Objects panel.

Further reading: the features of Kotelys, and the other guides.

Sources

  1. Autodesk, “What Is a DWG File?” (DWG, the native format of AutoCAD)

The software and company names mentioned on this page are trademarks of their respective owners. Kotelys is not affiliated with any of them.

The beta is open, by invitation.

Testers are in France for now. Elsewhere? Leave your details and we will let you know.

Try Kotelys Ask for access

Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit. Free during the beta.