Distance Tool

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Distance Tool


 

editor.icon Distance Tool

 


 

Click Distance Tool to measure the distance between two points:

 

distance.tool.location.ribbon

Figure 1. Comment Tab, Distance Tool

 

When the Distance Tool is selected the pointer becomes a crosshairs icon. Click to start a measurement line. A red arrow will appear and the Distance Tool information box will be displayed in the lower right corner of the active window. Drag the crosshairs to the desired point, then click to determine the distance measured. The baseline is then established. The distance from the start point will be displayed as the pointer is moved, and further details will be displayed in the information box. Click again to set the baseline as the final measured distance. Alternatively, move the pointer up/down to reposition the baseline at a parallel position within the document and create perpendicular leader lines at either end. Click to complete the process:

 

distance.tool.examples

Figure 2. Distance Tool Examples

 

The Distance Tool calculates and displays distances measured according to the active scale, which can be determined in the Format tab, as detailed below.

Right-click lines and select Open Pop-Up Note to customize the appearance of the scale reference figure.

Click and drag the control points at either end of the baseline to adjust the length of the adjoining perpendicular lines.

Click and drag the second pair of control points to adjust the length of the baseline and the angle of the annotation.

Click and drag to reposition lines.

Use the arrow keys to reposition lines. Hold down Shift to move at an increased increment.

Use the editing aids detailed here to assist in the precise placement of lines.

Hold down Shift to create lines at increments of fifteen degrees.

Right-click lines for further editing options. See here for an explanation of these options.

Press Ctrl+' to open the Properties pane for selected lines and view/edit properties:

 

distance.tool.properties.pane

Figure 3. Distance Tool, Distance Line Properties Pane

 

Subject is the name of the distance annotation, as referenced in the Comments pane.

Author is the name of the user that created the distance annotation.

Name is the unique name of the distance annotation, as referenced within the application.

Created is the date and time at which the distance annotation was created.

Modified is the date and time at which the distance annotation was last modified.

Read Only is the read only status of the distance annotation. If this property is enabled then users cannot interact with the annotation.

Printable is the print status of the distance annotation. If this property is enabled then the annotation is printed with the document. If this property is not enabled then the annotation is not printed.

Locked is the locked status of the distance annotation. If this property is enabled then the annotation cannot be deleted and its properties (including its position and size) cannot be modified by users.

Layer specifies the optional content layer to which the distance annotation belongs. Further information about layers is available here.

Fill Color determines the color of the line ending style used at the start of the distance annotation. The line ending property is detailed below.

Stroke Color determines the color of the distance annotation.

Border Style determines the style of the annotation.

Border Width determines the width of the annotation.

Opacity determines the level of transparency in the distance annotation.

Blend Mode determines how distance annotations blend with overlapping content. These options are explained here.

Start determines the line ending style used at the start of the distance annotation.

End determines the line ending style used at the end of the distance annotation.

Start Scale determines the size of the line ending used at the start of the distance annotation.

End Scale determines the size of the line ending used at the end of the distance annotation.

Leader Length determines the length of the leader lines used for the distance annotation. Leader lines extend from each endpoint of the distance annotation, perpendicular to the annotation itself.

Leader Extension determines the length of leader line extensions that extend from the distance annotation.

Leader Offset determines the length of the leader line offset, which is the amount of empty space between the endpoints of the distance annotation and the beginning of the leader lines.

Show Caption determines whether or not the text contained in the pop-up note of the annotation is displayed.

Inline Caption is not currently available but will be available in a future build.

Length determines the length of the distance annotation.

Scale determines the scale used for the distance annotation. Further information about scales is available here.

 

Note that when the Distance Tool is enabled, the Format tab is available and can be used to customize the default properties of distance annotations:

 

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Figure 4. Format Tab, Distance Tool

 

Click options in the Shape Style group to select alternative default distance annotation styles.

Click Keep Selected to keep the Distance Tool selected and create multiple lines consecutively. If this option is disabled then PDF-XChange Editor will revert to the designated default tool after the creation of one line.

Click Exclusive Mode to give the Distance Tool priority over all other document content. When Exclusive Mode is enabled, the pointer ignores all interactive elements of documents other than base content. This makes it possible to create lines on areas that overlap with other content without the risk of accidentally selecting undesired items. When Exclusive Mode is disabled, the pointer recognizes and interacts with all content as normal.

Click Properties to view/edit the Distance Tool properties, as detailed above.

Click Export to CSV to export the document to a comma-separated-values document.

Click Edit Label to create/edit the text label of the annotation, or click Delete Label to delete the label. Note that labels are displayed when the pointer is hovered over the annotation.

When distance annotations are selected, the Style Tools dropdown menu is available in the Format tab. It contains the following options:

Click Copy Comment Style to copy the style properties of distance annotations.

Click Apply Copied Comment Style to apply a copied distance annotation style to selected annotations.

Click Apply Copied Comment Appearance to apply a copied line annotation style to selected annotations.

Click Make Current Properties Default to set the properties of the distance annotation as the default properties for subsequent annotations.

Click Apply Default Properties to apply the default distance annotation properties to selected distance annotations.

When distance annotations are selected, the Pop-up group is available in the Format tab and can be used to interact with the pop-up note of the annotation:

Click Open to open the pop-up note.

Click Hide to hide the pop-up note.

Click Reset Location to reset the location of the pop-up note.

When distance annotations are selected, the Arrange tab is also available and can be used to manipulate comments as detailed here.

 

Note that the Comment Styles Palette can be used to edit and save customized stamp annotation styles for subsequent use, and the Commenting preferences can be used to view/edit preferences for all comments.