How to mark up a PDF plan in KresCAD.
Your first plan in about five minutes. A desktop or laptop and a mouse are the easiest way to start.
Open a plan
Choose Open on the start screen. To practise first, choose Try a calibrated sample. You can also open an existing KresCAD project.
Check the scale
Select the right page and units. In Measure, choose Set scale, click both ends of a known dimension and enter its real length. Check a second known dimension before measuring anything else. Other pages may need their own scale.
Draw or mark up
Choose a tool, then set its colour, line weight and available fill options in Properties. Click the points you need. For a polygon, click its first point again to close it. Select a finished object to change its properties or edit its points.
Use Text for notes and add a leader in its properties when you need to point at something. Use the block categories to place common objects such as furniture, trees or a car.
Measure
Use Distance for a length and Area for an enclosed region. These tools create measurements; ordinary drawing shapes are for markup. Check the units and the result against your plan. Measurement labels stay visible even when ordinary labels are switched off.
Save an editable copy
Choose Save project or press Ctrl+S (Mac: ⌘S). Give the file a useful name, such as Kitchen-option-A, and check that it downloaded. Reopen that project when you want to continue editing.
Export and inspect
Choose Export PDF. Open the downloaded PDF and check every relevant page: drawing position, dimensions and text. Share the checked PDF; keep the editable project for yourself.
Three useful habits
- Escape cancels an unfinished tool or edit.
- Undo reverses a recent change. Save another project copy before trying a large revision.
- After reopening the app, use Continue previous work only if you want a browser recovery copy. You can start a new drawing without dealing with old copies.
Recovery copies belong to this browser and device. Private browsing, storage limits or clearing site data can remove them.
Need a hand? Read the FAQ or email hello@krescad.com.
Recognise scanned text
Choose OCR, then Scan current page, Scan entire document or Scan a selection. For a selection, drag around the text. OCR finishes automatically. Use Find text (Ctrl/Cmd+F) to search or Select text to select and copy words. Original PDF text works without OCR. Corrections are optional. Save the project to keep editable OCR, or export a PDF to keep a searchable text layer. Read the OCR guide for language and accuracy details.
For scale checks and common measurement problems, follow the PDF plan measurement guide. For drawing review workflows, see free PDF annotation and markup.