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Step-by-step guides for every MetreMate tool: set the scale, measure lengths and areas, count items, mark up plans, and share or print your takeoff.
New to MetreMate?
Three short guides take you from sign-up to your first measurement. The editor has tools on the left, the plan in the middle and layers on the right.
- 1Getting started with MetreMateMetreMate runs in your web browser, so there is nothing to install. Create a free account, start a project, upload a PDF plan, set its scale, and you can measure lengths, areas and counts straight off the drawing.
- 2How to set the scale on a PDF planEvery length and area in MetreMate is worked out from the plan's scale, so set it first. Auto Scale suggests a scale for you to confirm. If the sheet is scanned or unusual, use Manual Scaling: click two points a known distance apart and type in the real distance.
- 3Finding your way around the editorThe editor is where you measure and mark up a plan. Tools sit in a list on the left. The top bar handles pages, zoom, scale and rotation. The toolbar holds export, undo, colour and line style. Layers open from the right.
Getting started
Sign up, open your first plan and find your way around the editor.
Getting started
MetreMate runs in your web browser, so there is nothing to install. Create a free account, start a project, upload a PDF plan, set its scale, and you can measure lengths, areas and counts straight off the drawing.
Read guideWhat you need
All you need is a Windows or Mac computer with a modern web browser and an internet connection. There is nothing to download or install, and new features arrive automatically. Tablet support is coming soon.
Read guideSet the scale
Every length and area in MetreMate is worked out from the plan's scale, so set it first. Auto Scale suggests a scale for you to confirm. If the sheet is scanned or unusual, use Manual Scaling: click two points a known distance apart and type in the real distance.
Read guideEditor basics
The editor is where you measure and mark up a plan. Tools sit in a list on the left. The top bar handles pages, zoom, scale and rotation. The toolbar holds export, undo, colour and line style. Layers open from the right.
Read guideZoom and pages
Use Zoom in the editor's top bar to get close for accurate clicks, and the page switcher to move between sheets in a multi-page PDF. The minimap shows where you are on a big sheet, and you can move it or close it.
Read guideMetric and imperial
MetreMate measures in metric or imperial. Use the units menu in the editor's toolbar to switch, and your lengths and areas read out in that system, for example lineal metres and square metres.
Read guide
Measuring and mark-up tools
How to use each tool in the editor's tool list.
Measure
Use the Measure tool to take a straight length off a scaled plan. Click where the length starts and where it ends, and MetreMate shows the real distance in metric or imperial units.
Read guideArea
Use the Area tool to measure a room, slab or zone. Click each corner of the shape in turn, then click the first corner again to close it. MetreMate shows the area in the middle of the shape and works out its perimeter too.
Read guidePerimeter
Use Perimeter to measure the total length of a run with several sides, like skirting, fencing or garden edging. Click each point along the run and MetreMate adds up every side for you. Areas you trace also show their perimeter.
Read guideLine
Use the Line tool to draw straight lines on the plan, for set-out lines, arrows to a detail or anything you want to point out. Line Style in the toolbar sets the thickness, colour and whether the line is solid or dashed.
Read guideText
Use the Text tool to type notes and labels straight onto the plan. Click where the note should go and type. Change the font, size, colour, bold, italic and underline from the toolbar, and move or resize the note at any time.
Read guideFill and Polygon Fill
Fill shades rooms and zones in colour so scope stands out on a busy plan. Pick a colour and opacity from Fill in the toolbar. Polygon Fill shades a shape you click out yourself, for zones with odd or angled edges. Fills can be recoloured or cleared later.
Read guideCount
Use the Count tool to tally doors, downlights, switches and power points or any symbol on a plan. Click each item once and a marker drops on it, so you can see what you have counted. Keep separate groups for different items.
Read guideAngle
Use the Angle tool to read the angle between two edges on a plan, such as a roof pitch, a splay or a corner. Click along the first edge, then the second, and MetreMate shows the angle in degrees.
Read guideArc
Use the Arc tool for curved edges like a radius wall, a curved driveway or a pool edge. Draw a line between the two ends of the curve, then click again to bend it onto the printed curve. MetreMate gives the length along the curve, not the straight line.
Read guidePencil
Use Pencil to draw freehand on the plan: circle an issue, sketch a change or add your initials by hand. Pick a colour and line thickness first. Pencil marks print and export with the plan unless you hide them.
Read guideRotate
Rotate turns a plan that came in sideways or a few degrees off square, so you can measure on the level. You can turn it to any angle, not just quarter turns, and your scale and measurements stay as they are.
Read guideSelect
Use Select to pick up mark-ups you have already placed. Click one to select it, then drag it, change its colour or line style, or copy, cut and paste it. Group puts several mark-ups together so they move as one.
Read guideLayers
Layers keep a busy plan organised. Every mark-up sits on a layer, with its measurement next to it. You can rename mark-ups, drag them between layers, and hide or show a layer to focus on one part of the job. Hiding a layer never deletes anything.
Read guide
Projects, sharing and your account
Organise jobs, share and print plans, add your team and manage your plan.
Projects and plans
A project holds every plan for one job. Start one from the Dashboard, add your PDF plans to it, and open any plan in the editor. Recent projects sit on the Dashboard, and All Projects lists everything in your workspace.
Read guideClients
Clients gives each customer one record with their details, a description and the site address, and links every project you measure for them. One client can have as many projects as you need, and you can edit their details at any time.
Read guidePrint, export and share
Print or export a marked-up plan as a PDF on any plan, or share the project with someone who has a MetreMate account. Shared projects appear in their Shared with me list. Exporting to PNG and SVG needs Pro or Team.
Read guideShared with me
When someone shares a MetreMate project with you, it appears in the Shared with me section of your account. Sign in, open Shared with me, and filter by Unread or Viewed to find it. You need a MetreMate account to open a share.
Read guideTeam
On the Team plan, the account owner invites each person with Invite Members. Everyone gets their own login and a seat, and you can see who worked on what. The owner can add and remove members, and billing follows your active seats.
Read guidePlans and billing
MetreMate has three plans. Free lets you try the core tools with limits on projects, plans and markups. Pro lifts the limits and adds PNG and SVG export. Team adds collaboration and is billed per seat. There is a 7-day trial.
Read guide
Watch it in action
Measure a room in 35 seconds
Trace a bedroom with the Area tool, shade it, rename it in the layers panel and add a note, in the real app.
Read the Area guideReady to measure smarter?
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