How to import a PDF and set it to scale

Step 1: Open the Corel Designer 12 program.   


Step 2: Either click on the Open from Templates button on the welcome screen or close the menu and click on File > Templates. This opens up the Templates menu (See Caption 1). You need to determine what scale you wish to design on. All templates are 24" x 36" print size by default so if you choose 1:10 scale your maximum drawing size would be 360 ft wide by 240 ft tall. Divide your total inches by the actual drawing measurements needed to determine the scale. For example, if we had a property that was 650 ft wide we could divide 650 by 36" and we get 18.1. So in that case a 20:1 scale would be appropriate. For this example we will be using a 1:10 scale. So we click on 1=10 and then click OK.


Step 3: You should have a blank template drawing on your screen now. On the top menu bar click on File > Import. This opens an import window where you must choose the file you wish to import. Navigate to the folder location of your PDF file and select it, then click the Import button. After doing this your mouse pointer will have changed on the screen(See Caption 2). Left-click once in the design and your image would be inserted on the document page. Size may vary depending on the size of your PDF. If you want your image to be set in FEET instead of INCHES click in the background area outside of the template borders and it will reset the property menu above back to the settings for your template. You should see a dropdown list for Units. Click on the list and choose Feet(See Caption 3).


Step 4: We need to set the imported PDF to scale now. To do this we need to know one existing measurement on our design. In our example PDF the south side of the building is 44.0 feet long: shown in Caption 4. We need to create a line that is exactly 44 feet long to scale in our drawing because more than likely the PDF is not sized correctly yet. Click on the 2-point line tool on the left toolbar, indicated by the black arrow in Caption 5. To draw a line on the page we click and drag the mouse while holding the Ctrl key to make sure our line is perfectly horizontal. The length of the line segment will be displayed on the bottom of the program next to the black X, shown by the green arrow in Caption 5. This length is only displayed while drawing the line. To manually adjust the line length click on the Curve tab in the Property Manager, noted by a blue arrow in Caption 5. Notice where the red arrow is in Caption 5. You can enter the length of your line manually for the horizontal length and hit the Enter key to lock in those changes; the line segment should adjust automatically.


Step 5: We know our line is 44.0 feet to scale so we have to resize the PDF until the south wall length matches the 44 ft line length. You will want to move your line so its closer to the area of the wall you are trying to match it to(see Caption 6). Now click on the Object Pick tool and click on the PDF drawing. You will get the 8 black boxes around it showing it's selected. Click and drag the boxes on the corners of the PDF to expand/reduce the size of the drawing until it appears to be the same length as your scaled line. It's hard to compare a angled line to a perfectly vertical line so we will rotate our 44 ft line so it's at the same angle as the south wall. To do this we click on the line with the pick tool to select it, then click on it again to switch to rotate mode, this will be shown by rounded arrows around the line (See caption 6). Click and drag on the rounded corner arrows to twist the line until it matches the building wall.
    NOTE: It helps if you make your scaled line a bright color that contrasts the drawing so you can see exactly
     how long it is. You can change the line thickness and color in the Property Manager under the Outline tab.
     (See Caption 8 for details)


Step 6: As shown in Caption 7, we now have drawing set to scale. This is a good time to apply a transparency to the PDF. Many CAD drawings that you import have a lot of detail that distract you while tracing the foundation. We can make the PDF somewhat transparent so you can see your lines better. To apply this transparency you have to make sure the PDF is selected and then click on Format > Transparency. Or you can use the keyboard shortcut and hit Shift + I. This will change the properties bar above the drawing and give you a drop down menu that says "None"(See Caption 9). Click on this dropdown list and select Uniform. This will automatically apply a 50% transparency to the entire PDF. You can manually change the slide bar value for how transparent you want the PDF to be(See Caption 10). The higher the number the more invisible it appears.