Is pdf2takeoff really free?

Yes. It is free to use, Apache-2.0 licensed open source, with no account, no file limits and no paid tier. The source code is on GitHub.

Are my drawings uploaded to a server?

No. pdf2takeoff runs entirely in your browser. Your PDFs are rendered and measured on your own machine and never leave it, so it is safe for confidential tender documents.

Do the markups open in Bluebeam Revu or Adobe Acrobat?

Yes. Saved markups are written into the PDF as standard Line, PolyLine, Polygon and FreeText annotations with the measurement in the comment, so they appear in Bluebeam's markups list and in Acrobat.

What measurements can it do?

Lengths (including segmented runs), areas, perimeters, volumes (area × depth) and angles, plus counts and click-to-teach symbol auto-counting. Metric and imperial units are both supported; angles need no calibration.

Can scripts or AI agents use it without the browser?

Yes. The same engine ships as a Node CLI (scan, compare, export, annotate) and a local MCP server with eleven tools, so agents like Claude can open a drawing, look at sheets, scan symbols and export quantities — everything running on your machine, nothing uploaded. Bluebeam's equivalent (MCP in Revu Max) costs AU$979 per user per year; ours is free and open source.

What is the licence and can I contribute?

Apache-2.0 licence. Contributions, feature requests and trade-specific ideas are welcome on GitHub.

Takeoff complete: this is the output

Same numbers the CSV / Excel exports contain, grouped by label with totals.

Item	Type	Total

The measurements on the drawing are live: rename labels, drag them, measure more, or export again.

Free & open source · runs in your browser

Turn any PDF drawing into measured quantities

Drop a drawing in. Calibrate, measure, export. Nothing uploads.

Files never leave your machine · open source · no account, ever

Markups

Label	Type	Page	Value	Status

What is pdf2takeoff?

pdf2takeoff is a free, open-source tool that turns construction PDF drawings into measured quantities. Auto-read the scale with OCR, measure lengths, areas, perimeters, volumes and angles, auto-count repeated symbols, then export to Excel or save markups back into the PDF. It runs entirely in your browser — and the same engine ships as a CLI and MCP server, so scripts and AI agents can run takeoffs too. Drawings are never uploaded.

🔒

Files never uploaded

Rendering and measurement happen locally in your browser. Tender documents never leave your machine.

🆑️

Free, no account

Apache-2.0 open source. No page limits, no paid tier, nothing to meter.

📏

Metric & imperial

Calibrate from any printed dimension or pick presets like 1:100 and 1/4″ = 1′-0″. Each page keeps its own scale.

📊

Excel, CSV & report

Quantities grouped by label with totals, a printable report, or copy straight into your estimate.

🔄

Bluebeam round-trip

Markups save as standard PDF annotations, so the annotated file opens cleanly in Revu and Acrobat.

⚡

Scan auto-count

Click one symbol and every match on the sheet is counted in about a tenth of a second, fully local.

🤖

Agents & scripts welcome

A Node CLI and a local MCP server expose the same engine: AI agents can scan, measure, compare revisions and export — free where Bluebeam charges AU$979/seat for MCP.

🔍

Revision compare

Overlay two revisions with red/blue changes, or batch-compare whole folders from the CLI to see exactly which sheets moved.

How to do a takeoff from a PDF, free

Open the drawing. Drag any PDF into the window. Rendering happens on your machine; nothing is sent to a server.

Calibrate the scale. Click both ends of a printed dimension and hit Auto-read — OCR fills in the value straight off the sheet — or pick a standard scale like 1:100.

Measure. Trace wall runs with Length, outline rooms with Area, take Perimeter and Volume (area × depth), click Count for fixtures — or press Scan to count every instance of a symbol at once. Each page keeps its own scale.

Export quantities. The markups list groups by label with running totals. Copy it into Excel or download the CSV.

Save into the PDF. Markups are written as standard PDF annotations, so the annotated file opens cleanly in Bluebeam Revu, Adobe Acrobat and every other PDF app.

Estimators shouldn't need a per-seat licence to count light fixtures.

An open core means builders and developers can add trade-specific tools (HVAC, rebar, electrical) and AI takeoff helpers without asking permission. The headless engine, CLI and MCP agent API already ship; next on the roadmap are live multi-user sessions and a trained in-browser symbol detector.

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free? What's the catch?

There is no catch and no paid tier. The project is Apache-2.0 licensed open source; hosting is a static page, so there is nothing to meter.

Are my drawings private?

Yes. The tool is a static web page: your browser renders the PDF and computes every measurement locally. Tender documents never leave your machine.

Will my markups show up in Bluebeam Revu?

Yes, that's the point. Measurements are saved as standard Line, PolyLine, Polygon and FreeText annotations with values in the comments, so they appear in Bluebeam's markups list and can be exported from there to Excel as usual.

What can't it do yet?

Live multi-user sessions and ML detection for cluttered sheets are on the roadmap. Today it covers lengths, areas, perimeters, volumes and angles, OCR scale reading, CSV/Excel export, annotation round-tripping, revision overlay compare, batch folder compare, and a click-to-teach Scan that auto-counts repeated symbols locally in about a tenth of a second.

Can AI agents or CI pipelines use it without the browser?

Yes — that's the headless half. pdf2takeoff on Node gives you scan, compare (files or whole folders), export and annotate; a committed takeoff.yaml regenerates quantities on every revision; and the local MCP server lets agents like Claude drive full takeoffs and hand you a marked-up PDF to verify. All local, Apache-2.0, no uploads — where Bluebeam's Max tier charges AU$979/user/yr for MCP integration.

Does it work offline?

Once the page has loaded, no network access is needed. You can keep working through an outage.