PDF compatibility

Markups thattravel.Both ways.

Every consultant on a project uses a different app. ScaleSet PDF opens the markups they send as markups, and saves its own as standard PDF comments every reader shows.

Get ScaleSet PDF All features

G-300

Markups saved as standard PDF comments, read back untouched

SHEET G-300.1

In detail

Standard in.
Standard out.

01 · Reading

Other apps' markups arrive as markups

A sticky note is a note, a free-text comment a text box, a callout a callout with its knee and head, a polygon a polygon or a cloud, ink a pen stroke, a measurement a takeoff at its own scale. Each keeps its author, subject, comment, date, colour and replies. Importing again never adds one twice.

G-300.1

READ FROM A RECEIVED PDF

01Text colours, faces and sizes
02Callout boxes and leaders
03Rotation, fill and line opacity
04Layers, in their order, on or off
05Groups of groups, and locked markups
06Measurements at their own scale

02 · Writing

Saved as standard PDF comments

A markup nobody changed is left exactly as it was. One that changed has only the parts the change touched replaced. One made here is written as a standard PDF comment with its appearance drawn in, so it shows in any reader and stays editable in review apps.

G-300.2

WRITTEN BACK

01Untouched: same object, same bytes
02Changed: only the touched parts replaced
03Data ScaleSet PDF does not use: kept
04New: a standard comment, appearance drawn in
05No standard type: a stamp that keeps its look

03 · Saving

Appended, never rewritten

Save appends an update to the end of the file, so every byte already there stays where it was and saving one markup on a large set writes a few kilobytes. If someone saved the drawing in another app since you opened it, Save stops and offers to reload.

G-300.3

SAVE

01Appended to the end of the file
02One markup saved: a few kilobytes
03A backup copy at the first save
04Saved elsewhere since? Save stops, offers reload
05Scales, layers and sheet data inside the PDF

SHEET G-300.4

Carried across

What travels
with the drawing.

SCHEDULE 03PDF compatibility

Item	Received from another app	Saved by ScaleSet PDF
Markups	As markups, with replies and status	As standard PDF comments
Page scale	From the page's measurement viewports	As standard measurement viewports
Several scales a sheet	Regions at their own scale	Viewports at their own scale
Layers	Optional content as layers	Layers in the file
Tool sets	Imported into tool sets	Exported as a tool set file
Comments as data	XFDF import	XFDF export

SHEET G-300.5

Questions

About compatibility.

Will ScaleSet PDF open markups made in other PDF apps?

Yes. Standard PDF comments open as markups: callouts with their knee and head, clouds, measurements at the scale they were made at, layers, groups and locked markups, each with its author, subject, status and replies.

Will other apps read markups saved in ScaleSet PDF?

Yes. Markups are saved as standard PDF comments with an appearance drawn in, so any PDF reader shows them and PDF review apps can edit them. Kinds with no standard comment type are saved as stamps that keep their look.

What happens to markups nobody touched?

They are left exactly as they were: the same object, the same bytes. A changed markup has only the parts the change touched replaced; everything else, including data ScaleSet PDF does not use, is kept.

Can I bring our existing tool sets across?

Yes. Tool set files from other PDF markup apps import directly, stamps and symbols as sharp vectors.

SHEET G-501

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Put the set
under control.

ScaleSet PDF is free to read. The markup, takeoff and editing tools are licensed to teams, a seat per person - download it now, and tell us how many seats you need.

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