Use the measure tool

Sanity-check distances on your imported plan or between fixtures with the built-in measure tool.

3 steps · 1 min read

When you measure on an imported plan that has the wrong scale, every photometric calculation downstream is wrong too. A 30-second sanity check here saves a lot of pain later.

  1. Pick the measure tool

    Click the Measure distance tool (the ruler icon) in the toolbar below the menu bar. Your cursor changes to a crosshair when measure mode is active.

  2. Click two points

    Click once where you want to start measuring, then click again where you want to end. OpenLumen draws a line and shows the distance in your active units — feet in Imperial, meters in Metric (switch from Plan ▸ Units, or your profile preference when signed in).

    Hold Shift while placing the second point to constrain the measurement to a horizontal or vertical line.

  3. Verify scale on imported plans

    The measure tool is the fastest way to confirm that an imported DWG / PDF was scaled correctly. Measure a known distance (a parking-stall stripe is usually 9 ft / 2.7 m, a standard interior door 3 ft / 0.9 m) and compare. If the number is off, use Plan ▸ Calibrate (it reads Edit scale (two points) once a scale exists) to re-set it.

    Press Esc when you're done measuring to return to the regular pointer.