Everything you do on a drawing set, in one app

Three things no other PDF app does, then every markup tool you would expect, free.

Only in Survey

Site surveys that turn into data

Walk the site with the plan. Every answer lands in a spreadsheet.

Build a checklist template once: the things you check and the questions you ask at each one. On site, drop a marker where each outlet, fitting or door is, answer Y, N or N/A, and add a note, a photo or a voice note. Export the data and you get a spreadsheet with one sheet per category plus a summary, ready for Excel, Google Sheets or anything that reads a spreadsheet. Link a Microsoft 365 workbook and edits made there come back onto the plan.

Survey with a floor plan on the left and the survey panel on the right: outlets and data points marked on the plan, and Data point 2 answered Patched Y, Tested N, with the note "Patch lead missing at desk 14. Re-check Friday."
The exported spreadsheet: an Outlet sheet with Item, Faceplate fitted, Tested, Labelled, Entity and Notes columns, and a tab for every category plus a Summary

Only in Survey

Spaces and regions

Work on one part of a sheet at a time.

Name a space, pick its pages and draw a region on each one, as a rectangle or freehand. Turn the space on and everything outside the region dims. Markups made inside a space belong to it, so one sheet can carry the fit-out, the demolition and the services as separate work. Export a space on its own. We have not found this in any other PDF app.

A floor plan with a space turned on: the open office stays clear while the rest of the sheet is dimmed with a grey hatch

Only in Survey

Survey templates

Set up a survey once. Use it on every project.

A template holds the modules, the categories under each one, the checklist for each category and the tags you give each item, like Installed, Snag or Missing. Make one per kind of survey: electrical, fire, fit-out.

The template editor: Electrical site survey with Power, Lighting and Fire modules, an Outlet checklist of Faceplate fitted, Tested and Labelled, and the tags Installed, Snag and Missing

Every markup tool, free

Nothing here is behind a paywall. Pick a tool, mark the sheet, keep going.

Pen

Pressure ink that follows a pen, a mouse or a finger.

Highlighter

Sits behind the linework so the drawing stays readable.

Partial eraser

Rub out part of a stroke and the rest stays.

Shapes

Rectangle, ellipse, polygon, polyline, line and arrow.

Revision cloud

Cloud a change the way you would on paper.

Count markers

Tap each item. Every category keeps a running total.

Measure

Set the page scale, then measure length and area.

Text and callouts

Notes that point at the exact spot they are about.

Text markup

Highlight, underline, squiggle and strike through words.

OCR

Read a scanned sheet on your device so you can search it.

Page tools

Insert, rotate, delete, merge and split pages.

Count markers

Tap each item on the plan and Survey numbers it and keeps the total.

Make a category for each thing you count: desks, outlets, sprinklers, doors. Every tap adds a numbered marker, and the totals for each category stay in view. Export them as a spreadsheet in one step.

Count markers numbered 1 to 10 on the desks of an open office

Pen and highlighter

Write on drawings the way you would on paper.

Smooth ink that follows Apple Pencil, a mouse or a finger. The highlighter sits behind the linework so the drawing stays readable. The eraser takes off just what you rub out.

A pen circle drawn around the lift and the break room name highlighted on a floor plan

Shapes, clouds and arrows

Box it, cloud it, point at it.

Rectangles, ellipses, revision clouds, lines, polylines and arrows, each with its own color and line weight. Select one to move it, resize it or change its style.

A revision cloud around the meeting room table, an arrow to a fire door, count markers on desks and a callout that says Move counter to east wall

The whole drawing set

Big sheets stay sharp and quick at any zoom.

Pinch or scroll to zoom from the whole sheet down to a single dimension. Thumbnails, bookmarks and search help you find the sheet you need in a large set.

A full floor plan with markups in Survey

Survey vs Drawboard PDF

The same tools, free in Survey. Then the things only Survey has.

ToolSurveyDrawboard PDF
Pen and highlighterFreeFree
ShapesFreeFree
Text and notesFreeFree
Insert, rotate and delete pagesFreeFree
Pressure inkFreePRO
CalloutsFreePRO
Measure length and areaFreePRO
OCRFreePRO
Merge and splitFreePRO
Count markers with totalsFreeNot listed
Site surveys with data exportProNot listed
Spaces and regionsProNot listed
Survey templatesProNot listed
Live editing togetherProPRO

Drawboard's column is from drawboard.com in October 2026. "Not listed" means it is not on their feature list. Check their site for current facts.

And the rest

Share with your team

Invite people as viewers or editors. Everyone sees the same markups. Pro.

Data export

Counts and survey answers as a spreadsheet for Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. Spaces also export as CSV. Pro.

Microsoft 365 and OneDrive

Open drawings from OneDrive and keep a survey workbook in sync. Pro.

Undo history

Step back through every change on a sheet.

Big sheets stay quick

Zoom from the whole sheet down to one dimension.

Free PDF tools

58 tools in the browser, no sign-in: merge, split, compress, OCR, compare and more.

Free PDF tools, no sign-up

58 tools that run in your browser. Your files never leave your device.

Make scans searchable

OCR reads a scanned drawing or letter so you can search it and copy the words.

Compare two PDFs

See what changed between two versions, with changed words marked side by side.

Several files at once

Add a stack of PDFs to tools like compress, OCR or page numbers and get one ZIP back.

Shrink big sets

Make a heavy drawing set small enough to email.

Sign and lock

Draw or type a signature, then add a password.

Word and images to PDF

Turn a Word file, photos or a TIFF scan into a PDF.

Try every tool on your own drawings

Free to start. Nothing to install.

Open Survey free