PDF markup for construction drawings

Mark up the plans. Survey the site. Export the data.

Every markup tool is free, including the ones other apps charge for. Then Survey does what no other PDF app does: site surveys on the plan that export as a spreadsheet, and spaces that let you work on one part of a sheet at a time.

Open Survey free See how surveys work

No card. No install. Computer, tablet and phone.

Survey with a marked-up floor plan: a revision cloud around the meeting room, numbered count markers on the desks, an arrow to a fire door and a callout that says Move counter to east wall

Made for electricians, surveyors, inspectors, general contractors, estimators and architects.

What no other PDF app does

Three things we built because site work needs them.

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

Pen, partial eraser, polygon, cloud, callout, count, measure, OCR and page tools. Drawboard PDF charges for half of these. Survey does not.

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.

Side by side with Drawboard PDF

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

Tool	Survey	Drawboard PDF
Pen and highlighter	Free	Free
Shapes	Free	Free
Text and notes	Free	Free
Insert, rotate and delete pages	Free	Free
Pressure ink	Free	PRO
Callouts	Free	PRO
Measure length and area	Free	PRO
OCR	Free	PRO
Merge and split	Free	PRO
Count markers with totals	Free	Not listed
Site surveys with data export	Pro	Not listed
Spaces and regions	Pro	Not listed
Survey templates	Pro	Not listed
Live editing together	Pro	PRO

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.

The full comparison

Work on the same drawings as a team

Invite people as viewers or editors. Everyone sees the same markups and the same survey answers, on whatever device they have, and Pro teams edit together live.

Viewers read, editors mark up
Survey answers from every walk land in one spreadsheet
Live editing together on Pro

See the plans

The Document Access dialog: an owner, two editors and a viewer on A-201 Level 2 Floor Plan.pdf, with an Invite button

Computer, tablet and phone

Survey runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install. The same project and the same markups follow you from the desk to the site. On a tablet, the pen draws and your fingers move the sheet.