Drawing scale converter
You have a printed plan and a ruler. You measure ten centimetres and want to know what that means in reality. Or the other way round: you have a five-metre wall and want to know how long it appears on paper.
Which scale is used when
- 1:20 - details: junctions, stairs, joinery.
- 1:50 - construction drawings. Wall thicknesses and openings read clearly.
- 1:100 - presentation and permits. A whole house fits on an A3 sheet.
- 1:200 and larger - site plans, layouts, urban schemes.
The mistake that costs
A plan printed to fit the page is no longer to scale. If the printer shrank the drawing by 4%, every measurement you take is 4% wrong - forty centimetres on a ten-metre wall.
That is why drawings carry a graphic scale bar: a graduated line that shrinks with the drawing. Check the bar first, then measure.
What does 1:50 mean?
One centimetre on paper is fifty centimetres in reality. A five-metre wall appears as ten centimetres.
How do I check a print is to scale?
Measure the scale bar on the drawing. If a drawn metre is not the length it should be, the plan is not to scale.
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