GUIDE
Marking up drawings
on an iPad.
The tablet is the natural place to review a drawing — on site, in a meeting, on the train. Here is what works.
You do not need an app
Redline runs in Safari on an iPad and installs to the home screen from the Share menu ("Add to Home Screen"), where it opens full screen like any app — no App Store, no separate licence for the tablet. Your drawings are the same ones as on your desktop, because they live in your account, not on a device.
What works well on a tablet
- Reviewing. Clouds, callouts, text and stamps are quick with a finger or a pencil, and pinch-zoom behaves as you expect.
- Freehand. An Apple Pencil draws pen strokes smoothly, and the smoothing setting takes out the wobble without flattening a deliberate line.
- Counting. Tapping fixtures on a plan is genuinely nicer on a tablet than with a mouse.
- Reading measurements. Totals stay visible while you work.
What is better on a desktop
Long takeoff sessions, precise vertex placement at high zoom, and anything involving the properties panel and keyboard shortcuts. The honest answer is that a tablet is for review and spot measurement; a desktop is for an afternoon of quantities.
Working offline
Once the app has loaded, it keeps working if the connection drops mid-review — the editor itself runs on the device. Saving to your workspace resumes when you are back on a network. On a site with no signal, load the drawing before you go.
Getting the drawing there
Sign in on the iPad and every drawing in your workspace is already there. To bring in a new PDF, open it from Files, iCloud Drive or an email attachment — the editor accepts a file from anywhere iPadOS can share it.
Try it before you commit
Open the demo on the iPad — no account, no install — and mark up the sample drawing with your pencil. Two minutes tells you more than any feature list.
Try it on the sample drawing
Redline runs in the browser — nothing to install. Open the demo to try tools on a sample drawing. Demo edits are temporary; your own files, saving, signatures, exporting, printing and downloads come with the seven-day trial, which takes no card. After it you keep Redline Free, or choose Pro at $15 a month or $150 a year. Compare the plans.
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