How to Mark Holes for Door Cabinets

Mark two lines on the inside of each of the cabinet doors, 2 inches from the top and 2 inches from the bottom, using a pencil and a measuring tape.

Line up the top of one hinge with the line you made on the top of the door. Hold the hinge steady and blacken the inside of the screw holes with a pencil. Line up another hinge with the bottom line on the cabinet door and blacken the inside of the screw holes with a pencil. Remove the hinges. The hole placements are clearly visible for drilling pilot holes for the hinges on the door.

Run a stretch of masking tape along the top edge of the cabinets where the doors will line up. This will give you a straight guide for the tops of each of the doors as you attach them, so they will line up straight.

Measure the top of the cabinet door and divide the result in half to find the center point of the door. Mark it with a pencil. Measure the opening of the cabinet and divide it in half to mark the center point of the opening. Mark the center with a pencil, extending the line straight up over the masking tape with a pencil. This is so that you can see the line when you place the cabinet door over the opening. Repeat for each cabinet.

Hold the cabinet door over the opening, after attaching the hinges, lining up the center points and the top masking tape guide. Pencil the position of the hinge by making a small line on the cabinet at the top of the hinge and at the bottom of the hinge with a pencil.

Open the hinges on the cabinet door and hold them between the markings on the cabinet front. Darken the screw holes with a pencil to mark the positions for drilling the pilot holes and then screwing in the hinges.