Download the ruler program. Working tools that can be replaced with a smartphone. ⇡ "Construction level"

Utility useful for web designers, programmers, photographers, artists, and those who deal with digital images (pictures, photographs, icons, etc.). Program SPRuler is an electronic ruler for measuring distances and sizes of objects on a monitor screen in pixels. The program is free, convenient, minimizes to the system tray, supports Russian and English languages.

Program ruler

Electronic ruler(or digital ruler, if you can call it that) looks like the real thing, the design provides light and dark shades of the instrument with a scale dividing line and transparency settings. The ruler moves across the screen very smoothly. The ruler displays two types of scales at intervals of 10 and 8 pixels. It is possible to clone an already running line and place SPRuler on top of all windows. When you start the program, the length of the ruler is adjusted automatically depending on the screen resolution (maximum up to 2048 pixels). The tool quickly rotates to horizontal and vertical positions. SPRuler supports automatic start function at startup operating system.

SPRuler Installation Note:

If you install the SPRuler program on a computer running Windows systems 95/98/ME/NT, for normal operation of the utility you will need to copy (replace) the file "\dll\oleaut32.dll" to "C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\". If you are installing SPRuler on Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008/x7, run the program installation distribution as Administrator.

Often there is a need to measure something on your monitor screen. This need most often arises when working with pictures. When you need to print something, and you are not sure that the result on paper will be the same as you expected. For example, I used to use an ordinary sheet of checkered paper, fit it to the screen and thus find out the size of a picture or something else.

It’s not that I’m such a dummy, I just didn’t have such an urgent need for ruler programs. But for those who work a lot with graphics, printers, or just need to measure something, I have prepared a description of several rulers and links to pages where they can be downloaded.

Metric ruler

The JR Screen Ruler is the only ruler I could find with a centimeter unit. But in addition to centimeters, you can also measure in pixels, inches and picas.

Works in all windows Windows applications, just drag the mouse where you need it. It is possible to flip the ruler into a vertical and horizontal position.

The disadvantages of this program include the inability to change its color and the need to customize it. Without adjustment, there is a possibility of large measurement errors.

It’s very easy to set up; select the unit of measurement you need, say centimeter.

Apply a regular plastic ruler to the monitor screen (to the virtual ruler) and compare how much the scale readings diverge.

If everything matches, then the setting can be skipped. If there is still a discrepancy, then you need to change the number of pixels per unit of measurement. To do this, right-click on the ruler and select - Pixels per inch. And in the Input Box, change the pixel values ​​until centimeters become centimeters. For example, my value was 105.

You can download the program from the official website. The size is less than 500 KB, does not require installation, you can get started right away.

Browser ruler

I can recommend a couple of cool rulers for those who use a browser Google Chrome

Ruul. Screen ruler - beautiful pixel rulers, you can use several at once on one page. As you already understand, we are talking about expansion. More likely suitable for a developer, because... You can only work with them in a browser. There is even a special reminder showing what letters of different sizes look like in pixels. There is one drawback - this extension does not work on all pages, for example, on the Google website.

And the last one, my favorite - Ruler Opera Widget. Nothing special at first glance, but for some reason I really like this widget. Unfortunately, only pixel scale, but works in all Windows windows. Be it a browser, notepad, desktop or any folder.

For some reason it was removed from the Opera Add-on, where you can download it in Yandex or Google.

In the process of optimizing some website elements, it is very important to maintain proportionality, otherwise the web project will turn into a pathetic, unattractive sight. It's one thing when a person designs on a piece of paper. In this case, you can use a pencil and ruler. Completely different circumstances arise if actions must be performed within the monitor. In such circumstances, you need to use free program mySize.

mySize screen ruler is an excellent, extremely easy-to-use tool designed to measure the length and width of elements displayed on a computer screen.

Under what circumstances might an on-screen ruler be useful?

Working with graphic elements (editing images in accordance with the required parameters).

Editing the site (measuring the parameters of the site header, sidebar, associated with the need to make changes to the design of the resource).

The mySize line is a first-class assistant, which was previously sorely lacking for all webmasters and web developers. The program implements 3 measuring modes:

In pixels.

In centimeters.

In inches.

mySize – installation features

The installation of this software is no different and is performed in the standard Windows sequence. We launch the installer, after which a window will pop up welcoming the installation wizard. Click the “Next” button and get acquainted with license agreement, accept the conditions (the “Accept” button) and click “Next” again. Select the installation folder – Next. We wait 20 seconds, after which a shortcut like this will appear on the desktop.

Well, the screen ruler is installed.

To open the program, double-click the left mouse button on the shortcut. The tool has the following design.

mySize screen ruler - subtleties of operation

As you can see, this is an ordinary double-sided ruler, with not quite ordinary capabilities. In order to call the system menu, click the left mouse button in the area where the two rulers join (1).

You can move the on-screen ruler by holding down the mouse. If necessary minimum shift, use the special arrows located near the menu (2).

The free value is changed by sliders located at the end of the horizontal and vertical ruler (3).

The need for slight movement of the ruler is carried out using the buttons for moving the sliders (4).

mySize - ruler settings

Clicking the menu opens a window with settings tabs.

Hide – a tab that hides the program. After clicking, the program shortcut is displayed in the tray.

Measurement – ​​specifying parameters in pixels, centimeters or inches.

Settings – a tab that allows you to configure whether the program should be displayed on top of all windows or on the taskbar. As mentioned in passing, this is not an ordinary ruler, providing the opportunity not only to measure an object, but also to take a screenshot of it. To do this, click on hotkey"S".

This will call up additional elements in the form of two red lines forming a rectangular area.

Rulers – select a horizontal or vertical ruler.

Movement is only along the X axis, then the Y axis is blocked. Only along the Y axis, then the X axis is blocked.

Also among the settings is detailed guide for the user, information about the program, a link to the developer's website and the "Exit" tab.

Enjoy it for your health. That's all for me. Thank you for your attention and see you soon on the pages of Stimylrosta.

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How to organize in Windows environment an on-screen pixel ruler to measure the length and height of windows or other interface elements and adjust them to your size? Such a specific task may not only be faced by designers or developers, but also by ordinary users working with documents or projects of their specialized software. Let's look at three programs below for implementing a screen ruler.

1. SPRuler

SPRuler – small free utility SPRuler is not intended for anything other than displaying Windows screen on-screen pixel ruler. It displays two scales: at the top with an interval of 10 pixels, at the bottom – 8 pixels. Scales are swapped in options context menu. There we can change the orientation from horizontal to vertical, apply light or dark colors to the ruler, and adjust its transparency. It is increased or decreased by simply pulling the edges or specifying a specific value in the options. Copies of the ruler with horizontal and vertical orientation can be launched as desired. There is support for hotkeys.

2.Window Ruler

Window Ruler is another free, minimalistic utility that implements both horizontal and vertical rulers simultaneously in the Windows environment. But not only pixel dimensions, the sizes of objects on the screen can also be measured in points (typographic points), inches, centimeters and millimeters. Increasing and decreasing the ruler is done by pulling the edges. The dimensions of the screen area specified in the ruler window are displayed in the lower right corner of this area. Window Ruler does not provide the ability to manually enter size values, but it does have options for setting five areas with standard screen sizes.

3.FastStone Capture

The screen ruler is part of a functional paid screenshot - the FastStone Capture program. This is an option for complex work on creating screenshots with adjusting Windows interface elements to the required dimensions. For example, for implementation in documents, presentations, other projects of content creation programs, publications on the Internet. The FastStone Capture ruler switches from horizontal to vertical by double-clicking on it; changing its size is done by pulling the edges. There is no option to set dimensions manually, but there is an option to display a small interval of the scale to which the cursor is placed on an enlarged scale. The preset pixel units can be changed to inches or centimeters. The color and transparency of the ruler are customizable. For ease of launch, you can add it to a floating panel quick access to FastStone Capture operations.

In this review, we will look at on-screen rulers, tape measures, levels and metal detectors for Android. Sensors and various elements of a smartphone allow you to create other tools - for example, a compass, speedometer, sound level meter. But due to the fact that such tools are rarely used in everyday life, they are not included in the review.

The selection of applications in each category was made based on their popularity in Play Market. Testing was carried out on the Honor 5A smartphone.

The idea behind this type of application is very simple and does not require any special sensors at all. A ruler is displayed on the screen, which needs to be calibrated to real values, and it will be ready for use.

⇡ Ruler

The application was developed by Xalpha Lab and does not support the Russian language. But it has more than a million downloads on the Play Market, so the program can be considered one of the most popular lines for Android.

After launching the application, two rulers appear on the screen - on the left and on the top. With their help, you can determine the size of a small object that fits on the screen. The origin point is in the upper left corner of the screen and cannot be moved.

In order for the measurements to be correct, the ruler must be calibrated (for example, after launching the program, the screen length was determined to be nine centimeters, whereas it is actually more than eleven). For calibration, you can use a regular ruler or any object of known length. But if such an object or ruler is not at hand, then an ordinary credit card or coins, the sizes of which are known to the program, are suitable for calibration. Unfortunately, the program does not know the sizes of Russian coins, and only coins from the USA, European Union, Canada, Australia, Great Britain or Sweden are suitable for calibration.

The user has access to both the metric and imperial measurement systems in inches. Supported night mode to save battery.

The program can remember the measurement by recording it in history. This is convenient when you measure several items at once. But during testing, the application for some reason did not save the history.

⇡ “Ruler: Smart Ruler”

The application was developed by Smart Tools, which created a whole package of working tools for smartphones - a compass, a metal detector, a sound level meter, and so on. The program is completely Russified. IN free version The application will show advertising to the user, and in the paid application, in addition to the on-screen ruler, there is a protractor, a set of templates for determining the pitch and profile of the thread (thread gauge), a level and other tools.

After launching the application, the ruler, as in Ruler, must be calibrated. But this can only be done manually by measuring the length of the screen and entering the data in the calibration field.

Unlike Ruler, the Ruler: Smart Ruler app lets you measure items by placing them in the middle of the screen and specifying a start and end. However, you cannot simultaneously measure the length and width of an object in the free version of the application. It is not possible to save measurement results here. But the application allows you to measure an object longer than the screen - to do this, you can move the ruler to the left along with the object.

Units of measurement can be either inches or centimeters.

⇡ "Ruler"

The application was released by the Russian developer NixGame, which offers users other similar working tools. In the free version, you will have to put up with advertising, and saving measurement results will not be available.

To calibrate, you need to attach a real ruler to the screen and move the screen ruler so that the divisions coincide. To measure length, you can use either side of the screen as a regular ruler, place an object on the screen and manually set the start and end points of the reference, and also simultaneously measure the length and width of a rectangular object.

As in other applications, you can measure objects in centimeters and inches. The application supports night mode and screen rotation.

Creating these types of tools typically requires Google's augmented reality library, ARCore. But there are applications that can determine the distance to an object using the laws of trigonometry, using data on the angle of inclination of the smartphone, which they receive from the gyroscope.

AR Ruler App

The AR Ruler application was developed by the Belarusian company Grymala. The program uses augmented reality (AR) technology to measure distances and sizes of objects.

The program can measure the linear dimensions of objects (in the metric system or inches), the distance from the device’s camera to a point on a plane, angles on 3D planes, the area or perimeter of an object (both rectangular, polygonal and round), the volume of three-dimensional objects, path length image taken by the smartphone, the height of objects (for example, a doorway or furniture). The application also has a simple on-screen ruler.

AR Ruler requires the ARCore library from Google, which can be installed on smartphones running Android 7.0 and higher. To increase the accuracy of measurements, the developer advises taking three or more measurements and focusing on the average value.

⇡Measure

The application was developed by ourselves by Google. Like the previous one, it allows you to measure the linear dimensions of objects, the distance from the camera to the object (like a tape measure), the height of objects, and so on.

You can take a photo of the measurement and also copy the results to the clipboard.

⇡ “Rangefinder: Smart Measure”

The program was developed by Smart Tools, like the already reviewed “Ruler: Smart Ruler” application. "Rangefinder: Smart Measure" can measure the distance to an object and its height. The operating principle of the program is based on trigonometry. The ARCore library is not required, so this “roulette” can be used on smartphones with Android 4.0 and higher.

To measure the distance to an object and its height, you must first aim the cross at the base of the object, press the button on the screen, and then do the same for the top point. Then the program will calculate the distance to the object and its height. For better measurement accuracy, the smartphone should be held at a height 30 cm less than your height.

The program provides manual calibration: the user is required to measure the actual distance to the object and its height and indicate by what percentage the values ​​​​measured by the program differ from the actual ones. During testing, the program showed quite good results, differing from real ones by no more than 5%. According to reviews in Google Play It can be judged that the measurements are not so accurate in all cases. This may depend on the smartphone model.

Applications of this type use the device's gyroscope and accelerometer to determine the angle of deflection of any side of the smartphone or its back surface.

⇡ “Laser level - leveling tool”

The Laser Level - Leveling Tool app was created by EXA Tools, which has developed several other similar apps. The program includes three tools - a laser level, a bubble level and an inclinometer. The application is completely Russified.

For more accurate measurements, app calibration may be required. To do this, you need to find a perfectly horizontal surface and calibrate the application data against it. However, it is not easy to understand how to do this - the program does not have appropriate hints, which users also complain about in the comments on the Play Market.

During testing, the application showed pretty good results. Of course, it’s not worth building a house using only this level, but in some everyday issues, for example, when installing a cauldron on a makeshift fireplace in the forest or a washing machine in an apartment, a smartphone can be a good help. In addition, the application's capabilities clearly depend on the operation of the smartphone's sensors - on the Play Market, reviews of the program are mostly diametrically opposed.

Paid version The program differs only in the absence of advertising; you can switch to it from the free one directly in the application.

⇡ "Construction level"

“Construction Level” is a development of the already mentioned NixGame. The application contains two tools - a level and a ruler. However, the line here is simply additional functionality; the corresponding application of the same developer has O greater opportunities. The program is completely Russified (and supports 14 more languages).

Just like in the previous application, the level can be calibrated by placing the smartphone on a perfectly horizontal surface. True, if the back cover is slightly convex, then accurate calibration may not be possible, since the device will not lie firmly on the surface (this remark is also true for all other programs of this type).

The level can be used in two ways. The first involves leveling the object by placing the smartphone with the back cover on its surface. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the bubble in the center of the screen exactly falls into the bounding circle. The second method involves alignment along one of the sides of the smartphone. In this case, you need to try to ensure that the lines showing the angle of deviation from the calibrated horizontal line coincide with it.

When the ideal horizontal position is reached, the application can report this sound signal.

⇡ “Bubble level”

Simple application, no additional features. On the main screen there are three bubble level icons that allow you to level the surface along the side of the smartphone, along the bottom or along the back surface (in several planes at once).

Besides the level, the program has only one option - its calibration. Moreover, the developer states that it will only be needed in cases where the smartphone manufacturer has not calibrated the device properly. This remark seems to be true for other applications, but for some reason the developers do not state this. At least, when testing all applications of this type without calibration, no difference in measurement accuracy was found. The paid version differs from the free version only in the absence of advertising.

⇡ "Level"

In terms of functionality, the “Level” application is similar to the “Bubble Level”, with the slight difference that it is automatically able to determine on which side of the smartphone the surface is being leveled (side, top, bottom or back cover) and show the corresponding level on the screen. The desired view level can be fixed so that the interface does not change when the smartphone moves.

The program can notify you when the horizontal line is reached with a sound signal. If necessary, the level can be calibrated.

The paid version differs from the free version in the absence of advertising.

Even a simple smartphone can be a good substitute for tools such as a ruler or level, showing fairly accurate measurement results. To fully use a smartphone as a roulette, it is best to have a device with Android 7.0 or higher, but the accuracy will still not be down to a centimeter. Smartphones don't seem to be very good as metal detectors, but perhaps this is due to the weak magnetic sensor on the device under test.