![]() ![]() We still think of letter-size paper as 8.5 by 11. Then at the last minute, the USA decided to stick with imperial.įorty years later, we pump our gas in litres and weigh ourselves in pounds. We switched because our greatest trading partner was going metric too. I am Canadian and came of age during the change from imperial to metric. The maker says beRuler is “a simple yet useful scalable horizontal-vertical on-screen ruler.” The one I use most these days is a pixel ruler, a Mac dashboard widget by beWidget. The GA-86 (not transparent), and the GA-96 (see-through) are excellent, and you can get them for about six bucks online (I paid $20 for the first one I saw at a university bookstore 20 years ago). The C-Thru ruler company also makes a lot of - you guessed it - see-through rulers that are great tools. Additionally, since you can specify the size of objects (text or graphic boxes) automatically, why would you be off?Īs suggested by someone else earlier, I teach my students to make their own guides on transparency sheets that way, you can easily overlay it on a printed document to check type sizes, line weights, spacing, length, halftones, color, etc., whatever your needs are. Yes, you eventually get good at it, but do we need it any more with all of the quick measurement innovations in our design programs?Īlso, “smart grids” and “snap to guides” make most layout and design very easy you do not need to use the ruler at all. Seven and a quarter (7.25) inches is a lot easier to calculate and remember than 43p6. However, it’s a lot easier to do math in base 10 (inches decimal) than it is in base 6 or 12. I gave them math problems on tests to force them to learn how to use the system (public relations and journalism majors tend to have trouble with math). ![]() For many years I taught my public-relations students to use points and picas. ![]() In Adobe’s defense, they do allow you to use an assortment of measurement systems (Pics, Inches, Inches Decimal, Millimeters, Centimeters, Cicero, Agates, Pixels, and Custom). Here for download is the file I made for myself. Depending on your printer, you may need to adjust the output size, usually in fractions of a percent, until it matches a real inch ruler exactly, and the picas and points will be correct, too. I make my own rulers with inches on one edge, picas on the other, hairline rules. I’m unaware of any physical pica rulers (also called pica poles) that use the modern, computer pica. 000622 inch shorter than this, so physical rulers no longer work. There are six picas per inch, 12 points per pica, 72 points per inch, all easily divisible, unlike inches! A point is identical to a Mac pixel - the Mac runs on 72 pixels per inch - which makes paper-to-web transitions easy.Ī “computer” or “PostScript” pica is rounded to exactly 1/6 inch. Picas and points are the traditional measure and what I learned. Byron writes, “Is there an advantage in measuring in points or picas over inches, and if so, what is it? Also, where do you buy the best steel or other ruler to do it?” ![]()
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