![]() ![]() RulersĪ fairly obvious feature, the Rulers tool gives you the ability to measure elements on your screen. Here's a quick look at my favourite tools in xScope and how I use them (using the lovely Process Type Foundry site for our examples). It consists of a group of 8 tools that would each make a handy utility on their own. But a more useful utility would be hard to find. It's not an application, but more of a utility. This is one of those tools that can be hard to describe. ![]() But I do have one tool that seems to be used regardless of the project. Text editors, graphics tools ( Sketch is great), or iBooks Author are all used for varying projects. When it comes to working on a site design, newsletter template, or a book cover, the tools can all be different for me. Often times the tool is actually the same, but the preference comes down to brand. But well-built tools can often be used for purposes their designers never thought of, and xScope fits in that category.In every field, workers will have their preference for what is the best tool to do any job. I’m not saying the Iconfactory should market xScope to engineers who need to take measurements off of photographs-that would be an extremely niche market. The ruler tool works here, too, but I tend to use the crosshair tool to get the x and y coordinates as I move from point to point. In these cases, I know the scale, and I know that I can take reliable and precise measurements off the photos. Sometimes I get to work with aerial photos that have been orthorectified. But quite often the estimates it gives are good enough. There are plenty of errors that can accumulate in this type of measurement, and I would never pretend that this is a high-precision technique. I’ve done real photogrammetry and I know this ain’t it. If this description is giving you heart palpitations, don’t worry. This allows me to get relative dimensions with no other information and absolute dimensions if I know the size of at least one item in the photo. I don’t have to read the marks on the ruler the distance between the calipers (and the angle) is given right on the ruler. I can rotate it around and stretch it to take a series of measurements in no time. The ruler with calipers is my most-used tool. Putting the photos on screen and using xScope to take measurements is the best way to make those estimates. While it’s always best to take measurements directly on the equipment itself, sometimes that’s not possible, and I have to estimate dimensions from photographs. Photographs and measurements of equipment are an important part of the work I do. xScope came along for the ride and became the sleeper hit. It was part of some software bundle a while ago, and I bought the bundle because I wanted two or three of the other apps. In fact, I didn’t actually buy xScope itself. Not exactly the kind of utility I’m on the lookout for. It gives the user a set of on-screen tools for aligning, positioning, and measuring user interface elements. XScope is aimed at software and web designers. Turns out™ I was using xScope myself earlier today-it’s a great app that isn’t as niche as you might think. I just finished listening to the most recent episode of The Prompt and was surprised by a couple of things: first, that the boys were doing a round-robin Pick of the Week segment and second, that Stephen’s pick was the Iconfactory’s xScope. ![]()
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