Martin Baxter: Point Ruler

Point Ruler

When doing digital printing or other graphic design, it is useful to be able to measure sizes and distances accurately in (printers') points. This can be useful, say, to measure

the "leading" or distance between base lines
dimensions of the typeface, such as cap-height, x-height, etc
other dimensions on the page

Since a point is only one seventy-second of an inch (0.352778 mm), it is quite small. Some high-quality commercial rulers are available in points, for example Schaedler (#46-DIP) in the US and Linex (DTP 30) in Europe, but they cost around $20 or Ł20.

But modern desktop printers provide a free and simple way to make your own "Point Ruler". I have prepared a PDF file which contains Point Rulers in three different sizes (2 inch, 6 inch, and 10 inch). To make your own Point Ruler, just

Open the Point Ruler PDF file (16kB)
Print it out on your own printer
Cut out the ruler(s) that you want to use

You will then have a ruler with tick-marks every 1pt, enabling discrimination to about 0.3pt.

For the best results:

A printer resolution of 600dpi should give you a good quality printed Point Ruler.
If your printer resolution is 1200dpi or higher, the quality will be very good.
Make sure that you do not have any scaling or fit-to-page options selected when you print.
For best results, you can use a folding or pocket magnifier to read the ruler. A magnification of ten times is very suitable, and costs about $7 or Ł5.

TOP TIP: For the very best possible ruler, print it onto photocopier transparencies rather than paper. This gives a transparent ruler which makes it much more user-friendly and versatile, though it is less accurate because the transparency can expand as it passes through the printer.
WARNING: Check first that your printer can handle transparencies, and also that your transparencies are suitable for your printer. This is important, because otherwise the transparency might melt inside your printer and your printer might be ruined forever. Do not complain to me if your printer breaks because you used incorrect print media.

For the technically-minded, the PostScript source code (3kB) is also available if you want to adapt or customise the ruler.

Acknowledgement: I took the original great idea for printable rulers from Mitchell Charity's website which has a variety of rulers in inches and metric.

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