JR Screen Ruler (For Windows 95/98/2000/NT/ME/XP)

I'm not sure if there's a native MAC version for the on-screen ruler - - doesn't appear to be. This is an old fashioned kind of tool, but still one of my favorites in my Designer Tool Kit.

Recently I lost the hard drive on my main workstation. So, it's taking some time to get the backups restored and everything back in place, especially my Design Tools. Today I missed my awesome on-screen ruler tool. There are other rulers, like in FireFox, etc...But, I've been using this for 6+ years, and it's by far my favorite.

This little ruler is an executable (safe) that throws a ruler on your screen, allowing you to get better perspective on image and screen dimensions. Of course you can retrieve those dimensions in FireFox with right-click "View Image Info", and FireBug. I don't mention IE when talking about Design Tools, yuck. Anyhow, this is a visual tool.

Here's the horizontal view, on the screen where I am typing this tip:

You can flip the ruler for horizontal or vertical measurements. It would be difficult for me to work without it. To give you an example: I was working on a new photo slider for the Premium Tips Club, and wanted to measure screen space in order to make a final decision on the most generic slider dimensions. Then I realized, oops, no ruler! So, without more dribble about it, ;-) here's the site where you can download the on screen ruler. There's a free and a premium version. I've used both.

Free Version: http://www.spadixbd.com/freetools/jruler.htm

Pro Version: http://www.spadixbd.com/jruler/index.htm

Spadix Software is the Developer. They offer several cool tools, and the pro versions are very inexpensive - - well worth it.

Enjoy!

Jen