Measure tool

Ulrich Heimes

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Jul 10, 2003, 1:09:25 PM7/10/03

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Hi,

is there any possibility to make the measure tool snap to a point. I tried to set the snapping tolerance and also to select the features from which I want to have the distance but nothing helps. If I draw a line between the features end points I get the right information of the distance in the info pallete but the measure tool does not snap in any way to the endpoints. If that is possible it would be much more simple otherwise I can not use the measure tool because the distance is not correct.

Thank you
Greetings
Ulrich

Alexander Kogan.

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Jul 10, 2003, 2:26:40 PM7/10/03

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Ulrich,

nope. :(

According to Teri, the Measure tool was such an old thing that when they introduced Smart Guides, they just didn't update the tool. I guess, the best we all can do is drop our two cents in the Feature Request...

Teri Pettit

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Jul 10, 2003, 2:33:29 PM7/10/03

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Alexander,

The Measure Tool doesn't show Smart Guides or snap to the various intersections and guidelines that Smart Guides would show, but it does snap to anchor points, and has ever since AI 1.0.

Teri Pettit

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Jul 10, 2003, 2:22:31 PM7/10/03

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So far as I can tell the Measure tool does snap to points.

To verify, I made a rectangle and then direct-selected one corner and moved it 0.001 pt horizontally and 0.003 pts vertically using the Move dialog, and then used the measure tool to measure from one of the regular corners of the rectangle to the moved corner, and the Info palette showed the correct distance.

I tried this experiment in Illustrator 8.0.1, 9.0.2, and 10.0.3, and they all worked, regardless of whether Smart Guides was on or off, and even regardless of whether Snap to Point (in the View menu) was on or off. It also worked regardless of whether I was clicking twice with the Measure tool (the way I usually like to use it), or dragging a rubber band (like some people like to do.)

The Measure tool does not, however, give visible snap feedback in the cursor by turning color or anything, like the Move tool does, since the Measure tool's cursor is just a cross-hair.

Alexander Kogan.

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Jul 10, 2003, 2:38:00 PM7/10/03

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...I'm out of date :))) Quoting Teri here :)

Alexander Kogan.

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Jul 10, 2003, 2:39:06 PM7/10/03

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yep, Teri, I mixed them up. Sorry :-/

Mark Durgee

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Jul 10, 2003, 3:45:17 PM7/10/03

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I wish the measure tool:

1. Would also have the "snappier" behavior when smart guides are enabled and
give some visual feedback.
2. I also wish it would measure an angle between 3 points like Photoshop and
3. Is able to fill in the value the rotate dialog also like Photoshop.

Ulrich Heimes

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Jul 10, 2003, 6:35:02 PM7/10/03

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Hi,

many thanks for the quick reply. For me it is the problem that I can not get any snapping behavior of the measure tool at all. If I measure a line of a drawing I get a slightly different Distance nearly every time. So if I want to make an exact scaling its immpossible with that measurement.

Thank you
Ulrich

Teri Pettit

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Jul 10, 2003, 10:18:26 PM7/10/03

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Ulrich,

I cannot reproduce the behavior you describe, not with Illustrator 8 through 10.

How are you making your lines? What version of Illustrator are you using? Are you getting the Measure tool within two pixels of the anchor points on your line? (The regular Snap to Point tolerance is not adjustable the way the Smart Guide tolerance is, it is always 2 pixels.)

Did you try the experiment I suggested with making a slightly off-grid rectangle and measuring the sides? If so, what results did you get?

Ulrich Heimes

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Jul 11, 2003, 3:12:37 AM7/11/03

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Hi Teri,
I tried to measure known distances and it works when I zoom in and work with a realy quiete hand, but for me it is not so simple to get the starting point; the end points seems to have a little snap behavior. For me it would be fine if there would be a little bit more security or hints in quick measurements of any drawing element. I am working with AI 10.03 on win xp pro.

Thank you again
Ulrich