Time and time again, I turn to the web to find a solution for a problem I’m having ‘right now’ that I want a solution for ‘right now’, and more often than not, someone’s invented something I can use and download ‘right now’.
Today’s internet find is a tool named Pixel Rule. It measures pixels …on your screen. Now some of you are looking befuddled and asking “why on earth would you need to do that?” I was working on a website and I needed to know how wide and how high a specific block of text was because I wanted to create a background image to set it off from the rest of the page. Instead of guestimating and using the hit and miss approach, I typed ‘measure pixels on screen’ into my browser and lo an behold, someone had already invented a tool to do that – and it was free.
I downloaded the app, measured my block of text, created the background image in Illustrator, uploaded the image to the server, edited the div CSS to pickup the image, and… done.
I’d give you the app name and link, but no need really. If you search for ‘pixel ruler’ you’ll turn up about 79,000 hits, all linking to free rulers in your choice of color and simulated material.
Great tool and it saved me a lot of time! Now, if someone will please invent an external PCI card slot that I can connect to any computer through a USB port, I will be eternally grateful.
