It has taken me—no, I'm not going to bother to say, it's too ridiculous—a million years (there, I said it) to finally become comfortable sight-reading a ruler. If I were smarter, I would have done everything in metric, truly. But I think I've got it now. Except when I don't.
I remember numbers out of order—that seems to be the biggest problem. I'm working on an edition of forty book/calendars and I've cut at least three of the inner holders incorrectly. I knew it was supposed to be 1 1/4", but when I looked at the diagonal cut I made (it was supposed to be straight) and remeasured it, one mark was at 1 1/2". Argh. I needed a template so I didn't have to remember the number six times per holder. And I had a second spot that needed to be measured at 1/2". What to do?
Hooray for artist's tape! I taped one side of my ruler—the one I could read most easily (in 8ths, not 16ths of an inch). I left the other side free of tape so I could use it for cutting. My work is going much faster. I hope yours does. Metric users, do you ever have this problem? Just wondering.
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| Tape the interval you need on one edge of the ruler. |
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| Use the untaped side to cut against. |
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| Use thinner slices of tape for a second interval. |
Comments
Thank you.... ; )
Lotus
(My steel rules are calibrated in metric and imperial, but my eyesight is no longer in its shining youth, so the coloured tape does come in handy.)