Measure a plate with the Ruler

WhereThe top bar: the row of words that begins File, Edit.

DoDownload p2-05-start.blend from Files above and open it. Then choose File > Save As and save it under the name below, in a folder of yours. Open an exercise file and keep the start file safe (P0-07) shows how.

Typemy-measuring.blend

You should seeThe 3D view shows a flat plate from straight above: a rectangle, longer across than up. The words at the top left of the 3D view begin Top Orthographic and end with Plate.

It worked whenThe title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-measuring.

WhereThe sidebar: the CAD/CAM tab, then Measure in the section bar.

DoClick the CAD/CAM tab, then click Measure in the section bar.

You should seeThe Ruler panel with three buttons, Start Ruler, Thickness and Between Selected, and under them a box that reads “No ruler kept”. Below it stands the Live Sizes panel. A kept ruler is a reading that stays drawn in the 3D view.

It worked whenThe box under the Ruler buttons reads “No ruler kept”.

WhereThe Ruler panel, the Start Ruler button.

DoPress Start Ruler. Nothing is measured yet.

You should seeA small blue + that follows the pointer over the 3D view, and, on the status bar along the very bottom of the window, the words “Ruler: click the first point” and then the Ruler’s keys, among them “Enter keep”, “Backspace remove last” and “Esc or right-click end”. The status bar’s message fades after a few seconds. The Ruler is running: it stays on after each measure, and Esc ends it. The key Alt+T starts it too.

It worked whenA small blue + follows the pointer in the 3D view.

WhereThe 3D view: the plate’s bottom left corner, then its bottom right corner.

DoClick the bottom left corner of the plate, then click the bottom right corner.

You should seeA line between the two corners with its length written beside it, 30.00 mm in view. “In view” means the ruler measures what you see, straight across, because the view looks square onto the plate. The ruler snaps to a corner of the plate, shown by a small square, so the reading is exact. The second click keeps it: a line of words in the panel now reads the length.

It worked whenThe box under the Ruler buttons reads 30.00.

If it goes wrongThe reading is a little more or less than 30.00: A click missed the corner and landed beside it. Press Backspace to remove the ruler and click the corners again.

WhereThe 3D view: the plate’s bottom right corner, then its top right corner.

DoClick the bottom right corner, click the top right corner, then press Esc.

You should seeA second ruler up the right side, which reads 20.00 mm, and the box lists both. Esc ends the Ruler: the small blue + is gone from the pointer, and both rulers stay.

It worked whenThe box lists two rulers, 30.00 and 20.00.

WhereThe box under the Ruler buttons: the X at the right end of the second line.

DoClick the X at the right end of the line that reads 20.00.

You should seeThe line that read 20.00 gone from the box, and its ruler gone from the 3D view. The ruler along the long side is still there. That X is Remove Ruler: it takes away one ruler.

It worked whenThe box lists one ruler, 30.00.

If it goes wrongNothing is removed: The click missed the X. Click on the small X at the very right end of the line.

WhereThe Ruler panel, the Clear All button, under the box of kept rulers.

DoPress Clear All.

You should seeThe box reads “No ruler kept” again, and the ruler is gone from the 3D view. Clear All takes every kept ruler away at once. The plate is as it was: the ruler only read it.

It worked whenThe box under the Ruler buttons reads “No ruler kept”.

WhereThe Live Sizes panel, below the Ruler panel: the switch that reads Sizes Off. Scroll the sidebar down to it (turn the mouse wheel, or slide two fingers on the touchpad).

DoPress Sizes Off.

You should seeThe switch now reads Sizes On, and three short lines with numbers are written beside the plate in the 3D view: its size along X, along Y and along Z. The plate is the selected part, so its size is written. Live Sizes only reads: it changes nothing, and it stays on.

It worked whenThe switch reads Sizes On.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+S.

You should seeBlender writes your copy at once, with no question, because the file already has a name. An asterisk, *, in the title bar marks changes that are not saved, and it goes now. Save your work and get it back (P0-12) says more about saving.

It worked whenThe title bar begins my-measuring and carries no asterisk.