Taking Measurements of Objects

In this lesson for the Measure app on the iPhone we look at how we measure objects including having the Measure app recognize rectangles and how we can copy the dimensions of an object we measured with our iPhone.

Calibrating your iPhone
When you open the Measure app and tap on Measure in the lower left corner, the iPhone will open the camera and usually the first thing you will need to do is calibrate it. To calibrate it, you just move your iPhone around slowly. If you move your iPhone around after you’ve measured something, you may need to move your iPhone around again to get the measurements back.

Adding Points to Measure From
To add a point to start your Measurement from on an object, you just aim your iPhone camera at the point you want to start from. In the center you will see a white dot when it detects a surface. Also you will see a dotted circle around that dot. This will map to the surface you are measuring so you can see if you have your iPhone aimed at the current surface. When you see the white dot on the surface you want to measure from, you just tap the ‘+’ at the bottom of your display. Now you move your iPhone to the surface you want to measure too and again tap the ‘+’. The Measure app will display the measurements between your two points.

Viewing and Copying Measurements
To view the measurements and copy them, you tap on the actual measurement numbers. A card will open where you can see the measurement in imperial and metric. You can also copy the measurement. Tap on the ‘X’ in the upper right corner to close the card.

Adding New Measurement Points
You can add more measurement points just by aiming your camera at new surfaces of your object. If you want to connect an existing measurement line, just aim the camera at the line and you can connect your measurement to an existing measurement.

Measuring a Rectangle
The Measure app will automatically recognize that you are trying to measure a rectangle when you aim it at a rectangle, as an example a picture frame. You will wee a yellow dotted line highlighting the rectangle. Once the rectangle is highlighted, tap the ‘+’ to get the measurements for the rectangle.

Taking a Screenshot of a Measurement
If you want to take a screenshot of the measurement, just tap the white button to the right of the ‘+’. When you do this, a screenshot will be taken and saved in your Photos app. This comes in handy if you want a picture of what you are measuring. You can also then mark that photo up as well.

Undoing the Last Measurement
To undo the last measurement you’ve taken, tap on the Undo button in the upper left corner.

Clearing all your Measurements
To clear all your measurements, you tap on the Clear button in the upper right corner.

See this Lesson in Action
If you want to see this lesson in action, take a look at the video above.

Lesson tags: iPhone Tutorials
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