Print PDF
Facebook
Twitter
E-mail
introDIY Digital Caliper Micrometer Comparator
Get precise measurements with a cheap desktop scanner.
Using free software, you can measure part sizes with a resolution of less than a mil ( 1/1000 inch or about 25 microns ).
Great for identifying mystery micro-screws, electronics, camera parts, or even measuring plants or insects.
Tips and tricks for mounting parts, scanning, aligning the image, and taking measurements.
I'll give you links to other resources where people are using scanners for measurements and would like to hear from you about any ideas or feedback on how to get better results.
Using free software, you can measure part sizes with a resolution of less than a mil ( 1/1000 inch or about 25 microns ).
Great for identifying mystery micro-screws, electronics, camera parts, or even measuring plants or insects.
Tips and tricks for mounting parts, scanning, aligning the image, and taking measurements.
I'll give you links to other resources where people are using scanners for measurements and would like to hear from you about any ideas or feedback on how to get better results.
Remove these ads by
Signing Up.
step 1Free Software for Measurement
You can use nearly any graphics software for taking measurements.
The Notes and Resources step of this instructable gives links to notable image measuring software. Three free choices are IrfanView, The GIMP, and ImageJ. All are easy to use for basic measurements.
For simple measuring of lengths, I prefer IrfanView graphics software.
Keep in mind that The GIMP is excellent and is my main image editor. It is worth your time to learn it as a free alternative to Photoshop.
ImageJ is a scientific and math miracle. Easy to use, but loaded with incredible features. Thanks to i'bler aman0311 for suggesting this.
IrfanView
IrfanView is Windows-only freeware. It is easy to load and use. It is kept up-to-date by its author Irfan Skiljan.
Be sure to download it from the official site IrfanView or from a trusted site like C|Net or tucows .
It installs quickly and easily. It's very light on resources, and is easy to learn.
The Notes and Resources step of this instructable gives links to notable image measuring software. Three free choices are IrfanView, The GIMP, and ImageJ. All are easy to use for basic measurements.
For simple measuring of lengths, I prefer IrfanView graphics software.
Keep in mind that The GIMP is excellent and is my main image editor. It is worth your time to learn it as a free alternative to Photoshop.
ImageJ is a scientific and math miracle. Easy to use, but loaded with incredible features. Thanks to i'bler aman0311 for suggesting this.
IrfanView
IrfanView is Windows-only freeware. It is easy to load and use. It is kept up-to-date by its author Irfan Skiljan.
Be sure to download it from the official site IrfanView or from a trusted site like C|Net or tucows .
It installs quickly and easily. It's very light on resources, and is easy to learn.
|
To Download the PDF or View All Steps, Become a Pro Member » |
If you asked the 20,000+ members of I'bles about it, I'd say there might be a few hundred who knew about the concept, and maybe a couple of dozen who could figure out how to make it work.
Your I'ble is a great introduction to a very sophisticated subject.
The idea is simple and smart. It is not a real novelty, but the scanner calibration is a good idea for non flat objects.
I am in the research field and scanning flat objects (examples, leaves or plant roots) for automatic measurement is a usual task. Specialized software are available for this, both licensed and freeware.
A very good free software for complex measurement on digital images is ImageTool
ddsdx.uthscsa.edu/dig/itdesc.html
Bye
:)
Isacco
Image J can perform calibrated measurements both hand-drawn as well as morphometric measurements (like mean feret, max/min, area, stuff like that).
Finally the technique you used to calibrate can also be used with any digital camera. Simply take a picture of a known standard, find the pixel calibration, don't move the subject to camera distance and you can smap + measure away. This is best done using an improvised copy stand.