Getting Started with the Screen Compass

To use the Compass drag it over the portion of a window you want to measure with the mouse. To extend the compass drag the right hand side out using the mouse. The number in the text box will show the radius of the shape being measured. The Compass has several buttons that may appear differently on different skins. The arrow buttons will allow you to easily move and rotate the Compass to measure any distance. All the controls can be accessed through the keyboard:

While Dragging the Base:

While Dragging the Slider:

By typing a number and pressing 'Enter' the Compass will extend to that distance. Simple calculations may be performed by typing -, +, *, or / and then a number, then 'Enter'; the Compass will extend to the new relative position. When Closed the Protractor sits in the  System Tray By  Right-clicking anywhere on the face of the Protractor, or clicking on the  System Tray icon the Protractor menu is displayed. The menu is divided into four sections:

Additionally there are the options:

The Sticky Angles can be overridden by holding the Ctrl key while dragging the Compass with the mouse. Similarly holding the Shift and Alt keys override the Lock Angle and Lock Measurement options while dragging. Changing The Measurement from Radius to Circumference and Area enables you to measure any aspect of the shape chosen in your chosen unit of measurement.The Units menu allows you to choose a new unit from the list of predefined units. You may also configure your own Custom Units using the 'Calibrate Units' menu option. Choosing this option will bring up a screen which allows you to choose a Custom Unit, rename and set the scale. The Skins menu presents several different choices for the user interface of the Compass. By choosing the "Get More Skins" menu item you will be taken to the Screen Compass skin webpage. This allows you to browse and download new skins. Full instructions are given on the webpage. The Shape menu lets you specify if a Circle is used as the measurement shape, or any of the following polygons, starting at 3 sides, going up to 39 sides. The Inscribe Polygon and Outscribe Polygon options let you choose if the polygons are drawn inside or outside of the circle. Measurement shapes:

When the shape is changed from the menu the Screen Compass will recalibrate to keep the Radius, Circumference or Area at the same value, depending on which measurement type is selected. The Options menu contains a sub menu of the following options:

Configure Custom Units

The Compass can be configured to measure in Pixels, Inches, Centimeters, Points, Picas and Twips. By clicking the 'Calibrate Units' menu item you can easily define any number of additional units of measurement. You can also change the number of decimal places that a unit is measured in.

The Compass's measurements are based on pixels. When the units are changed to inches or centimeters the Compass uses a standard conversion factor to determine the measurement. If you measure something with the Compass to be an inch, then a printout on a standard printer of that picture will also be an inch. The Compass does not take into account the size as it is displayed on your monitor, so different resolutions will still measure one inch. The Compass uses conversion factors to determine the built in units. You can adapt these units and enter your own custom units. The easiest way to configure the Compass is to extend the Compass so that you measure exactly ten of your new measurements. Then open the "Configure Units" screen and enter the current number of pixels measured by the Compass in the 'Number of Pixels' column. In the 'Length in Units' column enter '10' and the Compass will be calibrated.