SnapMeasure is a plugin tool for Adobe Illustrator which addresses several weaknesses of the built-in measuring tool and will tremendously improve your productivity:
It clearly snaps with visual feedback to elements on the page (no more measuring three and four times to be sure you are getting the right value!)
It can put the measurement values right where your eyes are -- next to the cursor. No more having to look up to find the Info palette.
It lets you scroll or zoom during a measure (no need to make sure the start and end points are both on the screen before you start measuring).
It lets you change the color of the measure line, for better visibility on certain backgrounds.
It can optionally set and reset the constrain angle and cursor key distance without having to open the preferences window.
NEW FEATURES IN 1.6
User settable precision
Measure the radius of curvature and tangent angle of Bezier curves
Display Bezier curve normals and convert to paths
NEW FEATURES IN 1.7
User-selectable snapping icons
User-selectable measurement data fields, including delta-x and delta-y
HoverMeasure – ability to see information about a path segment or point (including type of point, point number, and point coordinates) while simply holding the cursor over the item in question
NEW FEATURES IN 1.8
Now compatible with Illustrator CS4 on both platforms
Measure distance along a path
Show segment length and path length while hovering over a path
Measure at a user-defined scale, from 1:1,000,000 to 1,000,000:1, with selectable units
Optional path direction arrows
NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS IN 2.0
Up to 50 independent measures can be on-screen at once
Measures can be deleted or moved after they are complete
Measures can be converted to artwork (Illustrator CS3 and higher)
Measure direction indicator
Measurement data (optionally) remains visible even when the SnapMeasure tool is not selected
On-screen measurement data can now be shown centered along the measure line, as well as by the endpoint of the measure
New HoverMeasure data includes path information (open/closed, number of points), handle data, and the angle of the path (between in and out segments) at a point
With SmartGuides on, SnapMeasure now snaps and intersects with the current constrain angle guides
IMPROVEMENTS IN 2.01
Now fully compatible with Illustrator CS5 on both platforms
With Smart Guides off, the snap radius for anchor points and handles now matches the value set in Illustrator Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display > Selection > Tolerance
If you're wasting too much time just trying to get an accurate measurement, give SnapMeasure a try!
