How to Draft Rulers
Many technical drawings feature a ruler in the illustration. The ruler can be incorporated as a design element or simply placed on the illustration. A drafted illustration of a ruler shows the exact scale of the drawing. You can draft your own illustration of a ruler, resize and place it on any illustration that would benefit from a scale comparison. This is especially important with drawings of electronics or other small-scale technical drawings.
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Instructions
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Draw the basic frame of the ruler with a simple rectangle. Use an actual ruler to measure and create the four straight lines of the rectangle.
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Mark each inch with a vertical line on the ruler. Show centimeters on top of the ruler using a slightly smaller vertical line along the top of the rectangle.
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3
Label each inch number using small text. Mark out these numerals lightly in pencil to ensure the spacing is done properly.
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Add seven small vertical lines between each inch. Alternate each line with the first being short, the second slightly longer, and the third short again. The fourth line, which represents a half inch, should be the longest. Repeat the process for the fifth through seventh lines.
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Add four small vertical lines of equal size and add one longer line for the fifth line on the centimeter side. Add four more small vertical lines of equal size after the fifth.
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Ink the illustration with a black pen. Let the ink dry and carefully erase the pencil lines with a kneaded eraser. Scan the illustration at 300 dots per inch. Save the file as a jpeg and drop the ruler into any illustration.
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Tips & Warnings
If you have a large enough sheet of paper you can use a ruler as a scale model.
Let the ink dry completely before erasing the pencil lines or the image will smudge.
