Tutorials Open the Studio

Lesson 11 of 23

Rulers, guides, snapping and measuring

Drag guides out of the rulers, snap to ends, middles and edges, and measure anything on the pattern.

4 steps2 minChecked against the Studio on 17 October 2026
The Art Deco sunburst with a guide dragged out of each ruler and its width measured across, 500.00 mm, with the Measure distance panel on the right.
1 of 4 Rulers and guides Press U to show or hide the rulers.

The rulers, guides and snapping work the way they do in Illustrator, measured in millimetres or inches.

  1. 1

    Rulers and guides

    Press U to show or hide the rulers. Drag out of a ruler to drop a guide, and drag a guide back into the ruler to remove it.

    View has Lock guides, Show guides and Clear guides. Guides belong to the screen unless you choose Keep guides with the pattern.

  2. 2

    Snap

    Press N to turn snapping on or off. In the bar under the drawing, Ends & middles and Corners & edges choose what a point snaps to.

  3. 3

    The grid

    Press G for the grid, and set its spacing beside it in the bar. Snap to grid makes points land on the grid's lines.

  4. 4

    Measure

    Measure (I): click two points, or drag between them, for the distance, width and height. Drag either end to adjust. Press I again to measure objects.

    Points snapped to leads measure between the lead centrelines, so a reading is not a glass cut size.

Next · Lesson 12Check that the glass can be cutRead the Studio's warnings about pieces glass won't take, and fix them with the button beside each one.Mark done and continue Trace a photo, sketch or scan