Calibrate the MouseMeasure AutoHotkey Tool to Grab Calculated Lengths from Your Computer Monitor

Recently, a reader asked, “Do you think it is conceivable to create a screen ruler in AHK that can be calibrated to my native application ruler. The problem I have now is that I take tons of measurements off the screen and then I have to type that number back into a document. I would love to make a ruler that can basically calibrate with the native app ruler once and make the data from the AHK ruler transfer automatically to the clipboard or better yet straight to the document.”

I responded, “The application you’re looking at is quite conceivable. You can pick coordinates off the screen with the MouseGetPos command and save them. Then you can possibly use two clicks to calculate the difference between the two in pixels then convert it to your scale. There are a number of methods for sending data to documents. It is certainly within the realm of possibilities.”

I then searched the AutoHotkey board only to find that he had already posted the same Ruler question in the “Ask for Help” forum. Fortunately, AutoHotkey Forum user colt had already posted a response. With the heart of the work completed by colt, I decided to add an onscreen calibration method.

Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagoras gave every high school math student a reason to remember his name. He provided the method for calculating the hypotenuse of a right triangle. For most people, the formula fell into the toolbox of things-I’ll-never-do-again. But for anyone who wants to measure distances on a computer screen, the Pythagorean Theorem returns with a vengeance.