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Black and white measuring tape.

oldrover

oldrover

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
4,057
Bear with me.

This question is going to be a bit garbled. In the photo, which will come out somewhere, there's a measurement scale marked off in alternating black and white.

My question is does anyone own a tape measure marked out like this. Or, has anyone ever used one. If so where, and if possible where did you get it. Or, like me, do you associate these with a particular type of profession?

I'm not tape measure shopping. There is a genuinely Fortean reason for my asking.

Thank you for reading.


http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUz6PamXAAAcHeT.jpg
CUz6PamXAAAcHeT.jpg
 
Isn't it the kind of thing a museum would print out itself? Or maybe get specially laminated, they same way they get other labels and signs done.
It can only be used for displays as you can't put the edge against anything to use it for measuring.
 
Sorry, what I meant was a tape measure marked out in alternating black and white. I was using that photo to illustrate the pattern.
 
Yeah, it looks like something they might have made themselves.
 
You could easily make one yourself if you have a laser printer.
Use Inkscape or similar software to make the design - vector-based drawing software should give you a dimensionally accurate print.
 
I've never used one myself, but it's the kind of measuring scale I'd associate primarily with archaeology. They're usually on wooden sticks which they lie next to whatever they've excavated. I've found a site here that provides them in different forms:
http://www.pasthorizonstools.com/Tapes_and_Scales_for_Archaeologists_s/1632.htm
They refer to it as a photo scale, so it seems to be purely for photographic reference and not used to actually measure anything in detail. I've never seen it used in an actual physical display of an artefact, only when they need a photo of it in situ.
 
Assuming I understand what you're asking ...

I associate the alternating color scale with surveyors' ranging rods and similar rigid scales designed for visibility at some distance.
 
I have owned and used tape measures for decades and have never seen one like that.

However, they remind me of something I've seen in archaeological photos where they're placed on the ground beside digs to give scale.
 
Perfect answers thank you all.

I'm not after one myself. Why I was asking is because there's a photo doing the rounds, of a certain marsupial's hind feet. In this photo, which I believe to be of a museum specimen, one such tape measure is laid out for scale.

Now, I'm highly sceptical of the source of these photos, and given the apparent back story, the presence of that type of tape measure makes me even more doubtful.
 
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Why does that introduce doubt?
 
CarlosTheDJ said:
The police use a similar design on forensic measurers...
Click to expand...

Yes - first thing I thought was forensic measure; I think in the US it's called photo scale, because it was designed to be clear on photographs taken in not ideal lighting conditions.

The ones I've seen have been rigid rulers or set squares, though - rather than tape measures. The rivets on tape measures wear over time, meaning that the end hooks tend to become loose, and the resulting inaccuracy - small thought it may be - is possibly big enough to make them unsuitable for forensic work. (Some metal workshops regularly calibrate tape measures because of this.)
 
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Spookdaddy said:
... I think in the US it's called photo scale, because it was designed to be clear on photographs taken in not ideal lighting conditions. ...
Click to expand...

Right ... The rigid ones seen in forensic / archaeological photos seem to be consistently labeled as photo / photography scale or reference scale by US and UK vendors.
 
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