MM Ruler: measure in millimetres, precisely

Not calibrated yet. Screens differ, so calibrate once for true actual size, it takes about 30 seconds with any bank card.
screen: 96.0 PPI
Between markers
In inches
Tape fraction
Pixels
Ruler length
Hold an object against the screen inside the box, drag the box to move it, drag the dot to resize.
240 × 120 px

Any standard bank, credit, debit, or ID card works: the ISO/IEC 7810 ID-1 format is exactly 85.60 mm wide everywhere in the world. Hold the card flat against the screen, match the width, then apply.

True actual size after calibration Inch fractions to 1/16, like a tape measure Corner ruler & measure box Free, private, works offline
Small things, exact numbers

A millimetre ruler for the measurements that punish errors

Beads, gemstones, watch straps, screws, seals, and SIM trays live in millimetres, where being off by two ticks ruins the order. This page loads the metric ruler with every millimetre marked, and the marker readout reports spans under a centimetre directly in millimetres to one decimal place. Calibration matters double here: it takes 30 seconds against a bank card, and on a typical 20 mm measurement even a 1 percent calibration error is only 0.2 mm, which is the precision realistic for measuring against glass. The measure box handles small objects held to the screen in both dimensions at once.

Known small sizes

Standardized sizes in millimetres

Verified against the governing standards. Useful both as sanity checks for your calibration and as references when listings omit dimensions.
ObjectSizeSource
Bank card85.60 × 53.98 mm, 0.76 mm thickISO/IEC 7810 ID-1
Nano-SIM card12.3 × 8.8 mmETSI 4FF specification
US quarter24.26 mm diameterUS Mint coin specification
CD / DVD120 mm diameter, 15 mm centre holeDisc format standards
Common watch strap widths18, 20, or 22 mm at the lugIndustry-standard lug widths
Getting clean readings

Millimetre precision on glass: what helps

Calibrate first

The error budget starts here

A half-millimetre mismatch when matching the 85.60 mm card is roughly a 0.6 percent scale error everywhere. Take ten extra seconds at the card's edges and the whole ruler inherits the care.

Eye straight-on

Kill the parallax

An object held against the screen sits a millimetre or two in front of the pixels, so viewing at an angle shifts the reading. Look perpendicular to the glass, close one eye for fine work, and centre the object in your view.

Use the markers

Read the chip, not the ticks

Squinting at millimetre ticks invites rounding; the draggable markers do the subtraction for you and report to a tenth of a millimetre. Place, read, done.

FAQ

MM ruler questions, answered

How precise is an on-screen mm ruler?
Calibrated carefully and read straight-on, within a few tenths of a millimetre on small spans, limited mainly by your match against the reference card and by parallax. That is enough for beads, straps, and hardware sizing; for machining tolerances, a caliper remains the right tool, and we will not pretend otherwise.
How do I measure millimetres without a physical ruler?
Calibrate this page against any bank card, then either hold the object to the screen against the scale, drag the two markers to bracket it for a digital readout, or switch on the measure box for width and height together. The readout reports sub-centimetre spans directly in millimetres.
What is the smallest length I can measure?
The scale marks every millimetre, and the marker readout reports to 0.1 mm. Practically, treat about half a millimetre as the floor for confident on-screen measurement; below that, pixel size and parallax dominate.
How do millimetres convert to inch fractions?
Exactly, via 25.4 mm to the inch: 1/16 in is 1.5875 mm, 1/8 in is 3.175 mm, 1/4 in is 6.35 mm. The marker readout shows both at once, and the inch ruler page carries the full fraction ladder.