# Calibrating Reference Image

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053>\
**Category:** Feature requests\
**Created:** [May 21, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053 "2024-05-21T14:46:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aturkkan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/aturkkan/32/26782_2.png) [@aturkkan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/aturkkan)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 2:46pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/1 "2024-05-21T14:46:39Z")

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I really like the UI of shapr3d but it needs a lot to be improved.  
I’m trying to draw a RC jet and I have blueprints.  
It is crazy hard to calibrate canvas image perfectly in Shapr3d.

Yes i can draw a line and align to it but scaling and moving is really hard because scaling and moving panel is at the center of the image. But I’m trying to align the edge of the image. Everytime i should carry panel to edge and then scale or align to see the calibration perfectly.

So i tried another thing. I calibrated my image according to 150mm by using Photoshop. But this time the problem is i can’t import the image with its actual size.

My suggestion is you should put a calibrate tool like fusion 360 or at least there must be an option importing image with its actual size…

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**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/2 "2024-05-21T15:03:46Z")

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You can drag the scale gizmo thingy to anywhere you want and scale from an edge

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**Author:** ![APDesignMachine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@APDesignMachine](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/APDesignMachine)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/3 "2024-05-21T17:07:03Z")

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To move, yes. But scale was always from the middle so the edges would all pull in evenly putting it back out of alignment. Unless this is part of the newest update today.

A scale tool like in illustrator or photoshop where you can select one corner and drag it is I think what @aturkkan is looking for.

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**Author:** ![PEC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@PEC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/PEC)\
**Post date:** [May 21, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/4 "2024-05-21T20:38:31Z")

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Hi

You can move the scale gizmo and the position of the gizmo becomes the central point of the rescaling. This is present for a long time in Shapr.

> [@Import a photo and scale it perfectly?](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/import-a-photo-and-scale-it-perfectly/15972/2):
>
> Draw a (possibly temporary) line in Shapr3D in the same plane as the photo – “top view”, etc. Set the line to a convenient size, i.e 12" if that is the length of your reference ruler. Move the photo until one end of the ruler is under one end of the line. Using the scale tool (on the photo), move the “anchor point” to where the line and the reference point match, then simply increase or decrease the photo size until the other end lines up with the line you drew. There are several excellent vi…

If you look at the video pointed in the post, go around minute 8:00  
Hope it helps.

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**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/5 "2024-05-22T00:08:38Z")

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Maybe I’m misunderstanding but I scale images and sketches all the time. Is this not what he’s after?

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**Author:** ![APDesignMachine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@APDesignMachine](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/APDesignMachine)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/6 "2024-05-22T02:13:03Z")

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Well that looks way different than what my iPad shows me hahaha. I dunno how to do the fancy screenshot video with the virtual pencil, but something is amiss…. Perhaps it’s the file type? This is a jpeg.

And yea I just updated this morning when I saw the new release post… so I dunno what’s going on.

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**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 2:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/7 "2024-05-22T02:41:19Z")

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Two things-  
To show the Pencil, go to Settings → Shapr3D and turn on “Display Pencil and touches”.  
Then remove Shapr3D from the background and restart the app. Now you can see the Pencil and finger touches (red dots). To get out, turn off in Settings and restart Shapr3D again.

@Shaun’s video shows the Scale tool as non-uniform therefore his scale movements are in two axis (X and Y, I think). If he moved the screen into a 3D view, the Scale tool will show the 3rd axis (Z). Again, you can move the Scale tool anywhere you like before proceeding to change the scale, whether uniform or not.

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**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/8 "2024-05-22T02:55:08Z")

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You just need to grab hold of that dot below the scale bar mate, you can drag it wherever you want. You’ve always been able to do that.

And yeah, I’ve got it set into non-uniform with the left hand side option but moving it around is the same

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![APDesignMachine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@APDesignMachine](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/APDesignMachine)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 3:13am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/9 "2024-05-22T03:13:21Z")

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Mike and @Shaun thanks for pointing that out, learn something new everyday. In my defense, no one mentioned non-uniform before now haha

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/10 "2024-05-22T03:44:34Z")

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Everyday’s a school day 🙂

I just learnt that you can split a body from a rounded face. You’d laugh if you saw how I was doing it before.

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**Author:** ![aturkkan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/aturkkan/32/26782_2.png) [@aturkkan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/aturkkan)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/11 "2024-05-22T10:10:35Z")

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I have to take a video to tell my problem exactly. Or you should try yourself to understand me better… 🙂  
When i scale the image, image will move. And i have to move it again and align it to the calibrating line and then scale again. Sometimes i m scaling like 0.997 so in this case i have to make really small moves and small scales. It is becoming really hard. I have around 18 images for RC jet…

I found a solution but it is not in Shapr3d.

I made calibration in Photoshop.  
Then i import the image to the Shapr3d.  
The image wasn’t in actual size so i check the canvas size in photoshop as milimeters.  
As i last i entered canvas size as image size in Shapr3d.

In this way you don’t need to scale the image. The only thing i have to do is aligning image.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![aturkkan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/aturkkan/32/26782_2.png) [@aturkkan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/aturkkan)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:10am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/12 "2024-05-22T10:10:41Z")

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When you confirm the parameters gizmo will be disappeared. While making calibration i have to check even pixels. So each time i confirmed the parameters i have to take gizmo again…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![PEC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/67e7ee/32.png) [@PEC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/PEC)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:26am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/13 "2024-05-22T10:26:49Z")

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Hi,

Could this work for you?

- disable grid snapping
- draw a line as precisely as needed along something you know the length on the image (or a circle you know the radius or diameter)
- just divide the the expected length on the image by the length of the line you have drawn, it will be the exact scaling factor

So you scale just one time with this factor and then align the origine one time.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 10:54am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/14 "2024-05-22T10:54:19Z")

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If you align the image so that you can snap the gizmo to a specific point each (like the grid centre or a point you’ve created). You shouldn’t have a problem scaling it from the same place each time.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shaun](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/shaun/32/18786_2.png) [@Shaun](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Shaun)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/calibrating-reference-image/32053/15 "2024-05-22T11:00:01Z")

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If this doesn’t help, send a video so we can see what your problem is.