Optical digital ruler

#Some drawing services, such as the ADOBE LINE and ADOBE SKETCH, have been developed that provide mechanisms for users to generate drawings or sketches in an electronic format. Many electronic drawing services enable a user to generate drawing strokes in a free-form manner. For example, a user can move a finger or stylus over a canvas or background via a drawing application running on a touchscreen device to draw a line, curve, polygon, or any object. Similarly, if a touchscreen device is not available, the user can interact with a non-touchscreen stylus and the interactions can be translated by the drawing application or device to draw a line, curve, polygon, or any object. Drawing a straight line or a shape in a precise or symmetrical manner, however, can be difficult.

#Embodiments of the present invention relate to an optical digital ruler that enables drawing lines or strokes in a precise manner. In this way, a user can utilize the optical digital ruler to facilitate drawing straight lines or other predefined shapes on a canvas. Generally, an optical digital rule is a device that includes at least two optical sensors to control placement of an electronic template used to draw precise strokes. The template may be, for example, a representation of a ruler, a set square, a compass, or other drawing instrument that is presented or displayed on a display screen. Movement or position associated with the optical digital ruler is used to determine coordinates on the canvas for positioning a template. In some implementations, a template is manipulated by moving the optical digital ruler to position a template edge(s) on a background such that the user can utilize the template edge(s) to draw a straight or otherwise precise stroke. Upon the template being positioned in a desirable location, as a user applies a stroke path (e.g., using a stylus or other input device associated with a device), a drawing stroke is generated and presented along the template edge. That is, a drawing stroke is provided that aligns with or abuts the template edge even though the stroke path may be separate or removed from the template edge (e.g., either partially or entirely). For example, when a movement of the stylus is translated into coordinates on the display within proximity of a template edge, but does not necessarily have coordinates that touch the template edge, a corresponding drawing stroke is presented along the template edge to effectuate a precise stroke desired by the user.

#This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

#The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing environment suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a method for facilitating performance of optical digital ruler functionality, in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

#The subject matter of the present invention is described with specificity herein to meet statutory requirements. However, the description itself is not intended to limit the scope of this patent. Rather, the inventor has contemplated that the claimed subject matter might also be embodied in other ways, to include different steps or combinations of steps similar to the ones described in this document, in conjunction with other present or future technologies. Moreover, although the terms “step” and/or “block” may be used herein to connote different elements of methods employed, the terms should not be interpreted as implying any particular order among or between various steps herein disclosed unless and except when the order of individual steps is explicitly described.

#Some drawing services, such as the ADOBE LINE and ADOBE SKETCH, have been developed that provide mechanisms for users to generate drawings or sketches in an electronic format. Oftentimes, however, drawing strokes generated by a user within a drawing application do not turn out as intended by a user as the drawing stroke is not as precise as desired by the user. For example, assume that a user wishes to draw a straight line. Although a user may interact with a stylus in a generally straight line as determined by translation of the interaction into coordinates on a display, variations in motion and/or a slant of the motion can result in a drawn line that is not as straight as desired by the user. Some hardware rulers, such as the ADOBE SLIDE, have been developed for use as a digital ruler to facilitate drawing straight lines or other precise shapes within drawing applications. To this end, a user can place a hardware ruler over a touchscreen display to draw straight lines on a canvas or background. Some users, however, may not have access to such a touchscreen display making it difficult to create precise drawing strokes. Even if these users have access to a touchscreen display, the touchscreen display may be too small to accommodate the use of a touch-based hardware ruler, such as the ADOBE SLIDE. Further, some users may need access to a larger display than is currently available in touchscreen displays.

#Embodiments of the present invention are directed to facilitating drawing strokes with precision utilizing an optical digital ruler. An optical digital rule is a device that includes at least two optical sensors to control placement of an electronic template used to draw precise strokes. In this regard, a user can effectuate straight lines or other precise shapes when the optical digital ruler is activated (e.g., turned on or activated with a control on the optical digital ruler, paired with a computing device, or otherwise in communication with the computing device). The optical digital ruler can be utilized even when a touchscreen device is not available or when a display is too small for a touch based device. In accordance with implementations described herein, the user can specify a particular template to utilize for drawing a specific line or shape. A template may be of any shape, size, or form including, for example, a line, polygon, or other predefined shape. An optical digital ruler can then be used to position or otherwise manipulate the template in accordance with a user's preferences to draw a precise stroke. To do so, movement and/or positions associated with the optical digital ruler can be translated into coordinates on a canvas provided via a display or a display screen. In embodiments, the display is a non-touchscreen enabled display. Upon positioning the template over the canvas in accordance with the coordinates, a drawing stroke that aligns with a template edge can be initiated by providing a stroke path (e.g., using a stylus or other input device) that corresponds to the template. That is, a user can interact with the stylus to create a path that is interpreted to have coordinates on the canvas near an edge of the designated template to draw a stroke that precisely aligns with the template edge. As can be appreciated, the stroke drawn on the canvas aligns with the template edge to generate a precise drawing stroke (e.g., a straight line) without the user being required to input a stroke path (e.g., using a stylus or other input device) in such a precise manner.