To Use the Compass drag them over the portion of a window you want to measure with the mouse. To extend the compass drag the right hand side out using the mouse. The number in the text box will show the radius of the shape being measured.

The Compass has several buttons that may appear differently on different skins. The arrow buttons will allow you to easily move and rotate the Compass to measure any distance.

All the controls can be accessed through the keyboard:

Arrow Keys	Move Compass
Shift + Arrow Keys	Extend Compass
Ctrl + Arrow Keys	Move Compass by 10
Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys	Extend Compass by 10
Shift + >	Rotate clockwise
Shift + <	Rotate counter-clockwise
C	Cycle Color
F	Rotate to nearest 45 degrees
L	Rotate to last 45 degrees
S	Toggle Sticky Angles
A	Toggle Lock Angle
M	Toggle Lock Measurement
N	New Compass
Q	Quit
H	Hide in System Tray
F1	Show Help
Ctrl+C	Copy Value to Clipboard
Ctrl+V	Paste Value from Clipboard
Z	Undo/Redo Movement
Doubleclick mouse	Flip handles between horizontal and vertical
Right-click mouse	Show Compass menu

While Dragging the Base:

Shift	Limit movement to 45 degrees
Alt	Limit movement to angle

While Dragging the Slider:

Shift	Lock Angle
Alt	Lock Measurement
Ctrl	Override 'Sticky Angles'

By typing a number and pressing 'Enter' the Compass will extend to that distance. Simple calculations may be performed by typing -, +, *, or / and then a number, then 'Enter'; the Compass will extend to the new relative position.

When Closed the Compass sits in the System Tray.

By Right-clicking anywhere on the face of the Compass, or clicking on the System Tray icon the Compass menu is displayed:



The menu is divided into five sections:

Units	Change the scale of measurement
Skins	Choose a new user interface
Shape	Change the measurement shape
Options	Access more options

Additionally there are the options:

Sticky Angles	Snap rotation to nearest 45 degrees
Lock Angle	Lock angle when dragging
Lock Measurement	Lock measurement when dragging
Radius	Measure Radius
Circumference	Measure Circumference
Area	Measure Area
Exit	Close the program

The Sticky Angles can be overridden by holding the Ctrl key while dragging the Compass with the mouse. Similarly holding the Shift and Alt keys override the Lock Angle and Lock Measurement options while dragging.

Changing The Measurement from Radius to Circumference and Area enables you to measure any aspect of the shape chosen in your chosen unit of measurement.

The Units menu allows you to choose a new unit from the list of predefined units. You may also configure your own Custom Units using the 'Calibrate Units' menu option. Choosing this option will bring up a screen which allows you to choose a Custom Unit, rename and set the scale.

The Skins menu presents several different choices for the user interface of the Compass. By choosing the "Get More Skins" menu item you will be taken to the Screen Compass skin webpage. This allows you to browse and download new skins. Full instructions are given on the webpage.

The Shape menu lets you specify if a Circle is used as the measurement shape, or any of the following polygons, starting at 3 sides, going up to 39 sides. The Inscribe Polygon and Outscribe Polygon options let you choose if the polygons are drawn inside or outside of the circle.

Measurement shapes:

3	Triangle
4	Square
5	Pentagon
6	Hexagon
7	Heptagon
8	Octagon
9	Enneagon
10	Decagon
11	Hendecagon
12	Dodecagon
13	Triskaidecagon
14	Tetrakaidecagon
15	Pentakaidecagon
16	Hexakaidecagon
17	Heptakaidecagon
18	Octakaidecagon
19	Enneakaidecagon
20	Icosagon
21	Icosikaihenagon
22	Icosikaidigon
23	Icosikaitrigon
24	Icosikaitetragon
25	Icosikaipentagon
26	Icosikaihexagon
27	Icosikaiheptagon
28	Icosikaioctagon
29	Icosikaienneagon
30	Triacontagon
31	Triacontakaihenagon
32	Triacontakaidigon
33	Triacontakaitrigon
34	Triacontakaitetragon
35	Triacontakaipentagon
36	Triacontakaihexagon
37	Triacontakaiheptagon
38	Triacontakaioctagon
39	Triacontakaienneagon

When the shape is changed from the menu the Screen Compass will recalibrate to keep the Radius, Circumference or Area at the same value, depending on which measurement type is selected.

The Options menu contains a sub menu of the following options:

Stay On Top	Controls floating above other windows
Show Tooltips	Shows/Hides info popups for buttons
Run at Startup	Opens Compass when computer starts
Hide Splash Screen	Hides the picture at startup
Transparency	Pops up a slider to control how see-through the application is
Magnifier	Opens the Iconico Screen Magnifier Application
Center On Screen	Moves the Compass to screen center
Help	Shows Help
Unlock Advanced Features	Accepts your serial number
Visit Website	Links to Compass homepage

The Compass can be configured to measure in Pixels, Inches, Centimeters, Points, Picas and Twips.

By clicking the 'Calibrate Units' menu item you can easily define any number of additional units of measurement. You can also change the number of decimal places that a unit is measured in.



The Compass's measurements are based on pixels. When the units are changed to inches or centimeters the Compass use a standard conversion factor to determine the measurement. If you measure something with the Compass to be an inch, then a printout on a standard printer of that picture will also be an inch. The Compass do not take into account the size as it is displayed on your monitor, so different resolutions will still measure one inch.

The Compass uses conversion factors to determine the built in units. You can adapt these units and enter your own custom units.

The easiest way to configure the Compass is extend the Compass so that you measure exactly ten of your new measurements. Then open the "Configure Units" screen and enter the current number of pixels measured by the Compass in the 'Number of Pixels' column. In the 'Length in Units' column enter '10' and the Compass will be calibrated.