Archaeology Scale Generator
A printable photo scale for finds, sections and trenches: bar, colour card, grey scale or north arrow, at true size.
.png
A printable photo scale for finds, sections and trenches: bar, colour card, grey scale or north arrow, at true size.
Every archaeological photo needs a scale: a find on the bench, a section face, a trench from the baulk, a rock-art panel. This generator draws one you can print - a ruler bar of alternating black and white centimetre segments, numbered along the top, an IFRAO-style scale card with colour and grey patches for colour correction, a plain grey scale, or a bar with a north arrow for plan views. Pick the type, the length (5, 10, 20, 30 or 50 cm, or inches) and the colours, add a site code or context number as a label, and download. The image details card shows the pixel size, the print size in centimetres and the pixels per centimetre.
The file is rendered at the resolution you choose - 150 DPI is fine for a laser print, 300 DPI is the usual choice, 600 DPI for a photo-quality card that will be laminated. A 10 cm bar at 300 DPI is 1264 px wide, and it prints at exactly 10 cm as long as the print dialog is set to 100% or "actual size", not "fit to page". Check it against a steel rule the first time; a printer that scales silently is the commonest reason a scale bar in a photo is wrong. Laminate the print or mount it on card, and keep it out of direct sun so the colour patches stay true.
PNG is the format to print from - it is lossless, so the segment edges and the small numbers stay crisp. JPG is smaller if you only need the bar on screen, and WebP is small with crisp edges. Copy puts the scale on the clipboard for pasting into a document or a drawing; on a phone the share button opens the system share sheet. The file name carries the type, the length and the DPI so the right print is easy to find later.
A scale card is not sensitive, but the site code you type on it can be, and a generator that ran on a server would see it. This one does not: the card is drawn on your own device, the download is written from memory, and nothing you type is sent anywhere. It also works offline once the page is open, which matters on site.
The IFRAO standard scale, from the International Federation of Rock Art Organisations, is a 10 cm card carrying a scale bar, colour patches and a grey scale so a photo can be colour-corrected later. The Colour card type here follows that layout with a 10 cm bar, six colour patches and six grey steps. It is not a calibrated print - for publication-grade colour work use a manufactured card - but it gives a photo a scale and a colour reference in one.
No. Munsell soil charts are calibrated physical products and a printed copy would not be accurate. This tool draws scale bars and colour reference patches for photography, not soil colour standards.
No. The scale is drawn in your browser and downloaded from there; the label text never leaves the device.