The important use of tape measures

Aug 28, 2026 | Industry Advice

Gap tape next to a standard tape measure The important use of tape measures

Centre point tape being used properly

The humble tape measure often gets overlooked, but in this issue’s Sign Maker Advice, Paul Hughes, owner of Sign Making Tools, discusses the varied and important uses of the ever-important tape measure.

We often call the squeegee the overlooked, undervalued, and taken for granted tool in the sign maker’s toolbox, but there is one more that is valued less and more taken for granted – the humble tape measure.
We all use tape measures – most of us multiple times a day if we are cutting sign boards, positioning vinyl graphics or surveying jobs.

So many options on the market

There are literally hundreds of different designed tape measures, and for general measuring they all do a good job, but some stand out that make a sign maker’s job easier.

I like to use different tapes for different jobs. For general sign work around the workshop or fitting vehicles, I like to use a three-metre tape. I use a 3m tape as it’s not too bulky and is long enough to measure all the sheet material we use in the sign industry.

If I am out and surveying buildings for new signage, I tend to use a five or 10m tape, making measuring facias much easier and more accurate than bunny hopping along with a small tape. The trade-off is that the tape is much bigger and can be cumbersome if only trying to measure smaller items.

The trader’s choice

There are two specialist tape measures that I think can save the sign maker time. The gap tape and a centre point tape.

The gap tape is designed to measure spaces inside a confinement. Think measuring the face of a shop window with a deep frame. We have all used a standard tape to do this by bending the tape into the corner.

This is both inaccurate and damages the tape by kinking it. The gap tape solves this problem; the top of the tape is just like any other tape, but the reverse takes the body of the tape off the end of the scale. When you put the end of the tape and the body of the tape inside a frame, you are measuring the gap without bending the tape.

The centre point tape is an equally clever tape. As sign makers, we constantly have to find the centre of a vehicle panel or sign board. With a normal tape, we have to measure the distance and then half that number to find the middle.

The centre point tape solves this by having two scales on the blade; one is a normal scale the other is the centre. If you measure 12in on the top scale, just look for the number 12 on the lower scale (which will be below the six on the top scale); this enables you to find the centre without having to do the maths.

Both the centre point and gap tape can save you time; if we can now find a tape that does not disappear every time you want to use it, we could be onto a winner.

SHARE: