# Do You Have "The Eye"; Knowing If A Picture Is Crooked On The Wall Without Measuring? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 15, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042 "2007-01-15T07:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/1 "2007-01-15T07:09:22Z")
We hung three pictures on the wall today, two side by side and one in the middle above the other two. My SO is the type of person who wants to get a tape measure, a level and a pencil. I, on the other hand, just need a hammer and a nail and “eyeball it”…over the years, he has measured (and re-measured) my work, only to find I am usually within a hair of perfect symmetry. Can you also hang pictures, towel racks, shelves, etc. - or move items, so that they are symmetrical - without using tools to measure? Do you notice if something is even slightly off-kilter? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/2 "2007-01-15T07:31:43Z")
I’m excellent at that kind of stuff. My parents owned a graphics design/sign-making business and I worked there for years when I was growing up. So much of what we did depended on just looking at it and knowing it was right. Measuring is for ninnies. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/3 "2007-01-15T07:45:54Z")
I can. Seeing stuff is _what I do_. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/4 "2007-01-15T07:52:59Z")
Yep. Asymmetry tends to jump out at me. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/5 "2007-01-15T07:56:40Z")
Yes. Furthermore, if it’s off-kilter on the wall, _I cannot leave it alone_ until it’s put right. Furniture too. The disturbance in nature will eventually get to me if it isn’t arranged in proper right-angles. ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/6 "2007-01-15T11:02:01Z")
Just put up 12 photos of flowers in the middle of 12 cabinet doors. Used a broken yard-stick to help eyeball and mark the middle points, then stuck the pictures (double-sided tape) directly on. All look in-line and straight. -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/7 "2007-01-15T11:35:45Z")
I don’t like symmetrical arrangements, but other than that yes. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/8 "2007-01-15T12:03:09Z")
Yes of course, and if my lovely wife wants to double check my gripes she uses our handy dandy Stanley laser wall leveler - God I love that thing! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/9 "2007-01-15T12:26:21Z")
[QUOTE=ParentalAdvisory] I can. Seeing stuff is _what I do_. [/QUOTE] Me too. 🙂 I have an unerring eye for anything a millimeter off kilter. Also, toilet paper should roll over the top. 😃 Oh wait, that topic’s been done before, I bet. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f475e1/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slip\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slip_1)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/10 "2007-01-15T12:33:29Z")
Count me as another one that has that ability. It’s rather annoying, particularly if you’re hanging a group of something; otherwise, it’s great for single pieces of art. ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/11 "2007-01-15T14:03:54Z")
Nope. Don’t have it in the slightest. My mother does, but I don’t. Or maybe I just don’t care to cultivate it like she does. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/12 "2007-01-15T14:24:09Z")
Yes. Combined with a tendency to live in houses old enough for everything to have shifted slightly off from square leads to constant picture twiddling in an effort to get them aligned with _something_. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/13 "2007-01-15T14:44:58Z")
I don’t have “the Eye”, I have “the Twitch”. If I walk by a crooked picture it nags at the back of my mind, even though I don’t consciously know why. People at work knock all the pictures slightly askew in my hallway, just to drive me crazy. I used to work where we had a lobby full of pictures of emeritus scientists… all slightly crooked. Walking through that lobby was like torture. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/14 "2007-01-15T15:45:38Z")
My house is old enough that “The Eye” is all you can use because levels and measurements will contradict one another. It has never been a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/15 "2007-01-15T16:11:01Z")
[QUOTE=Lightray] I don’t have “the Eye”, I have “the Twitch”. If I walk by a crooked picture it nags at the back of my mind, even though I don’t consciously know why. People at work knock all the pictures slightly askew in my hallway, just to drive me crazy. I used to work where we had a lobby full of pictures of emeritus scientists… all slightly crooked. Walking through that lobby was like torture. [/QUOTE] I suffer both. I once told our caretaker the noticeboard he put up was crooked, he swore it wasn’t and to settle it, he got out the spirit level. It was 3 millimetres lower on the left side. After that he refered to me as the ‘walking spirit level’. One of my favourite restaurants has pictures hung all over the walls, from top to bottom. I can’t eat there too often as I get “the Twitch”. One of my best friends used to teach in the classroom next to mine, she put up wibbly-wobbly displays of childrens’ work to drive me mad and after a month I was doing them for her. I just can’t rest knowing there is something that needs putting straight. It’s a sickness! ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/16 "2007-01-15T16:24:25Z")
A friend of mine, a graphic artist, who you’d think would have a good eye for this, was foiled by the old house he bought. It had been hand-built, and the windows weren’t actually square–the frames around them had been cut so they were slightly wider at the top than at the bottom, like ancient pillars. He said he hung up a bunch of paintings so that they were square with the window frames rather than the floor, and by the time he was done, it looked like he had been drunk for two weeks before he started the project… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/17 "2007-01-15T17:09:54Z")
Yes. And it isn’t just crooked pictures. Cups in the cupboard with handles slightly askew. (Cup handles should be turned at a 30 degree angle.) Curtains with uneven hems. Rugs that are out of kilter or out of square. Couch cushions that aren’t level. And on and on. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/18 "2007-01-15T19:34:12Z")
[QUOTE=Ethilrist] who you’d think would have a good eye for this, was foiled by the old house he bought. [/QUOTE] Ugh, just retiled my 1940 bathroom. Easy job, I thought, just paste little squares all over the walls. Well, there is not a single parallel or normal dimension in the whole room. Even the bathtub is mounted slightly off. So I redefined my axis system to make the window as the level origin, and set to work. 137 custom slightly-non-rectangular hand cut and hand shaped ceramic tiles later, I now have a bathroom to make Lewis Carroll green with envy :dubious: Damn you to hell, you eyeball measurers!!! ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/19 "2007-01-15T19:38:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] Yes. Furthermore, if it’s off-kilter on the wall, _I cannot leave it alone_ until it’s put right. [/QUOTE] Which is why I need to get the level. I can put it right, and do put it right. But I won’t really believe it without the level. I need independent verification of my rightness. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042/20 "2007-01-15T19:42:54Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Yes. And it isn’t just crooked pictures. Cups in the cupboard with handles slightly askew. (Cup handles should be turned at a 30 degree angle.) Curtains with uneven hems. Rugs that are out of kilter or out of square. Couch cushions that aren’t level. And on and on. [/QUOTE] Please, for your own sanity, never visit my home. I’m good with the pictures, because I have “the eye” for placing them and I absolutely can’t stand them crooked, but the rest of my place is asymmetrical enough to put you into a seizure, I think. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-have-the-eye-knowing-if-a-picture-is-crooked-on-the-wall-without-measuring/388042.md?page=2)