QC tool for watches

How to use this tool

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This tool compares the QC photo your vendor sent against the official product photo from the brand, so you can judge alignment for yourself. Everything happens in your browser: nothing is uploaded or stored.

1 Load your QC photo

Click Load QC image and pick the photo your vendor sent. It appears at its real pixel size, never squashed to fit, so what you judge is the actual image. If it is bigger than the window, that is expected — drag it around, or zoom out in step 3.

2 Add something to compare against

Click Reference image & rulers, then:

• Load image file — the official product photo, saved from the brand's website. Find your exact reference, right-click the photo, choose Save Image As, then load it here. This is the reliable route.
• Paste image address — quicker, but most brand servers block cross-origin use, so the reference will show on screen yet cannot be written into your saved screenshot. The tool warns you when that happens.
• Alignment rulers — a 12-spoke index guide instead of a photo, useful for checking marker spacing on its own.

You can also add an Index ruler, or plain H and V guide lines, straight from the toolbar.

3 Make both watches the same size

This is the step people miss. The two photos were taken at different distances, so the watch is a different size in each and 100% zoom means something different for each one. Comparing them before fixing that makes a perfect watch look misaligned.

1. Zoom each layer until you can see the whole watch (Zoom around 45–55%), then hit Centre.
2. Optionally type the real case diameter in the mm box, e.g. 42.
3. Click Calibrate.
4. Drag straight across the watch case on your QC photo — the left edge of the case to the right edge, through the middle.
5. Drag across the case on the reference, measuring the same two points. The readout shows the target length to aim for.

The reference is rezoomed so both cases span the same distance. If you rezoom the QC photo later, Re-match puts them back in step in one click.

Measure the same feature in both, exclude the crown, and drag through the middle of the case. A chord above or below the centre reads short.

4 Line them up and look

Pick a layer in Layer, then move, zoom and rotate it on its own:

• X and Y position, Zoom, and Rotate. Type exact values or use the −/+ buttons.
• Steps are 0.1 by default, Shift for 0.01, Alt for 1.
• Arrow keys nudge the selected layer. Dragging and scrolling work too, and the numbers stay in sync.
• Reference opacity blends the reference over your photo. Around 50% is a good starting point.
• Fine grid adds measuring divisions and a centre crosshair. Reduce Grid spacing to judge very small offsets.

Scrolling or dragging acts on whichever layer is under your cursor. If a reference is covering the photo, use the Layer dropdown to be certain which one you are changing.

5 What to actually check

• Index alignment — are the hour markers evenly spaced and square to the dial? The index ruler helps here.
• Bezel — numerals and the pip lined up with the markers below.
• Date window — the wheel centred in the aperture, not high, low or clipped.
• Hands — do they reach the markers, and does the seconds hand hit them cleanly?
• Dial printing — text straight, evenly spaced, correct weight.
• Solid end links and bracelet — gaps even on both sides.

6 Save it

Save screenshot captures the whole window, including your settings, so you have a record you can send back to the vendor.

One honest limitation

This corrects size, position and rotation, but not perspective. Vendor photos are usually taken at a slight angle while the brand photo is dead-on, which makes the dial a subtle ellipse in one and a true circle in the other. On an angled shot, judge features one at a time rather than expecting the whole dial to overlay perfectly.