Is there a trick to read a measuring tape?

the trick is the length of the lines. each inch is split into 16, and the longer the tick, the bigger the fraction. longest one in the middle is 1/2, next size down are the quarters, then eighths, and the tiny ones are sixteenths. so you count the little ticks past the last whole number and simplify. two other things that confuse people. the loose metal hook at the end is meant to wobble, it slides by its own thickness so pushing against a wall and hooking over an edge both read right. and the red or highlighted numbers every 16 inches are just stud spacing marks, not a different scale.