1. A method for measuring a feature on or near a viewed object, the method comprising the steps of: displaying on a monitor an image of the viewed object; determining the three-dimensional coordinates of a plurality of points on a surface of the viewed object using a central processor unit; selecting one or more reference surface points from the plurality of points on the surface of the viewed object using a pointing device; determining a reference surface using the central processor unit, wherein the reference surface is determined based on the one or more of the reference surface points; placing one or more measurement cursors on one or more measurement pixels of the image using a pointing device; determining one or more projected reference surface points associated with the one or more measurement cursors on the reference surface using the central processor unit, wherein each of the one or more projected reference surface points are determined based on the intersection of a three-dimensional trajectory line from the one or more measurement pixels and the reference surface; and determining the dimensions of the feature on or near the viewed object using the three-dimensional coordinates of at least one of the one or more projected reference surface points using the central processor unit.