next in my series of "you should be including this in all your minecraft modpacks" is ItemZoom
it shows you an enlarged preview of the item you are mousing over in an inventory. it's good for me with my dogshit eyes but more importantly when you have cosmetic building blocks (especially when they are black) it allows you to see the detail of em before you go through the rigamarole of making the damned things. that's it, my eyes are bad so put it in everything imo.