Novel gradient focal point (GFP) methods by use of the gradient curvature cylindrical lens, the gradient thickness cylindrical lens and a tilted imaging sensor are proposed for the optical profiler. With the employed simple idea that the different divergence angle of an input beam to the lens generates the different focal position, the height information of one point can be obtained just in a single-shot by GFP approaches. The feasibility of the proposed system is demonstrated to be an alternative to optical profilers.