Computer Drawing Software For Making Leather Patterns

[dickf]

Adam,

Have you never used paths in PS? Those are the fundamentals and each path, or 'line', can do exactly what you want. It's been this way since the beginning. Perhaps you should pick up a book - you might find it faster to work with than AutoCAD.

[AdamTill]

Adam,

Have you never used paths in PS? Those are the fundamentals and each path, or 'line', can do exactly what you want. It's been this way since the beginning. Perhaps you should pick up a book - you might find it faster to work with than AutoCAD.

I confess, I clearly haven't that far. I know AutoCAD too well to bother duplicating the effort in PS, though I shoudn't have said that it wasn't possible if it is. I still don't think PS has the same grips, snaps and intersects that CAD allows though, and the measuring functions aren't quite as developed (ie, sometimes it's nice to snap a quick angle dimension to know that you need to rotate something by 1.6 degrees). Most people I've talked to say that creating things in Photoshop is a lot more effort then in other programs, in that it's really optimized as a means of editing or modifying images.

Good word to the wise for folks that might be wanting to chose one or the other though.

[TomBanwell]

I do all my designing with Corel Draw, which is a vector program. I make a sketch in pen and ink, scan it in and refiine it in Corel Draw.

[Anonnymouse]

What I am assuming people are talking about here is using something like Bezier paths to make tooling patterns? Or actual patterns like for holsters, etc. In my experience the GIMP bezier tool is much easier to use than the Photoshop bezier... That could just be my in experience, though.

[hidepounder]

What I am assuming people are talking about here is using something like Bezier paths to make tooling patterns? Or actual patterns like for holsters, etc. In my experience the GIMP bezier tool is much easier to use than the Photoshop bezier... That could just be my in experience, though.

Who IS Bezier and what does he do for a living???

[Anonnymouse]

Who IS Bezier and what does he do for a living???

Bezier is the Paths tool.

[StraightTimeStirrups]

Hi Ferg,

They are cutters but can also be used with pens, stylus etc whatever fits in the holder for marking, there is an option in the software for swapping between the knife and a pen. They have a pressure setting so you can determine how dark the tracing is.

Heres a pic of a tracing

Before anyone asks about cutting the knives are tiny so aren't suitable for cutting leather, I did managed to cut 1.5mm thick leather once but definately wouldn't try anything thicker.

The flatbed machine they do would cut through thicker leather but are over $5000 I think, definately not something I could afford they use an air suction system to hold down the piece. My model uses grip wheels to move the mat back and forth and the leather needs to fit between the wheels as they are textured and you wouldn't want them to run over the leather, I use double sided tape to hold the leather to the mat.

Let me know if you would like any other info.

Cheers,

Clair

I would love to see a video clip of this machine in action!

[erikpet]

I would love to see a video clip of this machine in action!

Good day folks! I haven't been doing much leather work with it yet, but I bought a similar device called the Pazzle inspiration that can run 500ish, plus some plans that can get them cheaper. It has the same kind of abilities and tracing and embossing tips. If you go to the pazzles.com website you can see their model. I have used another one called the cricut to cut stencils for sandblasting which would also probably work. Hope this was helpful!

[tlauts]

I am a CAD instructor by trade and do leather tooling as a hobby. As for the topic, I would like to add to the discussion. I use CAD for patterns and print them on card stock for smaller projects and use a large scale printer for medium and larger projects. I also use Illustrator and many others, depends on what I feel like using. What I want to share is a great CAD software is Draftsight and there is videos and tutorials by the company, the neat part is the software is totally free. Once you learn to use the software, I think that you will find it rather simple and quite the time saver.

Tim

Edited November 15, 2012 by tlauts

[JLSleather]

Bezier WAS a French engineer, working with curves for the auto industry. Anyway, drawing a "curve" in a vector program involves an INSANE amount of math. Fortunately, the computer does the math for you.

I used AutoCad for years, and now use PS regularly. Biggest thing on my end for graphics is that often a customer can't visualize the thing, and wants to see what it will look like. AutoCad's "render" is a bit slow / PS learning curve is a bit steep.

It seems that Gimp is highly recommended, but since I lack the time to learn a whole new program, I stick to what I have. I'm USED to PS, but Gimp is FREE which has to be a plus. If you don't already use one or the other, I'd go with the free.

What I find works best is a combination of software and ink pen. When I draw patterns, I STILL scan them. Paper patterns age, the digital file won't. When the paper pattern is worn, I just print another. When I have requests for "matching", say a checkbook and handbag, I can easily transform the pattern to suit the other item, and the customer can see it before they buy it (sorta).

[keableleather]

Try this easy to use software, I use transparencies and the copper colour lines and remove or do not use any infill on your shapes, (ie Draft Mode)

http://www.sgdesigns.com/designer.php

[JLSleather]

I see no reason to use Illustrator when your patterns aren't going to change size or be sent to a printhouse. I scan the gun/blue gun then use Photoshop to create the pattern. When printed, it's actual size and easy to reprint for a quick alteration or when the pattern gets too boogered up to use anymore. I've been using Photoshop since v4...I still have the disc! The Gimp is the open-source equivalent - if you don't have the funds for PS, get the Gimp and learn it.

See, not THIS was interesting. How DO you scan a blue gun?

GRAPH paper is STILL awesome all these years later

[JLSleather]

OOOPS typing error.. That should read

NOW this was interesting! How DO you scan a blue gun?

[dickf]

I lay the gun on a flatbed scanner, use the pen tool in Photoshop to separate the image from the background and have a perfect 1:1 sized image of the gun.

[SmashySkins]

I'm reviving this ancient topic because no one mentioned a very simple to use drawing program called Autodesk Sketchbook. It's very approachable for people who don't have much experience with computers. More importantly, it has an option to draw in a mirror image, what the OP was asking for. It's really nice for freehand drawing also.

https://www.sketchbook.com/?locale=en

[koreric75]

On 8/13/2011 at 11:21 PM, amuckart said:

Inkscape is the Right Tool for design work like this. It's free, multi-platform, saves its output in an open standard format (that you'll still be able to open in 10 years), and works.

It has a bit of a learning curve, but the help is pretty good and there are books on it. For symmetrical stuff, explore the clone tool.

I have to 2d this, i started using inkscape a couple months ago and the help menu is really good with examples...i recently did a baseball style hacky sack and instead of trying to line up stitching holes by hand i used an extension called scatter and was able to copy one 1/16" hole all the way around the inside of the template, many many other features but that one saved me tons of time.  I used a cricut explore air 2 to cut out the pieces and stitching holes and it lined up great.  I attached the svg file, feel free to use it as you need...i designed it using a couple circles and some bezier curve lines, the best part is in inkscape you can enlarge or shrink the template without enlarging the stitch holes.

baseball.svg

Edited January 25, 2018 by koreric75

[AJ2018]

I use Solidworks Expert 3D/2D software for leather pattern modeling then touch it up with Photoshop after then export the results to PDF using adobe . but the procedure i use is very complex to novice person, so i recommend something simpler even though solidworks output an extremely precise measurements. if you give it the right commands, but i don't recommend it for even intermediate users as certain features are extremely complex to achieve, and might put too much strains on you if you don't know what you  doing.

for example here is one design  image i did in solidworks, but still need some more stitching.

 

good luck with the image , indeed it was nice design.

 

cheers,

A.J2018

Edited June 18, 2018 by AJ2018

[JLSleather]

I looked for info in this topic too.  Didn't see it just yet.  Idea is, the "solution" should be EASIER and/or FASTER than a pencil and paper.  If it isn't at least one of those things, then it's just making work.

 

[LatigoAmigo]

4 hours ago, JLSleather said:

I looked for info in this topic too.  Didn't see it just yet.  Idea is, the "solution" should be EASIER and/or FASTER than a pencil and paper.  If it isn't at least one of those things, then it's just making work.

I can't draw a straight line, so I rely on Adobe Illustrator to do my drawing for me. It is not easier or faster, but the results are BETTER. Worth the extra time (says the hobbyist). Plus the output can be duplicated, and the patterns can be easily scaled.

[JLSleather]

On 6/18/2018 at 5:51 AM, JLSleather said:

I looked for info in this topic too.  Didn't see it just yet.  Idea is, the "solution" should be EASIER and/or FASTER than a pencil and paper.  If it isn't at least one of those things, then it's just making work.

 

I really MUST update some of my software.  And I still need to learn how to scan a blue gun on a flatbed scanner -- can't convince 'em to lay parallel to the machine bed!

Still, even if it's a bit slow, I was able to eeek out this 'passable mess' for a gal who makes great clicker dies   The artwork is hers, I just made it a "button" that would show up on a web page.

[Aven]

On 6/18/2018 at 2:20 AM, AJ2018 said:

I use Solidworks Expert 3D/2D software for leather pattern modeling then touch it up with Photoshop after then export the results to PDF using adobe . but the procedure i use is very complex to novice person, so i recommend something simpler even though solidworks output an extremely precise measurements. if you give it the right commands, but i don't recommend it for even intermediate users as certain features are extremely complex to achieve, and might put too much strains on you if you don't know what you  doing.

for example here is one design  image i did in solidworks, but still need some more stitching.

 

good luck with the image , indeed it was nice design.

 

cheers,

A.J2018

 

AJ, are you using Solidworks because that is what you have available to you or is there something specific you can do in the program that you can't do in another CAD package?

 

[JLSleather]

SOlidworks is pretty cool, but she make it sound like I might hurt myself   Just not cost effective for me, either.

[Stetson912]

@JLSleather I'm coming into this late so forgive me if you've heard already, bit there is an open source free program called inkscape. It is similar to Adobe illustrator. It's a vector graphics software. You can scan in your tracing of your gun mold, and there are both rectangular and isometric grids that are 100% customizeable. I'm still getting the hang of it but I've made some some patterns thus far. Hope this helps. and

One thing is for sure, it won't break the bank hahaha! You can say, it pays for itself when someone downloads one of your patterns from your site hahaha!

[JLSleather]

31 minutes ago, Stetson912 said:

I'm still getting the hang of it but I've made some some patterns thus far. Hope this helps.

Let's see what ya got!  Issue I have is getting the gun IN the picture.  HOW do you get the right size / shape / scale?  Pic one I got a pattern for and I'll swap ya ... I don't so much need the PATTERN as maybe something showing us HOW YOU GOT IT IN THERE to begin!

[Stetson912]

I'll see what I can come up with for you. You can import images into inkscape and draw over them, by using the import function or drag and drop. You can even "trace bitmap" which in theory gives you a vector image of the imported picture. Mine seems to not work for I ain't can use it right. And has a scale you can set to whatever units you want, down to pixels even haha.  I'll try and make one up for a 1911. As that's the only gun I have that matches your patterns.