Members DavidL Posted July 6, 2015 Members Report Posted July 6, 2015 curved edges doesnt make sense.. curved corner is what I meant to write. Quote
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted July 7, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted July 7, 2015 Oh, yeah - right you are. Corners will have a radius unless you request a sharp corner. Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members semperdesigns Posted July 8, 2015 Members Report Posted July 8, 2015 With regards to creating a precise shape digitally, I find AutoCAD to be way more precise. It is quite easy to get an educational license, even if not a student. AutoCAD is far more precise than illustrator is, and I find it far easier to work with. Other CAD software (some free I'm sure) will be the same way. The question then becomes getting that drawing to illustrator. What I do is put a bounding box of a known dimension around my CAD drawing. Then I export this as a dxf from auto cad. Open the dxf in Illustrator. Now create an artboard (shift-O, CS6 or later) of the same size as your bounding box. Resize the entire drawing so that the bounding box snaps to the artboard. This eliminates scale issues. Now save in whatever format the die company wanted. Quote
King's X Posted July 8, 2015 Report Posted July 8, 2015 I just sent a template out of poster board to a die company. I am trying a new company Milwaukee Steel Rule Dies. According to what I have read, nothing should change....it should turn out perfect or close to it. Quote Greetings from Central Texas! The Grain Side Up blog #TheGrainSideUp
Members Nuttish Posted July 9, 2015 Members Report Posted July 9, 2015 Sorry, but you need to learn how to actually use Illustrator if you seriously believe that CAD software is more " precise" or that your workflow is efficient. Quote
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted July 9, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted July 9, 2015 Sorry, but you need to learn how to actually use Illustrator if you seriously believe that CAD software is more " precise" or that your workflow is efficient. Well, until now I hadn't said it, but I wondered how it was "efficient" to draw in one program and then transfer to another? Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members semperdesigns Posted July 9, 2015 Members Report Posted July 9, 2015 Illustrator might be precise enough for the leather work that we do. It is capable, so by all means, use it. But AutoCAD is objectively more precise. Down to five decimal points of any unit, if I recall correctly. It's why you simply won't see engineers and architects using illustrator. In some of the work I do - CNC, manufacturing drawings, and architecture, Illustrator just won't cut it. Depending on the drawing It's also, at least for me, far quicker to draw in AutoCAD. If it's a simple pattern, I might just start in Illustrator if that's the end format I need. But if I need an extremely precise drawing and it's complex, it will be far faster for me to start in AutoCAD, and move over to Illustrator later for colour fills and other things it's better at. Which brings me to: different software excel at different things. No one balks at moving in between photoshop (raster) and illustrator (vector). And you likewise shouldn't be afraid to move between Illustrator (illustration), and CAD (drafting). If you haven't tried AutoCAD yet, I encourage you to. Certain operations are unwieldy at best in Illustrator like arcs, offsetting lines, dimensioning, and until recently rounded corners. These are extremely easy in CAD software. Back to the point though! In the case of this project, CAD software is unnecessary - dies don't need microns of precision. But, bylinesupplyco was having trouble doing the pattern in Illustrator so I simply I thought I'd mention AutoCAD as it is more purpose built for drafting, and might be easier for them to learn for that purpose. Quote
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted July 12, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted July 12, 2015 decimal points of any unit, if I recall correctly. It's why you simply won't see engineers and architects using illustrator. In some of the work I do - CNC, manufacturing drawings, and architecture, Illustrator just won't cut it. Depending on the drawing It's also, at least for me, far quicker to draw in AutoCAD. If it's a simple pattern, I used to know a little AutoCad. Maybe you could show us some of what you mean? Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
Members semperdesigns Posted July 12, 2015 Members Report Posted July 12, 2015 (edited) Yeah for sure! It's tough with being in front of the software with you, but AutoCAD is completely command based, so I'll let you know the ones I use the most. l - line a - arc c - circle sp - spline - similar to pen tool with beziers in illustrator. Those are obvious, of course. Hit the command, then hit the length, radius, etc that you want. The interface will guide you through each step. Then for editing: tr - trim - trims one line to where another crosses it - really useful for fast drafting. ex- extend - opposite of trim - extends one line to another o - offset - offsets a line a specified distance away f - fillet - rounds a corner to a specified radius And for moving co - copy m - move ro - rotate. So, everything is pretty self explanatory, and just requires some practice. Other things I would note: - Dragging to select works differently if you drag a selection box leftward (selects everything contained by box) and rightward (everything touched and contained). - hitting spacebar repeats last command - hold down middle scroll wheel on mouse to pan, use scroll wheel to zoom. - use the command re to regenerate. Sometimes if you zoom way out, then back in, curves will appear jagged. Use re to get them back to normal. Hope that all made sense, and good luck! Edited July 12, 2015 by semperdesigns Quote
Contributing Member JLSleather Posted July 12, 2015 Contributing Member Report Posted July 12, 2015 Oh, I meant maybe you had a design you did in AC and morphed (or translated, or copied, or exported, or used the force) into .ai like they were talking about. Don't worry about it. Purdy much what I expected. Quote "Observation is 9/10 of the law." IF what you do is something that ANYBODY can do, then don't be surprised when ANYBODY does.
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