Using a single drawing for many processes

[BG John]

I've just realised that Mike is doing something similar, and in more detail here : http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/114528-using-inkscape-to-produce-cutting-files-a-worked-example/&do=findComment&comment=2419948 . It'll be interesting to see how our two drawing processes differ and where they come together.

I'm following Mike's, so daren't study this one too, in case I get even more confused!

[JCL]

Aye John, as Mike's started his thread, maybe I should change tack, be more high level and focus more on the thread title.

[BrushType4]

One more, something I'm not afflicted with with regards to the GNR is the idea of panels that are rounded at one end. If I were, this is how I'd do it:

 

rounded panels.jpg

Rounded panels

1. Create guides and draw a rectangle.
2. Click on the edit nodes button, click on the circle in the top right corner and drag it downwards to create the corner curve
3. Click on Path ► Object to Path, then Select the two nodes shown in green and click on the - button (shown on step 3)
4. Drag the two nodes that are left to the guides. These are the new bottom corners
5. The bottom two corners need to be smooth, so select them and click on the "Make the selected nodes corner" icon.
6. The sides probably won't be straight (see the right-hand side), so click on the anchors at the top (the circle in the magnified area) and drag them to the lines. They should snap to the guides.
7. Finished.

As with the Pitfalls diagram above, you should only resize the object until step 3, because after that, unless you preserve the height/width ratio, the rounded corners will no longer be quarter circles, but quarter ellipses. That said, if there are say three different panel widths, you make three masters. Create a panel to the end of step 2, copy and paste it twice for the three widths, then resize a appropriate and proceed for all three to step seven. After that, just make copies of each finished panel master and paste where appropriate. I hope that makes sense.

 

I'm only showing the way I'd do things, but there is always more than one way to skin a cat. If you do this a different way, then please feel free to add your method.

 

 

Wow, this looks like a lot of work. I use Qcad and to do this is much much easier. If you know the size of the window and the radius of the corners, the square window and rounded corners can be drawn in 10 seconds or less. If you've already drawn in the window, even less time.

 

I am rather a fan of Qcad and use it to produce all my cutter and laser cutter files. 

[JCL]

Hi there - you're right, it is a lot of work the way I did it at the time, but there is a quicker way of doing it. Unfortunately I don't have much time at  the moment to restart this thread as I wanted to. I did attempt to try Qcad once as it does have good reviews, but unfortunately I just couldn't get it working on my computer.