learning how to use CADintosh

[Michael Eifert]

I'm having trouble with some basics, scale to begin with. I'm used to drawing by hand with an architects scale. If I want my drawing to be printed at the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot, what should I set the CADintosh drawing scale to (below the entry line), and the unit of the complete drawing from the Options-Drawing menu? I'm also unclear on how to select the area for printing. It seems choosing between "Select print area with page" and "Select print area with window" gives me 2 different sized prints.I've done the introduction and read through the Users Guide, but have not found answers to my difficulties. I don't have a great familiarity with computer drafting programs so perhaps my questions may seem naive. Please let me know if this is inappropriate for this form.Thanks, Michael

[RowlandCarson]

At 2004-10-25 07:10 -0400 Michael Eifert wrote: >If I want my drawing to be>printed at the scale of 1 inch = 1 foot, what should I set the>CADintosh drawing scale to (below the entry line), and the unit of the>complete drawing from the Options-Drawing menu? Michael - I'm sorry, I can't help with this part of the question as all my drawings so far have been 1:1. I hadn't noticed that there were so many ways to affect the scale. (I assume that the "scale" box in the dialog that appears when creating a new drawing, or from the Edit/Drawing Data... menu, is just for documentation and does not affect the drawing directly.) Perhaps the answer is to experiment with a few small drawings until you get the effect you desire - that has been my own (sometimes time-consuming) approach. Some of the "imperial" scale choices look a bit confusing; but if you choose "user define" at the bottom of the pop-up menu and enter 0.0833333 there, I guess that should give the effect you want (scale 1:12). > I'm also unclear on how to select the area for printing. It seems>choosing between "Select print area with page" and "Select print area>with window" gives me 2 different sized prints. Another way to get different sized prints is to check/uncheck the "full size" box on the initial print dialogue window. To my mind, the logic of this appears reversed, but this may be only my perception. If the box is checked, the drawing (or chosen window) is shrunk (or maybe enlarged? - I haven't tried a drawing much smaller than the paper) to fit the paper. If the box is unchecked, then the drawing is printed what I would call "full size" (with 100mm = 100mm in my 1:1 drawings) over as many sheets as needed. >I don't have a great familiarity>with computer drafting programs so perhaps my questions may seem naive.>Please let me know if this is inappropriate for this form. I hope this is one of the useful ways this (relatively-new) forum can be utilised. I certainly found it quite difficult to get accustomed to the way things are done in CADintosh (compared with MacDraw & ClarisDraw, say) and would have welcomed a place to discuss my stumbling progress. I am much more comfortable with it now, but, like you I am not trained in the CAD approach, so I tend to stick to the things I've found that work well for me. There may be lots of things in CADintosh that would make life easier for all us novices, if only we could work out how to use them!I'm NOT volunteering, but maybe what we need is the CADintosh equivalent of the how-to-do-it manual for Thorsten's other big application, GraphicConverter, produced by Hagen Henke and his team of translators. And speaking of translation, while the user community uses English on this forum, it is not the first language of Thorsten or many of the users. So, we need to be patient and careful if ambiguities or misunderstandings arise because of language differences (especially between England and USA! ).regardsRowland-- : Wilma & Rowland Carson <http://home.clara.net/rowil/>: <rowil@clara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...

[Michael Eifert]

Thanks Rowland for the suggestions. I'll keep trying the trial and error process for resolving the scale problem. I'd love to use metric measurements, but, in my line of work, cabinetry, even here in Canada, most people use inches. Another goal, which I'm hoping will be resolved along with my scaling problem is to display dimensions in fractions.A how-to manual would be very welcome. The users guide is handy and adequate for most of the tool descriptions and uses, but I found it to be lacking when is comes to areas like scale and dimensions for example. I guess that it's problem area for me, which I'm sure I can overcome. It would just be so much less frustrating if it was laid out for me in simple terms. However, I'll keep at it!I'll be back, I'm sure, with more questions later...

[Stan]

--Michael, click on options on the menu bar,click on drawing and youwill see a collection of up and down arrows, play around with them andall will be revealed.Best of luck,Stan. cadintoshmac@yahoogroups.com, Michael Eifert <meifert@v...> wrote: > > Thanks Rowland for the suggestions. I'll keep trying the trial and > error process for resolving the scale problem. I'd love to use metric > measurements, but, in my line of work, cabinetry, even here in Canada, > most people use inches. Another goal, which I'm hoping will be > resolved along with my scaling problem is to display dimensions in > fractions.> > A how-to manual would be very welcome. The users guide is handy and > adequate for most of the tool descriptions and uses, but I found it to > be lacking when is comes to areas like scale and dimensions for > example. I guess that it's problem area for me, which I'm sure I can > overcome. It would just be so much less frustrating if it was laid out > for me in simple terms. However, I'll keep at it!> > I'll be back, I'm sure, with more questions later...

[RowlandCarson]

At 2004-10-27 06:03 +0000 Stan wrote: >click on options on the menu bar,click on drawing and you>will see a collection of up and down arrows, play around with them and>all will be revealed. I have always used metric measurements in my drawings so far. However, I just tried to create an imperial drawing and find what appears to be a bug. On the "unit of the complete drawing" pop-up menu I chose "foot" and then from the "scale of layer 1023" pop-up I chose 1" (expecting that would give me an inch-to-the foot drawing like Michael wanted), but find that the number appearing in the menu after choosing that (or any other of the imperial options) is always 0.000; changing to any of the "decimal" scales displays the number as expected. CADintosh X V5.2b0, OS X 10.2.8.I tried drawing a few lines and, like Michael, am now totally confused about how the "imperial" scales are supposed to work. Well, at least the ones from 1/16" to 2". The ones from 3"=1' to 1"=50' seem to have straightforward interpretation, but why does 1"=100' appear between 3"=1' and 1"=10', instead of at the bottom, below 1"=50'?To answer Michael's original question, it looks like choosing the "units of drawing" as "foot" and setting a user-defined scale of 0.08333333333333 (lots of 3's are important) will give the desired effect of a 1:12 scale, as that's what appears in the box at the bottom of the drawing.Hope this helps.regardsRowland-- : Wilma & Rowland Carson <http://home.clara.net/rowil/>: <rowil@clara.net> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...

[Stan]

--- In cadintoshmac@yahoogroups.com, Rowland Carson <rowil@c...>wrote: > At 2004-10-27 06:03 +0000 Stan wrote:> > >click on options on the menu bar,click on drawing and you> >will see a collection of up and down arrows, play around with them and>all will be revealed. Sorry Michael I only gave you half the story. In addition to theabove, drop down and click on the "Dimension" sub menu, click on theCreation tab and under Decimal/Fraction, change the "Type box" fromdecimal to fraction.Set the appropriate order of precision in the"Precision Box". You will have to go through this rigmarole each timeyou open a new drawing, unless you prepare and save a set of standardtemplate sheets. I would be happy to describe my method if anyone isinterested. > > I have always used metric measurements in my drawings so far. > However, I just tried to create an imperial drawing and find what > appears to be a bug. On the "unit of the complete drawing" pop-up > menu I chose "foot" and then from the "scale of layer 1023" pop-up I > chose 1" (expecting that would give me an inch-to-the foot drawing > like Michael wanted), but find that the number appearing in the menu > after choosing that (or any other of the imperial options) is always > 0.000; changing to any of the "decimal" scales displays the number as > expected. CADintosh X V5.2b0, OS X 10.2.8.> > I tried drawing a few lines and, like Michael, am now totally > confused about how the "imperial" scales are supposed to work. Well, > at least the ones from 1/16" to 2". The ones from 3"=1' to 1"=50' > seem to have straightforward interpretation, but why does 1"=100' > appear between 3"=1' and 1"=10', instead of at the bottom, below > 1"=50'?> > To answer Michael's original question, it looks like choosing the > "units of drawing" as "foot" and setting a user-defined scale of > 0.08333333333333 (lots of 3's are important) will give the desired > effect of a 1:12 scale, as that's what appears in the box at the > bottom of the drawing.> > Hope this helps.> > regards> > Rowland> -- > > : Wilma & Rowland Carson <http://home.clara.net/rowil/>> : <rowil@c...> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ... Rowland, I think you are right, the scale function seems to have "GoneFeral" I printed a selection of two inch lines, drawn to variousscales, which bore no resemblance to the scales selected.No doubtThorsten will have something to say about this. CADintosh X V5.2 OS X 10.2.8Regards,Stan

[Chuck Rice]

Please do, because I am totally confused by the CADintosh interface. I want to use it to create gcode files to sent to the CNC controller called EMC to run a Sherline Mill <http://www.linuxcnc.org/> <http://www.sherline.com/8540pg.htm>Because CADintosh will output DXF files, I can, through a cumbersome process, do the conversion. I have tested that with simple drawings. But as my drawing start to to be more than a simple box, I get lost using CADintosh. Help would be great! -Chuck-At 10:10 AM +0000 10/28/04, Stan wrote: >--- In cadintoshmac@yahoogroups.com, Rowland Carson <rowil@c...>>wrote:>> At 2004-10-27 06:03 +0000 Stan wrote:>>>> >click on options on the menu bar,click on drawing and you>> >will see a collection of up and down arrows, play around with them>and>all will be revealed.>> Sorry Michael I only gave you half the story. In addition to the>above, drop down and click on the "Dimension" sub menu, click on the>Creation tab and under Decimal/Fraction, change the "Type box" from>decimal to fraction.Set the appropriate order of precision in the>"Precision Box". You will have to go through this rigmarole each time>you open a new drawing, unless you prepare and save a set of standard>template sheets. I would be happy to describe my method if anyone is>interested.>>>>>> I have always used metric measurements in my drawings so far.>> However, I just tried to create an imperial drawing and find what>> appears to be a bug. On the "unit of the complete drawing" pop-up>> menu I chose "foot" and then from the "scale of layer 1023" pop-up>I>> chose 1" (expecting that would give me an inch-to-the foot drawing>> like Michael wanted), but find that the number appearing in the>menu>> after choosing that (or any other of the imperial options) is>always>> 0.000; changing to any of the "decimal" scales displays the number>as>> expected. CADintosh X V5.2b0, OS X 10.2.8.>>>> I tried drawing a few lines and, like Michael, am now totally>> confused about how the "imperial" scales are supposed to work.>Well,>> at least the ones from 1/16" to 2". The ones from 3"=1' to 1"=50'>> seem to have straightforward interpretation, but why does 1"=100'>> appear between 3"=1' and 1"=10', instead of at the bottom, below>> 1"=50'?>>>> To answer Michael's original question, it looks like choosing the>> "units of drawing" as "foot" and setting a user-defined scale of>> 0.08333333333333 (lots of 3's are important) will give the desired>> effect of a 1:12 scale, as that's what appears in the box at the>> bottom of the drawing.>>>> Hope this helps.>>>> regards>>>> Rowland>> -->>>> : Wilma & Rowland Carson <http://home.clara.net/rowil/>>> : <rowil@c...> ... that's Rowland with a 'w' ...>>Rowland, I think you are right, the scale function seems to have "Gone>Feral" I printed a selection of two inch lines, drawn to various>scales, which bore no resemblance to the scales selected.No doubt>Thorsten will have something to say about this. > CADintosh X V5.2 OS X 10.2.8>>Regards,>>Stan >>>>>>>>Yahoo! Groups Links>>>>

[Stan]

Chuck,I am about to depart for my spring break (Retirment is exhausting <biggrin>)Will post setup details on my return in approximately two weeks.regards, Stan. --- In cadintoshmac@yahoogroups.com, Chuck Rice <Chuck@W...> wrote:> > Please do, because I am totally confused by the CADintoshinterface. > I want to use it to create gcode files to sent to the CNCcontroller > called EMC to run a Sherline Mill> > <http://www.linuxcnc.org/>> <http://www.sherline.com/8540pg.htm>> > Because CADintosh will output DXF files, I can, through acumbersome > process, do the conversion. I have tested that with simpledrawings. > But as my drawing start to to be more than a simple box, I get lost > using CADintosh. Help would be great! -Chuck-> > > > > >