A collection of small functions to aid users in the creation of die making products.
To use this tool, it’s expected to have an understanding of Windows and to configure this tool it’s expected to have an understanding of Settings Menus, Property Selectors and Symbol Patterns. For more information on these please follow the hyperlinks.
The tool contains the following functions:
- Control Panel (Updated!)
- Opens the settings dialog.
- Dropouts
- Show dropouts within the current layer.
- Toggle Bridge Sizes
- Show bridge sizes within the current layer.
This module now also contains presets.
Global Setup
This tool has no additional global settings.
How to use the tool
Adjust settings
- Open any project
- Start the Control Panel.
- Click on the Configure setting button at the end of the relevant setting menu
Finding Drop Outs
- Click the Dropouts button.
This will use the currently active setting
- The current layer will be analysed and a preview of the dropouts is displayed.
Figure 21: Example showing no dropouts (left) and 2 dropouts highlighted in red (right)
- You can choose to remove this preview to delete the dropout layer, or you can click No to have a closer look at the dropouts. Once you finished having a closer look, the layer can be manually deleted.
Toggling Bridge Sizes
- Click the Toggle Bridge Sizes button.
This will use the currently active setting.
- The current layer will have the bridge sizes displayed.
- To remove the sizes, click the Toggle Bridge Sizes button again.
Display Tool Settings
This tool has multiple settings menus to account for its multiple functions.
Bridge Size Setting
Used in the Toggle Bridge Size function.
Appearance
Colour Mode
Define how the colours are chosen for the inserted text.
Text Style
The Text Style used for the inserted text on the canvas. It is recommended to use a master template text style to make sure the style is available in all drawings.
Appearance – Colour List
Colours
Only used if the Colour Mode is set to Use Colour List. A collection of colours to use, smallest sized bridge uses the first in the list followed by the next largest and so on.
Appearance – Size List
Accepted Colour
Only used if the Colour Mode is set to Use Size List. The colour that is used if the bridge size is contained within the Accepted Sizes Property.
Accepted Sizes
Only used if the Colour Mode is set to Use Size List. A collection of sizes that will have the Accepted Colour assigned to them.
Rejected Colour
Only used if the Colour Mode is set to Use Size List. The colour that is used if the bridge size is NOT contained within the Accepted Sizes Property.
Blocks
Collection Size Name
The name of the block created that contains all bridge size text entities.
Individual Size Name
The name of the block(s) created that contain unique bridge sizes.
Distance Format
The format of the value contained within the text insert on the canvas. This can be customised so it’s different from the user’s environmental settings. It uses the same properties as Impact's Environment unit settings.
Decimal Places
Enter the required number of decimal places to be displayed for distances.
Denominator
Enter the denominator to be used for fractions.
Display Fractions
Switch this option on if you want to display fractions rather than decimals.
Reduce Denominator
Only applicable when displaying fractions. Switch the option on if you want fractions displayed with the lowest possible denominator, e.g. display 5/10 as 1/2.
Remove Trailing Zeros (New)
Removes any remaining zeros for non-fractional numbers, for example 1.50 becomes 1.5 and 1.00 becomes 1.
Abbreviation
Enter the required distance unit abbreviation, such as mm, cm, etc.
Unit Type
The type of unit used in the inserted text on the canvas.
Outputs
Output Toolbox
Generate a report of the bridges found and print it into the output toolbox.
Simple
Displays a short report about the found bridges using the current user’s environment settings.
Below is an example of the report
-- Display Bridges Report --
Unique Sizes: '2'
Bridge Size: '10mm' Colour: 'Red' Count: '104'
Bridge Size: '6mm' Colour: 'Blue’ Count: '6'
----------------------------
Detailed
Includes all the information of the simple option detailed above as well as the total count of bridges and the exact location.
-- Display Bridges Report --
Unique Sizes: '2'
Bridge Size: '10mm' Colour: 'Red' Count: '104'
Bridge Size: '6mm' Colour: 'Blue’ Count: '6'
(Bridge Insertions) Total Bridges 110
Bridge Block: '10mm' Location: '(1118, 311.355)'
Bridge Block: '10mm' Location: '(1105, 351.5)'
Dropout Setting
Used in the Toggle Bridge Size function.
Colours
Dropout Colour (Updated)
The colour used on dropouts when a dropout is detected. Now supports Transparency.
Perimeter Colour (Updated)
The colour used for the areas that are held together. Now supports Transparency.
Output
Layer Name
The name of the temporary layer that shows the dropouts.
Palettes
Palettes
The palettes to use when looking for dropouts.
Perimeter
Block Name (Updated!)
The name of the block that is used for dropouts. Often this is the block generated from the dieboard tool. A regular expression can be used.