cimo Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 hallowhich program (osx) do you guys use to draw the front plates? simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 I want to know the same, but my OS is XP.I asked this question several times in other threads, butno one really answered it.I'd also like to know how you print the layout on lazertran or self-adhesive foilso that the dimensions fit.(e.g. that a 5mm hole has a diameter of exactly 5mm)matthias Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebiiksbcs Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 i used to do the following steps:1. burn a linux live cd (xubuntu works well on my macbook, for non-intel macs there are many other distributions too)2. install wine (windows emulator)3. start your appi partitioned my harddisk with boot camp and then installed xubuntu in a few additional steps (described on an ubuntu website or so)but actually visiting a friend who has a windows pc would have been the easiest way.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 er...ok.... and where are the graphics? ::) ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBanner Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 you need a vector based program like Freehand or Illustrator, you can do it with Photoshop but it will be a pain in the ass...set the units of measurement to mm (or whatever you are happy with) and you will have a 1-1 print in your measurements.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Is there any Freeware-stuff you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 heyi remember once i ve seen an application that could calculate the time needed by your bath tube to cross the atlantic ocean wiht the only engine provided by an english duck and you tell me isn t there a specific program to draw front plates? hey hey SLP: i had often the same problem and it was all about the printer drivers and/or application printing settings: you have to be sure that in both the settings you choose "actual size" and "borderless" printing, be sure there is no adaptation to the paper size.hope it will helpsimone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebiiksbcs Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 use inkscape (www.inkcape.org) if you want an open source program, it is similar to freehand and has easy tutorials built in that show what you need to do and what not.for a 3d-model with lighted leds and a spotlight reflection on the case use blender (www.blender.org) :Di am looking forward to your model! no, just kidding. but inkscape can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiocommander Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 for a 3d-model with lighted leds and a spotlight reflection on the case use blenderI recommend http://sketchup.google.com/product_suf.html for 3d modelling. It's definitely the easiest and most intuitive 3d program I ever stumbled upon (costs nothing; restricted export formats though - no dxf export or similar -, but good enough for exact planning, nice shadings, too – and lovely sketchy designs).I tried blender, too: did three tutorials... now I can flip around the inteface-menus like a pro, but am still too dumb to draw a simple rectangle :P :-[IMHO inkscape is more like corelDraw than freehand; not bad though...and there's CanvasX (not free, but far less expensive than overpriced stuff like illustrator)http://www.acdamerica.com/products-x/x/default.htmlcheers,Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Has anybody ever tried this?http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.htmlthere's a demo-version, it's actually not bad, but IMHO it's a bit expensive.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screaming_Rabbit Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Has anybody ever tried this?http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.htmlthere's a demo-version, it's actually not bad, but IMHO it's a bit expensive..Yes, I bought it and it's very cool to design scales etc. though there are some limitations in custimization.Greets, Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTurner Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 For creating home-brew panels, you can use any graphics program that will let you set A)the size of the image, and B)the resolution. Other than that, it'd be nice if the program has a reliable way to calculate the position of what you're drawing. Vector based graphics programs are probably the best choice, but are only absolutely necessary when dealing with CAM work (and for that matter, a lot of shops have the ability to convert black and white raster images to vector). I would recommend some sort of cad software, since you'll be able to reliably place features and text where you want them. I believe that mathcad and turbocad both have trial versions. Autocad would obviously be the best choice- I'm not going to tell you to bittorrent it, but, it is out there, and I believe that there is a light version which will do everything you need (not to mention that they almost give ACAD away to students... Remember- they make their money off of architecture and engineering firms, not people doing the occasional panel layout). A program like Adobe Illustrator may have a shallower learning curve, but isn't (in my opinion) as functional as even the worst CAD program for something like this. A brief explaination:Vector graphics are graphics files that contain instructions for the computer on where and how to draw lines, arcs, etc..(which is why they scale better).Raster graphics are graphics files that contain (generally speaking) pixel by pixel information as to their color and luminescence.In summary: Vector graphics: draw line from point 2,4 to point 5,6Raster graphics: pixel 1= 255 2=122 etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLP Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 It works pretty well with CorelDraw 12. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twin-X Posted April 23, 2007 Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 Has anybody ever tried this?http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.htmlthere's a demo-version, it's actually not bad, but IMHO it's a bit expensive..I bought this app too and 39 euro is not expensive. You can create a panel and make a hplg out of it.Load the hplg into frontpanel designer from schaeffer and you will save alot of money on your frontpanel (if you make use of this service offcourse) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiocommander Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 just found QCad: http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.htmlIt's a commercial product (25 $), but the source is GPL'ed.Anyone ever tried this?Cheers,Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted June 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2007 halloi just wanted to say that i am happy with the free Inkscape for OSX.It s a very easy program and does the job.simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebiiksbcs Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 It does! I think so too. It is user-friendly, for beginners and experts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stryd_one Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 ...and cross-platform :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptitjes Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Hi all!Did someone succeed with the DXF save of inkscape ? I tried it, it worked a long time and when i opened it with DXFViewer, i had only a few things from the original file. Should i make a unique path of my panel by using Difference and Combine tools ??I have found a company that could cut and engrave my panel. I still don't know what file format i could give them.Thanks for your help.Cheers, Didier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 hii ve exported an image of an Eagle PCB (90dpi) and imported it in Inkscape but alignment is all *filtered* up !! :D any idea what could be wrong?Also if i export Inkscape to image and Eagle to image and import the 2 images in Gimp they won t align properly. ??? ???simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted September 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2007 hii ve saved a board as .eps file and and an Inkscape project as an image (png) and loaded the 2 in Gimp.It works and you can work on panel with Inkscape, the PCBs in Eagle and check the result together in Gimp.Simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBanner Posted September 8, 2007 Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 nice work Cimo, I've got a feeling that info is going to come in very handy for me in a little while....I did all my PCB layouts in FreeHand, and I'll need to do them in Eagle before long, do you think the technique you described will help this poor fool in his quest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cimo Posted September 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2007 hi please refer to the following thread:http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=9627.msg71985#msg71985the 2 threads are running uselessly together i think we should keep on here in Tips n Tricks.I am very satisfied with this set up and the work sped up here a rendered image of the front panel, the sub panel and the different PCBs imported from Eagle.Dark blue is the front panelLight blue is the subpanelBlack are the PCBs and dimensions traces Consider that all layer have a 30% opacityyou can visually check all the alignment so you are sure that you won t have a surprise.. for example right now just previewing the image i ve found out a hole that is not aligned, just on the left of the first fader.. I d like to have a "reload layers" function in Gimp maybe it is possible with AppleScript, that would eventually speed up the process even more.Simone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R64 Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Attack of the newb:Does anyone know of any contacts who are able to make the panels once they are designedI suspect any old metal shop, but I expect there is a thread already of people/companies who can create these professionally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidBanner Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I suspect any old metal shop, but I expect there is a thread already of people/companies who can create these professionally?yup, sure is lots in fact, do a search and you will find.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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