Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

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smajorsM1
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Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

I was told to type in numbers for to size font and shapes. It worked with circles and pretty close with font. 3" turned out 2.996" but the way someone told me to do rectangles doesn't work. They said, choose w (rectangle short cut), @#,#, then enter a rectangle pops up but the size is completely off. Suggestions?
Thanks,
Steve
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by bhamer62 »

?? Try to substitute the actual dim's in place of the # The first one should be x axis , y axis dim
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Thanks bhamer62, I put in # just as an example. I put in @2,6 and a 1"x13" rectangle showed up. The rectangle was vertical. Suggestions?
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

smajorsM1 wrote: Wed Nov 04, 2020 12:17 pm I was told to type in numbers for to size font and shapes. It worked with circles and pretty close with font. 3" turned out 2.996" but the way someone told me to do rectangles doesn't work. They said, choose w (rectangle short cut), @#,#, then enter a rectangle pops up but the size is completely off. Suggestions?
Thanks,
Steve
With the rectangle, when the cross hairs come up - left click to locate the starting position of the rectangle. Then type "@ 3,3" and hit Enter to create a 3 inch square.

For the text, yes I noticed that it is not exact. So if you entered 3 inches for the height, but you measure 2.996, then scale it by a factor of 3/2.996 = 1.001335.

You will need to install the Video Manual into Design Edge in order to open it in Design Edge.

David
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Thanks David, I'll definitely give that a try. I have advanced settings but the video manual is greyed out. I used to have it but I think I might have to reinstall it since I've done some updates. Maybe after updates it makes you reinstall the manual??
Thanks again,
Steve
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

Step 1 - Left click to locate first corner of rectangle
Second corner of rectangle.jpg

Step 2 - When prompted for second corner of rectangle, Type "@3,3"
at 3,3.jpg

Step 3 - Hit "Enter"
3 x 3 inch rectangle.jpg
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Thanks David, that worked perfectly! I have another question, how are you getting your dimension numbers in the example there so small? Mine come up but huge arrows and numbers, like font size 300 maybe more. Do I have some strange setting that's making them big? For example the arrow point in yours, mine the flat back side of the arrow heads are touching.
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by rdj357 »

If you need the text height to be exact you can use the scale function. With the text selected, S for scale then depending on the kind of letters you can use some snaps. I often find a T or H or similar letter with flat top and bottom and use a H on the path snap on the bottom and a P perpendicular snap on the top to define the height and then type in the desired height and press enter. If it's a font without any good spots, draw an orthogonal line above and below and use that method by snapping to the lines instead.
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Thanks Robert! I'll give that a try.
Steve
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

smajorsM1 wrote: Thu Nov 05, 2020 9:50 am Thanks David, that worked perfectly! I have another question, how are you getting your dimension numbers in the example there so small? Mine come up but huge arrows and numbers, like font size 300 maybe more. Do I have some strange setting that's making them big? For example the arrow point in yours, mine the flat back side of the arrow heads are touching.
Open your Settings and click on the Design tab. Under "Dimensions, Text height (inch):" enter the value for your desired text height.
David
Dimensnion Text Height.jpg
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Thanks Robert, that worked perfectly!
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by rdj357 »

You're very welcome, any time!
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by smajorsM1 »

Robert, do you know how to import a certain text (in this case from google doc fonts)?
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

Step 1 - Select the font or font family you wish to download.
Step 1.jpg
Step 1a.jpg
Step 2 - Download font family.
Step 2 - Download.jpg
Step 2a.jpg
Step 3 - Extract to new folder.
Step 3 - extract to folder.jpg
Step 3a.jpg
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

Step 4 - Copy new fonts to Windows Fonts folder.
Step 4 - copy new fonts to Windows Fonts folder.jpg
Step 4a.jpg
Step 5 - Open Design Edge, select "Draw, Text" to open the Draw Text box.

Click the "Windows" box under the heading "Included True Type Font Folders"
Scroll down to find the Roboto font.
Enter your text and place on screen.

David
Step 5.jpg
Step 5.jpg (50.37 KiB) Viewed 1187 times
Step 5a.jpg
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by adbuch »

Steve - since you have access to the Plasmacam Owner's Community Online Forum, you might consider taking advantage of the Search function to help answer some of your questions. Here is an example of a search for "font".
David

https://owners-community.com/viewtopic. ... nt#p295136
Search for Font.jpg
Search for Font 2.jpg
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Re: Sizing font and shapes exactly in DesignEdge/Plasmacam

Post by Joe Jones »

Here is the reason fonts do not come up exactly at the size desired.

Joe

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