2D Tools
Guide
The 2D Tools for
Sketchup, by TIG © 2009, offer 2D drawing tools similar to those found in
many CAD packages, whilst including the benefits of Sketchup’s principles
and inference.
The 2D Tools come
in a zip file [2Dtools.zip].
Extract its
contents into the Plugins folder.
There should be a single
new file in the Plugins folder called
‘2D#.rb’ – which loads all of the other files needed.
There should also
be a folder called ‘2Dtools’ which contains several ‘rb’ files etc that make the tools work and also three
sub-folders.
The sub-folder
called ‘Icons’ contains all of the icons needed to form cursors,
toolbar-buttons etc.
The sub-folder
called ‘Hatching’ contains all of the ‘jpg’ image files
needed by the ‘2D Hatching’ tool.
The sub-folder
called ‘2DtoolsHelp_files’ contains the images etc used by this
html Help file.
An alternative
toolbar icon set by CADfather is included in a zip
file of that name – replace those in the Icons folder as desired…
With v4 there is a
new file called ‘deBabelizer.rb’ which is
used to translate the tools’ text to suit your locale - this file should
also be in the ‘Plugins’ folder.
There are also
related ‘lingvo’ files in the
‘2Dtools’ folder – v4 comes with 2DtoolsEN-US.lingvo
[English] and also 2DtoolsES.lingvo [Spanish] and 2DtoolsFR.lingvo
[French] –
See the ‘Help’
section on how to make a lingvo file to translate the
tools’ text to your locale language.
Please remove any
earlier 2D Tool Files / Folders: however, when the Tools are first run any
earlier unneeded Files or Folders will be deleted anyway…
The 2D Tools can
be used in conjunction with other built-in Sketchup Tools and other Plugins.
Some 2D Tools can
also be used beyond the limits of 2D - like the ‘2D Fillet Tool’
which works on all intersecting pairs of Edges, even in 3D.
The 2D Tools can
be accessed from the ‘Draw/2D Tools’ sub-menu or, perhaps more
readily by the ‘2D Tools’ toolbar, which can be opened from the
‘View/Toolbars’ sub-menu.
Many of the 2D Tools
are constrained in the XY direction only – i.e. they draw on the
Z-plane.
By default this is set to Z=0: however, you can reset if to any other height by
using this Tool.
Open the Tool and
either type in a new Z-height at the VCB or pick a point in 3D to set the new
Z-plane height.
If you type in a
Z-plane value at the VCB it is ‘absolute’ by default. It is in ‘current units’.
It is possible to
type in units other than those you currently have set – so if you are
modelling in ‘meters’ typing 1’0” will set Z=0.3048m.
If you want to set
the Z-plane ‘relative’ to the current Z-level then prefix its value
with a ‘+’ or ‘--‘ :
Note the use of the double
-– to differentiate the ‘relative’ minus from the normal
‘absolute’ –ve Z-values you might
type in otherwise.
So if your Z-plane is currently set to 100 then typing 25 gives Z=25, typing in
-25 gives Z= -25, BUT typing +25 gives Z=125 and typing --25 gives Z=75.
Subsequently any
2D Tool drawing that relies on the Z-plane will be placed at that Z-height, until
it is reset…
The current
Z-plane is remembered for the Model across sessions.
The current
Z-plane is shown in the VCB messages associated with 2D Tools that use it.
Note that if you
are using the 2D Line Tool pressing the <Tab> key will allow you to reset
the Z-plane part way through a Line-Set, and then continue using that Tool
- note how
‘<Tab>’ appears next to the ‘Z=123’ in its VCB
message as a reminder…
Draws 2D Lines
constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Open the Tool and
pick the line’s start-point.
The Tool then
continues to draw lines from the last picked point to the next picked-point.
A line length can
be typed in the VCB if desired: it will be in the current direction of the cursor,
using inference if appropriate.
Note: typing a
length in the VCB negates the current cursor’s input-point and therefore
any inferences will be lost for the cursor
when you start to make the next line: to re-set inferences re-click on the last
made line’s end-point - then the cursor will have its
inferences set from that picked point as usual.
Double-click on
the last-point drawn to complete the current line-set and to start a new
line-set.
To close the Tool
select any other tool or press <Esc> twice or double-click twice.
Pressing
<Esc> undoes the last line-set completely.
Pressing 'Ctrl'
toggles between Lines and Guidelines [as a reminder the temporary guides are
shown dotted].
Pressing 'Alt'
toggles between Lines and Polylines as a ‘welded curve’ [as a
reminder the temporary guides are shown orange].
Double-click on a Polyline's start-point to close its loop and to start a new
line-set...
Complex
intersecting line-sets might make fragmented loops or lines.
You cannot have
both Guidelines and Polylines 'on' together in the same line-set
!
The current
line-type setting is remembered during that use of the tool, but reverts to
‘Lines’ when the tool is next opened.
Normal Inference
Tips apply.
Note that if press
the <Tab> key it will allow you to reset the Z-plane part way through a
Line-Set, and then continue using the Tool
- note how
‘<Tab>’ appears next to the ‘Z=123’ in the VCB
message as a reminder…
Using 'Undo'
immediately after making a set of lines undoes them individually [unless
it’s a Polyline]
- do not go back beyond the first
line in that set, as temporary construction geometry will start to reappear...
Draws
a 2D 3-point rectangle constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Open the Tool and
pick two points to set one side and another to set the other dimension.
Dimensions can be
typed in the VCB if desired.
To close the Tool
select any other tool or press <Esc> or <Enter> twice.
Pressing
<Esc> undoes last rectangle completely.
Pressing 'Ctrl'
toggles between Lines and Guidelines [as a reminder the temporary guides are
shown dotted].
Pressing 'Alt'
toggles between Lines and Polylines as a ‘welded curve’ [as a
reminder the temporary guides are shown orange].
You cannot have
both Guidelines and Polylines 'on' together !
Draws a 2D
Freehand line-set constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Pick a start-point
then hold down the left mouse-button to continue drawing the freehand polyline.
Release the
mouse-button to complete the line-set.
You can (pre)set
the 'segment length' by typing a new size in the VCB – the default is
~1".
Small values give
finer paths, large values faceted paths.
Move within the
'segment length' of the first- point & release the mouse button to make a
closed loop,
the VCB will tell you if a closed loop is possible.
You can then start
a new Freehand line-set.
To close the Tool
just select any other tool or press <Esc> twice
or press <Enter>.
Pressing
<Esc> undoes the current Freehand line-set (if
any).
Normal Inference
Tips may apply.
Draws
a 2D Arc, by various methods - constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Typing NNs at any time changes the number of Segments in the Arc - e.g. 36s – default=18.
Typing
Typing
-
e.g. 22.5. A +ve angle is
drawn counter-clockwise and a -ve angle is drawn
clockwise.
The swept-angle is
dynamically reported in the VCB.
The swept-angle is limited to !=0° and <+/-360° for a 3-point
Arc.
The swept-angle is
limited to !=0° for a Center+2point Arc.
A Guidepoint is added at the Arc’s center.
Pressing 'Ctrl'
toggles between a 3point Arc and a Center+2point Arc.
Pressing 'Alt' toggles
a Center+2point Arc between having a swept-angle between >0° to
<180° and between 180° to 360°.
Normal Inference
Tips may apply.
Tip: To make a
3-point Arc Tangential to other Arcs or Edges it is recommended that you use
the built-in Arc Tool…
Draws a 2D Circle
constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Open the tool and
pick two or three points depending on the Circle’s type.
Typing NNs at any time changes the number of Segments in the circle - e.g. 36s – default=18.
Pressing 'Ctrl'
toggles between a Center+Radius and a
Pressing 'Alt'
toggles between a Center+Radius and a 2-Points for
You can type
The Circle's
segment vertex should be made touching the second-point picked. A Guidepoint
is added at the Circle’s center.
Normal Inference
Tips apply.
Draws a 2D Polygon
constrained to the pre-set Z-plane.
Open the tool and
pick two or three points depending on the Polygon’s type.
Typing NNs at any time changes the number of Sides in the Polygon - e.g. 12s – default=8.
Pressing 'Ctrl'
toggles between a Center+Radius and a 3-Point
Polygon.
Pressing 'Alt'
toggles between a Center+Radius and a 2-Points for
Diameter Polygon.
You can type
Typing NNx for a Center+Radius Polygon
sets the length of the Polygon’s Side to NN - e.g. 50x makes a Polygon
with Sides 50 current-units long, the radius is then calculated to suit;
picking the second-point in this case only serves to align the vertex of the
Polygon. Note that the NNx Side setting must be re-entered for each Polygon drawn.
The Polygon's
vertex should be made touching [or aligning with] the second-point picked.
A Guidepoint is added at the Polygon’s center.
Normal Inference Tips apply.
Open the Tool and
pick a point inside a 2D loop of Edges.
It makes a new
Face using that loop; it is always facing up.
If the Face exists
then it will be given the default color and it's
flipped upwards if necessary: this is a quick way of removing any materials, or
simply reversing upside down faces.
The loop/face is
limited to the current Z-plane.
Pick any other
tool or press <Enter> to end.
Open the Tool,
when it first runs for that Model you will need to select a Hatching Pattern
from a dialog – the default is ‘PATT__SOLID’ [black]. The selected ‘PATTern’
is remembered across sessions for that Model.
The folder
‘Plugins/2Dtools/Hatching’ contains a collection of jpg images that
are used as the ‘PATTern’ textures. There are many ‘CAD-like’
‘PATTerns’ available. You can add your own jpg images to this
folder as extra ‘PATTerns’ as desired.
Note that you can
edit any ‘PATTern’ that has already been
loaded into the Model’s Material Browser – e.g. you could change
its size, give it ‘transparency’ or ‘colorize’
it… using this Tool again and
choosing that existing ‘PATTern’ will
reuse the one already loaded, rather than remaking it from the ‘external
image file’.
If you have
previously run the tool on a Model then it will open without an initial dialog
– the Current ‘PATTern’ will be
shown on the VCB line – to change that Hatching ‘PATTern’ just right-click the mouse in empty-space
and the dialog should open: then choose a new ‘PATTern’.
To add Hatching
pick a Point inside a 2D loop of Edges - a ‘PATTerned’
Face will be made, always facing up.
It will also use
an existing Face at the picked-point, flipped upwards if necessary, with the
‘PATTern’ material applied.
The loop/face is
limited to the current Z-plane.
To end pick any
other tool or press <Enter>.
Note that you can
also use any ‘PATTern’ that already been
loaded as a Material with the ‘Paint-bucket’ etc to paint any Face in the Model – not just
flat 2D Faces…
This Tool makes a Radiused Fillet or Chamfer between any 2 Edges
Pressing the 'Alt'
key toggles between Fillet and Chamfer.
A Guidepoint is added at the Arc’s center.
The Tool extends
each picked Edge to suit the Arc / Chamfer, if it is short.
The Tool trims
each Edge to the Arc / Chamfer if the Edge has only one or no Faces.
At any time you
can type in a new Fillet Radius - e.g. 200 or a new Chamfer - e.g. 100 OR
100:200 for an uneven chamfer.
The 100:200 format
trims the first picked Edge by 100 and the second picked Edge by 200.
Note how Chamfer
is measured in from intersection of the two lines NOT their ‘ends’.
The Tool acts like
CAD’s “Trim/Extend” if the Fillet Radius=0 or the Chamfer=0
[these are the default settings].
You can also
change the number of Segments in a radiused fillet by
typing NNs
in the VCB - e.g. 6s for 6 segments: default=18.
The Fillet Radius
/ Chamfer settings are remembered across sessions for that Model.
The first starting
tooltip is 'Line1' - the Edge picked ('Line1') is
then highlighted.
The tooltip changes to 'Line2' when you are over a pickable Edge.
Picking two
non-intersecting Edges, or re-picking Line1 as Line2 etc makes a beep and
reports an error in Ruby Console.
To end pick any
other tool or press <Enter>.
This Tool Adjusts the
length of eligible picked Lines by ‘Trimming’ or
‘Extending’ them to a pre-selected set of
‘Target-Lines’.
Run it from the
menu or toolbar.
- You first Select the Target-Lines by
picking them individually or by holding down the mouse-button and dragging
over several Lines [like using the Eraser Tool].
To Remove a Line
from the Target-Lines Selection-set press <Shift> and re-pick
Target-Lines to be Removed from the Selection-set [the VCB line prompt also
changes from 'Adding' to 'Removing'], to toggle between them press
<Shift> again.
Target-Lines
forming part of an Arc/Polygon/Curve etc as a Segment are Selected
individually. Use
‘dragging’ to Select several Segments of an Arc etc.
Target-Lines
CANNOT included Construction-Lines [aka
Guide-Lines]. Tip: Draw a small
piece of temporary Line over the Cline to give a potential Intersection 'Line'.
It's recommended
that you don't have too many Target-Lines in any set - otherwise the resultant
Adjustments might be unexpected - especially where Curve/Arc Lines are picked
as each Segment becomes a Target-Line: instead Select a modest number, Adjust
some Lines, then double-click to Select new Target-Lines as needed etc...
As you Select them
the Target-Lines are highlighted 'orange'
for clarity. During this stage the
cursor is similarly colored.
- When all of the required Target-Lines
are Selected press <Enter>, or double-click the mouse-button. The Target-Lines remain
highlighted, but their color is changed to be 'cyan' - the cursor color
and VCB messages also change to suit.
Now you Pick the
Lines you want to 'Adjust'.
Pick each Line
nearer the End to be adjusted; that Line will 'Adjust' and it will either Trim
or Extend to the nearest Target-Line – if there is any intersection.
To Adjust a Line
again up to another Target-Line re-pick the Line.
If a Line Adjusts
but thereafter ‘sticks’ at a particular Target-Line then
double-click and re-select a new Target-Line set and the Line will Adjust to
that…
In a similar way
to the initial Target-Lines Selection methods you can also Adjust several Lines
at once by holding down the mouse-button and dragging over them. However, note that slowly dragging [or
dragging back and forth] might result in a Line first Extending then quickly
Trimming back, as it‘s like you have selected it twice in quick
succession! It could even lead to a
‘bugsplat’… Use drag-selection carefully or
pick lines individually...
You can 'undo' the
Adjustment by pressing <Esc>...
The picked Line
Adjusts to the Target-Line’s 'projected extension' – i.e. beyond
the two Ends of the particular Target-Line if necessary.
Lines without
connected geometry at their Adjusted End will have that End Vertex moved to
suit [Trim or Extend]: however, Lines with 'Shared Vertices' or Faces are not
changed - but a new piece of Line will be added from that End Vertex to the
Adjusted location, using the same Vector.
Lines Adjusted to
a Selected Target ‘Arc’ will Adjust to an Intersection with the
appropriate Arc's Segment – NOT it’s
‘Circumference’.
If you want the 'True
Intersections' between an Arc’s Circumference and a Line etc, then it's
recommended that you use one of TIG's other Tools -
like TrueTangents and TrueIntersections
to set up Guide-Points and Draw to these...
- If the Line picked for Adjustment is
part of an Arc then the picked portion of the Arc is Trimmed back to suit
where possible.
If that Arc would require Extension and it is tied to other Geometry then there is a beep - the Console suggests you draw a new 3-point Circle through the Arc's Vertices and then Erase unwanted parts... That kind of Arc is not readily Extendable because its Number of Segments or the lengths of its End Segments can be unmatchable to another Arc/Circle that would have to be made to replace it – and therefore it would mess up connected Geometry etc...
However, 'Lone' Arcs can be Extended to suitable Target-Lines: you must pick the Arc's End Segment that you want to Extend – especially if it is connected at its other End – this is because if the Arc touches or straddles the Target-Line picking the Arc on any Segment other than the unconnected End Segment will result in a Trim of the Arc back to the Target-Line, rather than an Extension of it. Remember that you can undo the last Adjustment.
Sometimes you might extend an Arc in error - it can then be Trimmed back to the Line by picking it again.
This 'Lone' Arc Extension redraws the Arc and gives it a Number of Segments equivalent to the original increased pro rata to suit the enlarged swept-angle.
NOTE: This Lone Arc Extend Mode is in its first beta release and might be prone to error – please save before using and feedback any details that will improve its development…
- If the Line picked for Adjustment is
part of a Circle or Polygon then the picked portion will be Trimmed back
to the Target-Line - note because they 'Loop' you cannot 'Extend' these.
- If a picked Line is also in the
Target-Lines set then it will still be Adjusted to suit, and the
highlighted Target-Line set is changed to match. If the Adjustment involves a 'Trim'
that removes complete Lines that were previously Target-Lines - e.g. parts
of a Polygon are gone or a Line is trimmed back twice until it has a zero
length - then those Target-Lines are removed from the Target-Line set. If the Target-Lines set is 'emptied'
by this then the Tool is reset: you will be prompted to pick more
Target-Lines...
- Any Picked Lines that do not intersect
with the Target-Lines set are ignored.
Occasionally bits of Line might get split at the Target-Line but refuse to be Erased by further Trimming - however, they can still be Erased with the normal Eraser Tool later...
- To end the current Adjustment session
press <Enter> or double-click the mouse-button - you can then start
another Target-Lines set.
To exit the Tool
completely either press <Enter> or double-click the mouse-button
twice/three times depending on the stage you are at, or just select any other
Tool.
The Model’s
Line Style is initially set to 1.0+Continuous+Black - to change it right-click
in empty space and a dialog will open - it asks for new settings.
The Line-Style
settings are:
Width: Depending on the
Model’s Units [Imperial or Metric] then the available widths are:
0.05,
0.1, 0.2, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10, 12,
18, 20, 24, 25, 36, 48, 50, 60, 72, 75, 84, 96, 100, 108, 120, 132, 144 [in
inches]: default= 1.0
or
1,
2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 80, 90, 100, 125, 150, 175,
200, 250, 300, 400, 450, 500, 600, 700, 750, 800, 900, 1000, 1200, 1500, 1800,
2100, 2400, 2700, 3000, 3300, 3600 [in mm]: default= 25
Style:
Continuous_____, Dot. . . .
. . ., Dashed- - - - -, Hidden-- -- -- --, DashDot- . - .
- . -, Center--
- -- - --, Phantom--- -- --- and
Divide-- .. -- .. --: default= Continuous_____
At the end of the
Standard Styles there is also '< Custom Style >' – choosing this
opens another dialog in which you can enter your own Custom Style’s Name
and its Pattern.
Its Name cannot be
blank or '< Custom Style >' or contain a '~' or a ‘|’. The Pattern must be made of dots and
spaces (. ), and start with a dot, and end with a space.
Any Custom Styles
in the Model are shown at the end of the List of Styles, they are sorted in
alphanumeric order and shown in the format:-
'MyStyle~.... .... ' - with a '~' between the Name and the
Pattern.
You can make any
number of Custom Styles, these are remembered with the Model. Choosing < Custom Style > and
entering an existing Name will overwrite that Pattern [any Lines that were Styled with the earlier Pattern are not affected by this]:
entering "" [nothing] as the Style's Pattern will remove that Custom
Style from the List.
Color: Black, Red, Green, Blue, etc = you have
available all of the Model’s loaded Materials + all of the
‘Standard Colors’: default=
‘Black’
Tip: the standard
input dialog has limited capabilities – so to access the Color names that are ‘off the screen’ you need
to type a Color's first letter,
and then use the up/down arrow-keys to scroll to it – e.g. press the
‘R’ key then use the arrow keys to scroll to ‘Red’...
These three
settings are remembered in that Model, across sessions.
The current
settings are shown on the VCB line when the Tool is active.
If you want to
change the settings at any time simply open the settings dialog by
right-clicking the mouse in an empty-space...
When the tool is
running pick an Edge and it will be replaced with the desired Line-Style - i.e.
Width + Style + Color...
You can also pick
multiple Edges by holding down the mouse-button and dragging over several
together.
If that picked
Edge is part of an Arc/Polyline/welded-curve then all connected Edges are
Styled to match.
If a Style’s
‘dot’ pattern won't fit in the Edge’s length then a
‘solid line’ is substituted.
The Styled-Line is
place a little (0.4mm) above the original Edge so that there is no
‘z-fighting’ between its Faces and the Edge’s Face.
If you want to
relocate a Styled-Line then use the Move Tool: to Move a ‘centred’
line onto an Edge Move it by half its width
– e.g. move it constrained to an axis and if it’s 2 wide type
1”
The
Styled-Lines’ Edges are ‘Hidden’ – they will be visible
if View > Hidden Geometry is switched ‘on’.
The original Edge
is put onto a hidden Layer '~2D-
The
'Styled-Line'[Group] is put onto a visible Layer '~2D-
These Layers can
be switched on and off as desired...
The
‘Styled-Line’ Group is put into the same Entities as the Edge
– e.g. the Model or perhaps a Group/Component.
The Edge and
'Styled-Line' Group will need to be erased separately if desired...
To End the Tool
press <Enter> or double-click the mouse in empty-space.
Note: the latest version of the ‘Line Style’ Tool now
works on 3D Edges.
If the picked Edge has no Faces or it has two Faces that are co-normal [i.e.
they are on the same plane] then the Styled-Line is centred on that Edge.
If the Edge has just one Face or its Faces are not co-normal [e.g. a
cube’s edge and its two faces] then the Styled-Line is placed within the
Edges on the Face itself, with that Edge forming the outer side of the
Styled-Line. When an Edge has a
Face the normal of the Styled-Line will match the Face. If the Edge has two Faces then the
normal of the Face that is nearest to the Camera’s view-line will be used
– so you should Orbit so that you are looking more squarely at the Face
that you want to orient to.
If you want to force the Styled-Lines onto a particular Face, then before
running this Tool use ‘Select’ and double-click the Face so its
Edges are also highlighted and then make a temporary Group of them. Edit the Group and use the Line-Style
Tool on the required Edges. Explode
the Group on completion. Grouping
the individual Faces/Edges of a cube etc will allow you to edit each Group and
apply Styled-Lines to Face’s Edges in turn… Explode these Groups on
completion as desired. If a 3D Edge
does not have a Face then the Tool will orient the Styled-Line facing up, if it
is vertical then the Styled-Line will orient to the ’Front’ [i.e.
the negative Y-Axis]. If that it
isn’t what you wanted you can Rotate the Styled-Lines to suit
later… or perhaps more easily you could temporarily make a Face for the
Edges before Styling them so the Styled-Lines take that Face’s plane for
their orientation.
Later, if you Select a 'Styled-Line' Group
you will get a context-menu item named 'Edit 2D Styled Line' - in the dialog
that opens, you can enter any new settings as desired... If multiple instances are Selected
before opening the dialog then they will all get these new settings.***
Note: since a Styled-Line might have been adjusted in its location
to suit its original Edge/Face – e.g. realigned with its side on the Edge
if it’s on a Face - and that that Edge/Face might no longer exist - then
changing a Styled-Line’s Width
might result in a seemingly anomalous placement. If it was originally
‘centred’ on a lone or co-normal faced Edge it should change
acceptably. Changes to a
Styled-Line’s Color
or Style should not cause any
problems. A changed Styled-Line can
always be manually Moved to suit it’s new Width, BUT if a large number of Styled-Lines with Width changes are envisaged, then it
might well be easier/quicker to Erase those Styled-Lines, switch-on the
‘~2D-
Tip: ***During Editing keep the Outliner window 'rolled up' to
avoid slowness in responses – it might also avoid those rare ‘Bugsplats’.
Open the Tool and
a dialog asks you to ‘Enter Text’ and ‘Edit Settings’ [default=Yes].
Enter the text you
require in the first field, and answer Yes/No for ‘edit settings’,
then OK…
If you choose to
‘edit settings’ you get a second dialog with these options:
Height: The ‘size’ of the text in current units:
default=4” or 100mm etc depending on the Model’s settings.
Alignment: Left/Center/Right: default=Center; this setting only becomes apparent on multi-line
text*.
Font: The Fonts available are listed in the file '2DtextTool_Fonts.txt', which can be
found in the Plugins/2Dtools folder.
By default it contains most Fonts used by XP, Vista and Mac. You can edit the file to remove or add
Fonts [one per line] to suit your OS or your own Font preferences...
Bold: Yes/No: default=No.
Italic: Yes/No : default=No.
Filled: Yes/Yes+Edges/No: default=Yes,
which adds Faces to the text and Hides all Edges, Yes+Edges
also shows the Edges and No makes only Edges and no Faces.
Color: The Text’s Face Color: Black, Red, Green, Blue, etc = you have all available Model
Materials + ‘All Standard Colors’:
default= ‘Black’.
Snap: Z-plane/Any-Face: default=’Z-plane’ - it snaps
to the Z-plane – note how snapping to something that’s off the
Z-plane in 3D will set its XY location, but it will still be placed on the
Z-plane. The alternative is
‘Any-Face’ - if the picked point is on any Face the 2D Text will
snap on it, at that 3D-point.
The initial default snap is ‘Z-plane’ but the current snap-mode is
saved with the Model across sessions.
All dialog
settings are remembered in the Model, across sessions.
Tip 1: the standard input dialog has limited capabilities –
so to access the Color names etc that are ‘off
the screen’ you need to type that Color's first
letter,
and then use the up/down arrow-keys to scroll to it – e.g. press the
‘R’ key then use the arrow keys to scroll to ‘Red’...
Tip 2: the 2D Text has no ‘thickness’: but you can
easily make extruded 3D shapes from it - first make the 2D Text with Filled=Yes+Edges [or =Filled of smooth shapes], then Edit the 2D
Text by double-clicking on it, finally use PushPull
on a Face to give it an extrusion – the dimension entered or picked is
remembered and double-clicking on subsequent Faces will extrude them to
match. Note that any
‘extrusion’ will be lost if ‘2D Text Edit’ is used on
that Object later.
*To make
multi-line text you must add a line-break ['\n'] into the text, e.g. "My
Text" is on one line, whereas "My\nText" is made on two lines.
Press OK to create the piece of ‘2D
Text’. It is shown attached
to the cursor. You can then pick
its insertion point.
Note that if the snap-mode is set to ‘Z-plane’ then snapping to
something that’s off the Z-plane in 3D will set its XY location, but it
will still be placed on the Z-plane: if the snap is ‘All-Faces’
then the 2D Text will snap onto that 3D-point.
Press Cancel to
exit without saving changes to the settings.
Press <Esc>
to abort placing the piece of 2D Text on your cursor.
Undo will undo the
last placed 2D Text Object.
The ‘2D
Text’ is created as a Component which can be copied as desired [or
inserted from the Component-Browser].
It’s named
‘~2DText#1’ etc [incrementing], if the snap-mode is
‘All-Faces’ then it name format becomes ‘~2DText[3D]#1’
etc.
Note that subsequently editing one Instance of will affect any other Instances
of that Component – unless you use the built-in ‘make_unique’ on it first.
After the 2D Text
is placed the Tool exits - run the Tool again to make more 2D Text…
Later on: if you use the Select Tool to highlight a piece of ‘2D
Text’ you will get a right-click context-menu item 'Edit 2D Text'.
Pick on that and in the consequent dialog type new ‘text’ or edit
the other settings [except the ‘snap’] as desired...
Note: keep the Outliner and Component-Browser windows 'rolled up'
when using this Tool to avoid slowness in responses – it might also avoid
rare ‘Bugsplats’.
Open the Tool and
Pick an Arc, Polyline or welded-curve.
It is then overlaid
with an orange ghost-polyline and vertex-markers.
To move a vertex
pick a vertex-marker on the original Polyline [shown black, it temporarily goes
green],
then pick its new location [dynamic dotted lines show the changes].
The Tool moves and
the orange ghost-polyline and vertex-markers adjusted
to suit.
The original
Polyline remains unchanged at this stage.
To make the
changes to the original Polyline press <Enter>.
The original
Polyline vertices are then adjusted to match.
Any Faces
belonging to the Polyline’s Edges are also kept
and/or adjusted to suit.
The Tool remains
active: press <Esc> to exit without the changes being saved.
Opens this .htm ‘Help’ file…
This file
‘2DtoolsHelp.htm’ can be copied and translated into other locale
languages.
The copy should be
named with the appropriate locale code suffix so it is loaded in preference to
the original.
There is already a
Spanish version ‘2DtoolsHelpES.htm’ included in the ‘2Dtools’
folder.
Using the same
format a new French language file would be named
‘2DtoolsHelpFR.htm’.
The .htm code can be edited just like a .doc file with many
tools - including ‘Word’ – the image files etc should need no
editing.
Use such tools to
translate the Help file into your language…
Translations of
the tool’s text - with v4 there are also related ‘lingvo’ files in the ‘2Dtools’ folder
– v4 comes with 2DtoolsEN-US.lingvo [English] and 2DtoolsES.lingvo
[Spanish] .
These are used by
‘deBableizer’ to translate the text
within the tools and menus.
There are the
default English versions called ‘2DtoolsEN-US.lingvo’, and the
Spanish version ‘2DtoolsES.lingvo’ already included in the
‘2Dtools’ folder.
The file
‘2DtoolsEN-US.lingvo’ can be copied and translated into other
locale languages: with the copy’s name suffixed with the appropriate
locale code so it is loaded rather than the default.
For example to
make a French language version copy ‘2DtoolsEN-US.lingvo’ as
‘2DtoolsFR.lingvo’.
Then in each line
translate the first field and replace the second field with that [<==> is the separator]
For example:
Yes<==>Yes
becomes
Yes<==>Oui
in the FR
version…
If the tools find
a locale version of a lingvo file it will be used
– otherwise the language will be EN-US.
If a string is
translated in the lingvo file it will be used -
otherwise the string will remain in EN-US.
See the contents
of the lingvo files for examples…
The 2D Tools are © TIG 2009.
Permission to use, copy, modify, and
distribute this software for any purpose, without fee*, is hereby granted,
provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS"
INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
*These tools are offered ‘free’
however, if you would like to make a donation,
especially if you use them commercially or
perhaps just in recognition of their usefulness,
and/or for TIG’s many other tools that you
might be using,
then it wouldn’t be refused - the amount is up to you…
To make a Donation please use this PayPal link …