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Suggestion: 2D drafting tools.

3 REPLIES 3
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Message 1 of 4
dgbates2
406 Views, 3 Replies

Suggestion: 2D drafting tools.

Hi Developers,

 

It would be great to have new drafting tools.

 

Firstly, an offset tool. This could work by selecting tool > select lines / activate group > define direction by moving mouse > define offset numerically by entering value press enter.

 

Secondly, a scale tool for imported line information. Again, working by selecting tool > select lines / activate group > define scale factor numerically by entering value press enter.

 

and Thirdly, when drawing lines it would be useful to simply define the length numerically from the starting point. Like most other 2D drawing packages this works by clicking to start drawing line > move mouse to define line direction / angle > enter numerical value press enter.

 

This would be super-cool.

 

Best Regards,

 

Daniel

3 REPLIES 3
Message 2 of 4
C.Nicks
in reply to: dgbates2

Hi Daniel,

As a long time Eagle user I wanted to share my opinion of your suggested tools. Personally I think Autodesk should primarily focus their efforts on modernizing the UI (properties kept on a sidebar anyone?) and fine tuning the tools already. You can probably achieve everything that you're looking for by writing or using ULPs.

 

Offset tool:

When I want to offset, I use the grid. Drawing, moving, or copying can all be offset by setting the distance in the grid. It's very fast and using Alt grid you can actually have 2 offset options with a single key press. By default things will not automatically snap to the grid except when drawing, but moving and copying will only move the distance of the grid. If you want to snap to the grid hold crtl while clicking.

 

Scale Tool:

I'm unclear to what situations would make this a high value tool. If you are importing lines, then whatever script importing them may have scale options. I know the DXF and bitmap import both support scaling.

 

Length defined lines:

I like this idea, but currently when you're drawing a line and type a numerical value it changes the width. I do not want that changed, rather you could type L (or full command 'length') followed by the length. That would especially be handy when you want a specific diagonal line and don't want to do the geometry.

 

Best Regards,
Cameron


Eagle Library Resources


Kudos are much appreciated if the information I have shared is helpful to you and/or others.
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Message 3 of 4
dgbates2
in reply to: C.Nicks

I think a floating toolbox which hovers at a set distance from the mouse with various properties would be useful. ArchiCAD has this function and it's great.

 

The line length function is definitely the most necessary of my suggestions. Fair you say typing a value currently changes width.. this is fine. Swings and roundabouts whether you have a 'w' or 'width' command to change line width, or 'l' or 'length' command as a secondary.. Personally I'd prefer 'length' as a default be entering a value, I would put this to a vote. Regardless, enabling a 'length' property on the top bar, which continuously changes as the mouse moves, and able to be selected by cycling the Tab button would be useful..

 

Yes, the scale tool would be useful for imported information. I import alot of line information extracted from PDFs which saves me a great deal of time drafting new library parts. However, the scale is often incorrect, and takes me two passes and an import to get the correct scale.. Not a big deal but it would be nice to have a scale tool.

 

I don't want to have to change my grid size every time I want to offset. There's no incompatibility between my desire for an offset tool and your current tradition of using the grid settings.

 

All the best,

 

Daniel

Message 4 of 4
samykamkar
in reply to: dgbates2

I'm a huge fan of Autodesk Fusion 360's sketching tool. When creating lines/box, you can define the length at the time of creation (just by typing), or you can later adjust it with the dimension tool (typing D to enable the tool, clicking the line, typing the dimension). I've made a quick vid to demo it, I think this would be awesome in Eagle's Board layout.

 

I also show how you can then offset something after the fact with a line between them (which automatically places a constraint which allows the quick offsetting). Granted all the functionality might be overkill (and a long time to create) for the drawing, but the various ways to quickly sketch is such a pleasure to use. Laying out new packages in Eagle can be a bit daunting in comparison, but it sounds like there are some improvements in the works!

 

 

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