front panel drawing software

Tips & Tricks
1

hallo

which program (osx) do you guys use to draw the front plates?

simone

2

I want to know the same, but my OS is XP.

I asked this question several times in other threads, but

no one really answered it.

I’d also like to know how you print the layout on lazertran or self-adhesive foil

so that the dimensions fit.

(e.g. that a 5mm hole has a diameter of exactly 5mm)

matthias

3

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 app

i 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..

4

er…ok… and where are the graphics?  ::)  ???

5

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…

6

Is there any Freeware-stuff you recommend?

7

hey

i 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 help

simone

8

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)    :smiley:

i am looking forward to your model! no, just kidding. but inkscape can do.

9

for a 3d-model with lighted leds and a spotlight reflection on the case use blender

I 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  :stuck_out_tongue: :-[

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.html

cheers,

Michael

10

Has anybody ever tried this?

http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.html

there’s a demo-version, it’s actually not bad, but IMHO it’s a bit expensive..

11

Has anybody ever tried this?

http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.html

there’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

12

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 5,6

Raster graphics: pixel 1= 255 2=122 etc…

13

It works pretty well with CorelDraw 12.

14

Has anybody ever tried this?

http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.html

there’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)

15

just found QCad: http://www.ribbonsoft.com/qcad.html

It’s a commercial product (25 $), but the source is GPL’ed.

Anyone ever tried this?

Cheers,

Michael

16

hallo

i 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

17

It does! I think so too. It is user-friendly, for beginners and experts.

18

…and cross-platform :slight_smile:

19

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.

20

hi

i ve exported an image of an Eagle PCB (90dpi) and imported it in Inkscape but alignment is all *filtered* up !!  :smiley:

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