Hi Guys

I am currently trying out a version of lighting 2d as a plotting program, I use Martin show designer as my design tool and a cad program as my plotting tool at the moment but liked the reporting features your program has, I have gone through the tutorials which have been fine and have imported DXF files from other programs and put them into the library for stardraw. However I have all the trouble in the world trying to snap these together accurately. I have changed the snap defaults between 30 and 50 and tried to grab the objects in multiple areas to get these snaps more accurate with no success.



I think I just need more information on the best way to snap in your program and the best way of grabbing objects for snaps. Also is there a way that I can draw a line without having to use the mouse ie- click on a snap and put in line length and angle without drawing the line 1st and then changing the properties.



Thanks



Jamie Schmidt

Hi Jamie,

It's hard to evaluate where the difficulty lies without seeing exactly what you're doing.  Perhaps you could post a drawing to this forum or, if you'd prefer, email it to techsupport@stardraw.com.

As general pointers...

1. Do you have the correct Modifier active, e.g. Snap to Object if you want to snap to mid- or endpoints, Snap to Grid if you want to snap to the grid?
2. If you click on a line, the point you click on will be the point that snaps when using Snap to Object.  If you want to pick up a line exactly at the mid- or end- point, approach the line with your cursor and click when the 4way arrow appears but before the cursor is over the line.  Even though the cursor is not on the line, you will pick it up at the nearest mid- or end-point.  (This takes a little getting used to)

With regard to drawing lines, you can't draw one without using the mouse, but you can change a line's properties using Command Line entry.  For example, to set the length to 1.5m (assuming you are working in Meters) just type in 1.5 [Enter].  You can use Command Line entry to set dimensions, move selected objects and invoke commands.  Full details are given in the Help file.

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Hi Rob

Thanks for the quick reply.

I think I know what the problem is but I am not quite sure how to fix it.

When it comes to lines I have no problems with the snaps they all work well, the problem that I have is with my symbols snapping. I have created my own symbols and have imported them into

stardraw and have them in my library, they are the correct look, scale.

I understand the modifiers and mainly use the snap to end point/ Middle point. What I will normal do is create a work layer and a truss layer. I will draw a line in my work layer and then snap my truss to the end of that line in my truss layer.

Here lies the problem, when i try to snap the centre point of the entire truss to the end point of my line it does not snap correctly and acurately. It seems as though the program is not treating the symbol as a single object and is snapping to the midpoint of the lines within the symbol which unfortunately is not the centre point of the object.

unfortanatly this creates problems for me in creating accurate truss runs and lighting positions. I do realise that this would be a user error as i know that there must be a way to accurately position symbols instead of just drag and drop or using the grid which sometimes does not fall where you require a snap.

I hope this clears up what I was trying to say

Thanks

Jamie Schmidt

Hi Jamie,

The problem you're experiencing is based on the fact that the midpoint of a symbol is not a valid snap point.  Snap points are necessarily related to objects like lines and have to be on a drawn object; snap points cannot float in space.

If you want to align a point where there might not be a drawn object, like the center point of a symbol, two options spring to mind.

1) Use the Align tool.  This allows you to align, say, the midpoint of one selection (e.g. your symbol) with the end of your line.

2) Modify your symbols to create a snap-able object at the symbol's midpoint, as we do with 'module targets'.  You can have this object on a layer that is usually hidden and only show the layer when you need to use the object for snapping purposes. 

Kind regards,
Rob Robinson
Stardraw.com

Hi Rob

Thanks for your reply

The allignment tool was what I was after, (right tool for the right job), I also found that the group button assisted more and when you have alligned to objects together and grouped them they will allign as a group and not an individual object, the problem that I had was I did not realise that symbols were treated as a smaller drawing and not a whole object like my other programs.

This comes in handy when I want to still edit the symbol in the drawing which my other program does not allow.

Thanks

Jamie Schmidt