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Re: Corel Draw, computer patterns
> Tell us more about your Corel Draw experience (anyone else too). I have
> been using corel Draw 3.0 but it only has a 30" square page space. Does anyone
> know which version increased the page space? (I saw an ad that said version 6 has
> a 45ft space but the older versions are much less expensive).
> Also how do you deal with the fonts? It seems easy to make outline type letters
> (just set the outline to 10mm or 12mm or xxmm) but single line neon letters are
> another story. Any tricks?
> I saw in the archive someone was working on some single line scaleable fonts. Any more
> news on that subject?
Frank,
That was me on the single-line fonts. 30" is a little tight. I use
Adobe Illustrator, and it give you about an 8x8' workboard.
Like you said, making double-tube patterns is easy: just outline at
your desired tube width. Single stroke are a different deal. I still
haven't come up with anything "great." Even a sign program that can draw
a "centerline" will often give you a rotton single-stroke letter.
My best trick so far is to use a font-editing program (Fontographer) and
manually go thru each letter and reduce it's weight to a hair-thin line.
Then you can scale it, stretch it, whatever-it, and when you're ready for
a pattern just outline it at 12,13, or 15mm (for example). It would be
relatively easy to write an Adobe plug-in to perform this task with a
single command. That's a future project.
There must be a better way, as ditzing with fonts is very tedious. Don't
do it! I'm a computer nerd, and I do stuff like this when I can't sleep
at night. I would love to find a collection of single-line fonts.
But seriously, the thinner the font, the better for neon patternmaking.
Some fonts, like Adobe Tekton and Avant Garde extra light lend
themselves especially well to patterns. At any size they are still less
width than a neon tube, and you can outline them to the required width.
Have I made any sense at all? This stuff drives me crazy.
-John