Xfig questions

[Howard Gibson]

On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:24:29 -0500
David J Patrick <djp-tnsZcVQxgqO2dHQpreyxbg at public.gmane.org> wrote:

> Howard Gibson wrote:
> > On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:28:51 -0500
> > David J Patrick <djp-tnsZcVQxgqO2dHQpreyxbg at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> > 
> >> Xfig ? but why ?
> >> yes Xfig
> > 
> >    Yes, indeed!
> > 
> >> so the questions;
> >>
> >>
> >> how to rotate other than 90deg ?
> >> seems obvious, can't do it.
> > 
> >    Yes, you can.  When you click on any of the buttons on the side of your screen, look at the buttons on the bottom of your screen.  It is there.
> I see it, I click it, I enter non-90, and can't seem to apply it.

   I just tried entering -90, and it worked fine.  I am on version 3.2 here. 

> >> If I want to use fig to create (low-accuracy) scale floorplans, by 
> >> tracing over a CAD image, what's the best way to set up the scale ?
> I designed most of the caffe, including all of the "cabinetry", using 
> Qcad; good but overkill for the job at hand. The current mission is to 
> provide simple graphics and illustrations for a .. book.

   Save your QCAD image as PNG.  Load the PNG image into Xfig, and trace over that.  

   Alternatively, you can print QCAD to file.  This gives you a PostScript file which you can convert to PDF, or to epsi.  EPS files work fine in LaTeX.  QCAD has better line thickness and layer control than Xfig.  Xfig is actually quite good for artistic drawing.  

> uhhh.. probably not. I've stared at AutoCAD and solidworks screens, as 
> well as Maya and Blender, and brother, I'm not going there. ever. not 
> with this brain. Qcad, Inkscape, Dia, Xfig, OK, anything more and I'll 
> spend all day trying to make a rectangle.
>   the '90s.

   I did not mention AutoCAD or QCAD in response to this question, because they do not do tables intelligently.  Just like with Xfig, you can draw something, then array it.  A 5x3 array provides fifteen copies of your original drawing in a five by three array.  If you want some form of intelligence, you need 3D parametric CAD software, like SolidWorks.

-- 
Howard Gibson 
hgibson-MwcKTmeKVNQ at public.gmane.org
howardg-PadmjKOQAFn3fQ9qLvQP4Q at public.gmane.org 
http://home.eol.ca/~hgibson
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