Possible to make a guideline based on geometry?

[garionh]

Hi

I often have this problem. I import vectors from Sketchup. In V Carve pro, I want to add some additional geometry (in this specific example, I imported wardrobe doors, and I need to add pockets for cup hinges at precise locations inset from the edge of the cupboard doors).

However, there does not seem to be a way to set a guideline from the edge of a part, a rectangle in my case currently (according to this section of the manual, https://docs.vectric.com/docs/V9.0/VCar ... g-Snapping).

Workarounds I have found are to add additional geometry on the part and delete it later, or to move each part to the origin 0,0, both of which are pretty tedious.

I can never get parts to snap to Guidelines, despite having "snap to guides" set on - I have an open support case with Vectric about this, not sure if it's a 9.5-related bug - but that'd be an acceptable solution (make a guideline near the edge of the part, then move the part to the guideline).

Any advice welcome.

[IslaWW]

Have you tried placing your cup geometry in a rectangle that places the hole pattern where needed when the rectangle is aligned to the edge and top/bottom/center?

[martin54]

Have you tried altering your snapping radius ? May just need to alter the snap distance a bit, as for guide lines if you select a guid line & then use the right click menu you can set its position

[Adrian]

Have you got geometry snapping turned on? You can't snap a guide to a vector if that's off. With that on I can snap a guide to any point I like without issues and then use the right click menu to move it a relative amount from there etc.

However I often line up parts a set distance from other geometry and I don't use guides. What I do is to align the parts using the standard alignment tools and the use the Move tool with the relative setting to move the part to the exact location I want. I find that is very quick and easy and there are no guides to delete afterwards.

[LittleGreyMan]

Workarounds I have found are to add additional geometry on the part and delete it later

I sometimes used additional construction geometry for specific designs. But you don't need to delete these vectors: simply use a specific layer you can switch on and off. This will allow you to keep these items in case you make modifications.

[garionh]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback. Judging by all the workarounds offered, it does not seem like it's possible to set a guideline based on existing geometry. Coming from Sketchup where I do that 13 times an hour, it's weird, but I expect I will adjust.

IslaWW I had not tried that approach (circle in a rectangle, and use snapping to paste it where needed). I just tried it now, and it works as a workaround. Thanks.

martin54 Yes, tried adjusting the snapping radius several times, does not seem to affect it. Yes, I'm aware I can edit guidelines positions by right-clicking, but first I have to determine the position of the edge of my part, then type that in to a manual guide position. Possible, but pretty tedious.

Adrian Yes, geometry snapping is turned on.

LittleGreyMan Great idea to have construction geometry on a different layer!

[LittleGreyMan]

BTW, I just forgot to mention that I gave a try in the last Aspire demo (not Vcarve) and as Adrian, guidelines snap at any relevant point.

[Adrian]

In Sketchup a guide can be a partial line with a defined starting point. In the Vectric world a guide is a line that doesn't have a defined start or end point. Sketchup has guides like that as well. The Vectric guides can definitely be snapped to geometry. If that's not working for you you're either misunderstanding the method or have something turned off or there is a problem with your installation (unlikely).

It may help if you attach a file showing the geometry you're using. I often find with people coming from another package what they are trying to do is achievable with a different tool that they are not used to using. For instance, with what you've described so far, I wouldn't use guides at all. I would use relative moves.

[martin54]

I don't use guides a lot so had forgot they worked with geometry snapping, just tried it in latest version & seems to be working ok for me. I tend to work the way Adrian has mentioned using the alignment & move tools, I also generally use the bottom left corner during set up & then place the parts I am working on at zero zero so it is easy to place other parts relative to that. Using layers for each part prevents crossing vectors & trying to figure out what is what

[garionh]

Hey Adrian,

While it's tempting to respond, "I'm not a &^(%$# idiot!", I think you're right, I am mis-understanding something.

I tried this again (Moving a part, having it snap to a guide). It worked fine the first time! But the next 20 times, it just would not snap to the guideline. It snapped to the origin, and to other geometry on the original position of the part itself, but not to the guideline.

V Carve Pro file is attached. Doors on the far right, on red layer "testing snapping", guideline right there.

Also attached, a screenshot of my snapping options. And, why not, a short video of it not working, that I posted on Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thFTuig ... e=youtu.be

Thanks for your help.

[LittleGreyMan]

I opened your file in Aspire trial 9.507 and everything works fine: snapping parts to guidelines and snapping guidelines to parts.

So it's definitely the way you attempt to do it or something in your configuration (using a touch screen, a pen tablet, OS virtualisation, …).

When moving a part to the target object for snipping, you have to catch it at the right place: select the object or the group of object. Its color will change. Click it a second time and the handles will appear. Now if you hover the mouse, it will detect particular points (angles, middle of a segment, …) and the cursor will change. If you grab it at this particular point, it will snap the target point when you release it.

[tomgardiner]

A little off topic but my solution for placing hinge bores on cabinet doors is to draw a 35mm circle and a line from '9 o'clock' extending 5mm (cup distance to edge) in x by 5" in y for the distance from top or bottom edge of the door. Now I can copy, mirror the pair and move to the appropriate place by snapping to the corner of the door. I import the vectors into a drawing when necessary.

[SteveNelson46]

Using your example on You Tube, try grabbing the corner of the rectangle (the mouse cursor will change to a move-snap icon) and drag to the guideline.

[garionh]

@littlegreyman, for the record, I'm using Win10, a mouse and a keyboard. As @SteveNelson46 also pointed out, it was not clear to me that I needed to grab the part at a snapped point, for it to be able to snap the part to a guideline. That makes sense (and is really just like SketchUp!). Not sure why I tried it differently here!

@tomgardiner, oh yes, that's a good workaround!

@SteveNelson46, ah HA! Yes, that works reliably! Thanks.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your time. We can call this resolved (user-error of course!).

[SteveNelson46]

@littlegreyman, for the record, I'm using Win10, a mouse and a keyboard. As @SteveNelson46 also pointed out, it was not clear to me that I needed to grab the part at a snapped point, for it to be able to snap the part to a guideline. That makes sense (and is really just like SketchUp!). Not sure why I tried it differently here!

@tomgardiner, oh yes, that's a good workaround!

@SteveNelson46, ah HA! Yes, that works reliably! Thanks.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your time. We can call this resolved (user-error of course!).

This was actually the same thing that LGM said. Just not quite so detailed.