I'm working on a composite sketch showing a photo of a side of a vehicle with proposed lettering. I'm putting the vector logo on the door. The letters have a very slight outline. The outline is checked to scale with image. At full size the letter is thin. But as I shrink the letters down to fit on the vehicle door they get fatter. Blow it up, the letters are thin, shrink it down, the letters get fat. I've tried several options but nothing is working.
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
I would use the "Contour" feature to get a simulated outline look- it just creates a larger object underneath the original object- then it will scale just fine... I don't use outlines much for what I do, mostly for the exact issues you are having.
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Jean, do you have the outlines set to "scale with object" in the "Pen Outline" dialog box?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Also, do you have "Behind fill" checked? By default, Corel puts the outline on top of the object and as an object is made smaller, a minimum size outline gets fatter in proportion even if "Scale with object" is checked. Having the outline behind the fill helps keep the outline from encroaching on the object. If you want a certain amount of outline, you may also have to double the size of the outline in the dialog box because half of it would be hidden by the fill of the object.
My normal solution is what Michael mentioned, for the same reasons.
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
Yes, I have "scale with object" checked and also "behind fill". Still have the same problem. Another problem, my Graphtec pinch roller just died. Have a new customer coming in tomorrow morning with a vehicle to letter. I've spent the past 2 hours trying to "rig" a pinch roller. Will have to wait for the part to come from California. Oh well...
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
I would do a contour and break it apart from the original letters. If you don't break it apart, the contour does not scale. It stays the same.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
As Michael and Bruce said..."Contour" is the way to go!
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Of course, contouring won't help your pinch roller problem.
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
"Pinch" Yourself David!!!
You made a comment that wasn't humorous??? Posted by Michael Gene Adkins (Member # 882) on :
All versions of Corel have a glitch in it that will somehow "turn off" the outline as you have set it, including the scaling of the outline.
When does this glitch occur? Well, it is unpredictable. It usually occurs when you are copying features from one object to another, or when you're piling up a lot of vectors and rescaling them, but sometimes I think it occurs when the vector itself is somehow corrupted. No amount of trying to reassign the outline values will help. You basically have to start over from scratch or ....
COUNTOUR IT! As mentioned above.
I just wanted to post this so you'd know yer not losing yer mind ....
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
I agree - I have always had issues with the outline (since version 1- wow does that make me old) it has always been unpredictable- sometimes it works fine, then all hades breaks loose...
don't know about the pinch roller- maybe find something out of rubber that you could mount in place- I have used sticky stuff like dried rubber cement on the rollers to help them grip slick stuff before... maybe cut a wooden dowel that is close to the diameter... I don't know
Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :
I never use strokes...always contours. The contour tool in X3 can be a little tricky for me sometimes, and contour only some of the letters. Changing the contour size is often a workaround.
Posted by Jean Shimp (Member # 198) on :
Thanks for all the sugestions. I ordered a new pinch roller after playing around and wasting valuable time. I had to postpone my job and my customer was super nice about it. I dusted off the old Gerber 4B and am able to get some work done, really helped! As for the outlines, it's good to know I'm not the only one who's had to fight this battle. I've got a customer's file right now with double outlines which is making me crazy. I thought it would be a piece of cake because they sent a nice vector file. Ha, I've spent more time on this in both Corel and SignLab trying to separate all the paths and make a proof and a cut file. I guess I'm going to have to figure out a way to specify not only a vector file but a simplified vector file. Don't know if that's going to be possible. Posted by Elaine Beauchemin (Member # 136) on :
Jean, for your file outline/scaling problem...did you tried to convert the outline to object before scaling? just a thaught, maybe?
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Dave,
I almost added to my last comment that I've been able to pinch a few rollers around my contours lately. However, I pinched that statement and decided to roll with being serious for once. Don't worry--it'll never happen again!
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
Oops! Double post. Trying to do this from my phone. The only pinching that works on this thing is photo resizing. You should see what Swype does... never mind, you probably shouldn't.
[ March 24, 2013, 12:45 AM: Message edited by: David Harding ]
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
quote:I almost added to my last comment that I've been able to pinch a few rollers around my contours lately. However, I pinched that statement and decided to roll with being serious for once. Don't worry-- it'll never happen again!
I hope not David!!! I totally enjoy your sense of humour!
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