UserManual:Draw

Draft Mode

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Draft Mode

The drawings in Seamly2D are formula driven. Each point, each line and each curve or arc, depends on a point created before. Instead of drawing one drawing with fixed values, you will use your measurment file. So if you change your measurements, the drawing will adjust accordingly.

The Draw Mode is designed to allow for easily adjusting a pattern to suit particular wearers. It is therefore entirely formula-based, where the simplest formula is a set figure.

Import note:

The one immutable fact of the application is that any given tool only has access to the measurement and angle of lines and curves that were previously created. This means that your first point can't reference the last point. But the last point can reference the first one and any other preceding points.

A pattern is a collection of pieces, prepared individually. Drawing a pattern starts from a reference point. Construction lines are defined from there, until the sewing lines are defined.

Most lines are defined by one (or more points) and angles.

Important note:

Angles are measured anti-clockwise from 0 degrees (= horizontal to the right) to 360 degrees (= horizontal to the right)

How to start

Before you start a new drawing, you first need to create a new pattern file.

You can do so:

• by clicking the New-button:

• • and, later, you can rename the draft block by hitting F2 to Rename Draft Block:

• You can define a new name for the draft block and select the measurement units you will be using thoughout the draft block. You may choose between Centimeters (default), Millimeters or Inches:

Once your first draft block and pattern piece (more on this later) is created you can change to the different working modes. For now we will be creating our draft in the Draft Mode:

Overview

The screen is divided in different areas. You can rearrange some palettes and show/hide different toolbars as you wish.

Toolbar (1)

• All the tools you can use. For further details have a look here: Seamly2D Tools

Property Editor (2)

• The Property Editor is super handy. You can change all the properties of the selected element, such as the name, a given length, a formula, etc.
• The properties may vary depending on the tool selected.
• The name of the new point must be unique - Seamly2D won't let you choose a name twice:

Group Manager (3)

• The Group Manager will help to structure your drawing. You can group elements and show/hide them as needed, so you can focus on special parts of your drawing. You will need a lot of points, lines, curves for advanced patterns, so it's great you can focus on some of them and hide the rest.
• You can add as many groups as you wish. Click on the +-button to add a new group. Enter a unique name and choose a color, line weight and line color.

For now, the line properties do not have any impact. This may change in future versions of Seamly2D

• You can show/hide and lock the group as you like. Locked groups can't be modified.
• You can sort the list by clicking on the different headers
  • V (visible) ⇒ sort by visibility
  • L (locked) ⇒ sort by lock status
  • O (group contains elements) ⇒ sort by flag
  • Name ⇒ sort by name (default)

• If a group is selected, you'll see a list of objects in that group

Base name (4)

• You can select the base name of new point out of a list. Each new point will be numbered automatically, such as A1, A2, A3, ... Different base names will help you in identifying the meaning of the points/lines. For example, you may choose A for the back bodice, B for the front bodice, C for the sleeve, etc.:

Current Line Properties (5)

• You can set the line properties for new lines which will be created. Existing lines will not affected by these settings. User the Property Editor to modify existing elements

Drawing Area (6)

• The main area of Seamly2D. This is where you will draw your pattern. You can zoom and pan with your mouse or tools from the toolbar

Important note:

Remember that your drawings are build consecutively. So you can't delete any point if those were used as a base point for other tools or in formulas, and you can't use points for other tools or formulas if those points were created after the base point that you are currently working on.