135 lines
3.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
135 lines
3.8 KiB
ReStructuredText
Geometry Editor
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===============
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Introduction
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------------
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The Geometry Editor is a drawing CAD that allows you to edit
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FlatCAM Geometry Objects or create new ones from scratch. This
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provides the ultimate flexibility by letting you specify precisely
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and arbitrarily what you want your CNC router to do.
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Creating New Geometry Objects
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-----------------------------
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To create a blank Geometry Object, simply click on the menu item
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**Edit→New Geometry Object** or click the **New Blank Geometry** button on
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the toolbar. A Geometry object with the name "New Geometry" will
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be added to your project list.
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.. image:: editor1.png
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:align: center
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.. seealso::
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FlatCAM Shell command :ref:`new_geometry`
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Editing Existing Geometry Objects
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---------------------------------
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To edit a Geometry Object, select it from the project list and
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click on the menu item **Edit→Edit Geometry** or on the **Edit Geometry**
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toolbar button.
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This will make a copy of the selected object in the editor and
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the editor toolbar buttons will become active.
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Changes made to the geometry in the editor will not affect the
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Geometry Object until the **Edit->Update Geometry** button or
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**Update Geometry** toolbar button is clicked.
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This replaces the geometry in the currently selected Geometry
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Object (which can be different from which the editor copied its
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contents originally) with the geometry in the editor.
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Selecting Shapes
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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When the **Selection Tool** is active in the toolbar (Hit ``Esc``), clicking on the
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plot will select the nearest shape. If one shape is inside the other,
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you might need to move the outer one to get to the inner one. This
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behavior might be improved in the future.
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Holding the ``Control`` key while clicking will add the nearest shape
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to the set of selected objects.
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Creating Shapes
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The shape creation tools in the editor are:
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* Circle
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* Arc
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* Rectangle
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* Polygon
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* Path
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.. image:: editor2.png
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:align: center
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After clicking on the respective toolbar button, follow the instructions
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on the status bar.
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Shapes that do not require a fixed number of clicks to complete, like
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polygons and paths, are complete by hitting the ``Space`` key.
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Certain shape tools can have different options or modes. By hitting
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`o` and/or `p` the tool will cycle through its options and/or modes.
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.. seealso::
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The FlatCAM Shell commands :ref:`add_circle`, :ref:`add_poly` and :ref:`add_rect`,
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create shapes directly on a given Geometry Object.
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Union
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~~~~~
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Clicking on the **Union** tool after selecting two or more shapes
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will create a union. For closed shapes, their union is a polygon covering
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the area that all the selected shapes encompassed. Unions of disjoint shapes
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can still be created and is equivalent to grouping shapes.
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.. image:: editor_union.png
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:align: center
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.. seealso::
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The FlatCAM Shell command :ref:`geo_union` executes a union of
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all geometry in a Geometry object.
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Moving and Copying
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The **Move** and **Copy** tools work on selected objects. As soon as the tool
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is selected (On the toolbar or the ``m`` and ``c`` keys) the reference point
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is set at the mouse pointer location. Clicking on the plot sets the target
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location and finalizes the operation. An outline of the shapes is shown
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while moving the mouse.
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.. seealso::
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The FlatCAM Shell command :ref:`offset` will move (offset) all
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the geometry in a Geometry Object. This can also be done in
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the **Selected** panel for selected FlatCAM object.
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Cancelling an operation
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Hitting the ``Esc`` key cancels whatever tool/operation is active and
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selects the **Selection Tool**.
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Deleting selected shapes
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Selections are deleted by hitting the ``-`` sign key.
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Other
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~~~~~
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.. seealso::
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The FlatCAM Shell command :ref:`scale` changes the size of the
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geometry in a Geometry Object.
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