[sdiy] cool tool for panel designs

René Schmitz uzs159 at uni-bonn.de
Sun Feb 6 23:51:45 CET 2005 

Hi everybody,

Errm, do you mean pica or didot points?

Cheers,
  René

(Who has been interested in typesetting since he was 8.)


harrybissell wrote:
> People are confusing DOTS per inch with "Points"
> 
> "point" has NOTHING TO DO WITH AS COMPUTER OR AN MONITOR !!!
> 
> Maybe all those who keep saying 'dpi' should be sentenced to
> setting the type for their business cards, by hand... from
> big drawers of 'movable type'  :^P
> 
> I did this in print shop in 1968, when hand set type was
> already obsolete. But it WILL teach you what 'point' means !!!
> 
> H^) harry
> 
> Peter Grenader wrote:
> 
> 
>>Coming in on the middle of this (or maybe the end)...  The 72 dot/inch
>>standard is for COMPUTER MONITOR PREVIEWING ONLY as that's the pitch of most
>>screens.  If you want to image graphics using a bit file for a face plate,
>>you need to go to 240 DPI minimum.  This is the printing standard for single
>>plate (single color) work.  Trust me, I was an art director for 15 years and
>>blew enough lousy film to encase the wall of China.
>>
>>harrybissell wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Hi JH
>>>
>>>not "dpi"
>>>
>>>Think little bits of metal type, stacked by hand to get the printed effect
>>>you want.  The way it was done 50 years ago... then you will have the idea
>>>of the 'point' standard
>>>
>>>Sort of like the carryover from Roman chariot wheelbase to some modern
>>>train track gauges  :^P
>>>
>>>H^) harry
>>>
>>>"JH." wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Thanks to all who have told me about points.
>>>>I knew about DPI stuff for printing, but didn't know there
>>>>was a standard of 72.
>>>>
>>>>But anyway: I think the placement of the numbers around the tick marks is
>>>>less than perfect. When I make my panels step by step in
>>>>Frontplattendesigner,
>>>>I often adjust the placement by hand, because the "default" position (as
>>>>rotated
>>>>around the center hole, and then around the number's own center point to
>>>>get th eright orientation back) may look good for _some_ numbers, but
>>>>not for all.
>>>>For instance, if you have a "-8", the "optical gravity" (if there's omething
>>>>like that) is not the default center point at all.
>>>>
>>>>JH.
>>>>
>>>>----- Original Message -----
>>>>From: "Don Tillman" <don at till.com>
>>>>To: "JH." <jhaible at debitel.net>
>>>>Cc: <mverbos at earthlink.net>; <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
>>>>Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2005 5:18 PM
>>>>Subject: Re: [sdiy] cool tool for panel designs
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>From: "JH." <jhaible at debitel.net>
>>>>>>Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2005 00:05:09 +0100
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Looks great -
>>>>>>
>>>>>>But what do they mean with "radius in points" ??
>>>>>
>>>>>Hey JH,
>>>>>
>>>>>"Point" is a measurement unit used in the printing industry, most
>>>>>typically to specify the height of a font.  A point is 1/72 of an
>>>>>inch.  (For you metric folks, that's 28.35 points per centipede.)  A
>>>>>typical font might be 12, 15 or 18 points in height.
>>>>>
>>>>>This tool is really just plugging parameters into a simple PostScript
>>>>>program that draws the dial.  And then it uses some convertomatic code
>>>>>to present the other output forms.  PostScript uses points as it's
>>>>>default measurement unit, which makes sense given its application.
>>>>>
>>>>>I have long recommend doing panel design by learning the PostScript
>>>>>language, writing out the panel in raw PostScript, and sending that to
>>>>>a laser printer.  Here are a couple postings from a few years ago,
>>>>>including an example that looks similar to the code generated by the
>>>>>tool.
>>>>>
>>>>>-- Don
>>>>>
>>>>>----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>Date: Wed Oct 31 09:35:50 -0800 2001
>>>>>From: Don Tillman <don at till.com>
>>>>>To: apogeesunset at juno.com
>>>>>CC: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>>>>Subject: Re: [sdiy] Front panel labeling
>>>>>
>>>>>Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2001 08:36:05 -0800
>>>>>From: Casey J Crane <apogeesunset at juno.com>
>>>>>
>>>>>Thanks for all the response to my front panel label question. Don
>>>>>Tillman suggested I use "Raw Postscript" What do I need for that ?
>>>>>Special software ?
>>>>>
>>>>>So, Basically, what is postscript ?
>>>>>
>>>>>PostScript is a "page description language", the language that most
>>>>>laser printers use to print stuff.  The technology is owned by Adobe,
>>>>>but most of it is based on work from Xerox PARC (like almost all
>>>>>modern computer technologies).
>>>>>
>>>>>PostScript is a very simple stack based language.  (If you use an HP
>>>>>calculator you're half way there.)  The syntax is a little hard to
>>>>>read, but no compiler is needed.  The exciting thing about it is the
>>>>>set of functions that are available for doing all sorts of 2D graphics
>>>>>operations on paper output and the fact that you can build up and
>>>>>customize these operations for your needs.  Line drawing, filling,
>>>>>rotation, translation, scaling, colors, curves, regions... everything
>>>>>you need, because that's what the printer uses to print everything
>>>>>you normally print.
>>>>>
>>>>>Best way to learn is to pick up a copy of the "PostScript Lanaguage
>>>>>Tutorial and Cookbook" and the "PostScript Language Reference
>>>>>Manual".  (These are somewhat old, they may have been replaced with
>>>>>something with a similar title.)  The physical books are nice to have,
>>>>>but you can also download a free copy of the reference manual from
>>>>>Adobe.
>>>>>http://www.adobe.com
>>>>>
>>>>>Just use your favorite text editor to write the PostScript code (I use
>>>>>Emacs with PostScript mode!) and ship it to your printer.
>>>>>
>>>>>To save trees while you try things out I highly recommend a program
>>>>>called "GhostScript" which will do a screen display.
>>>>>http://www.ghostscript.com
>>>>>
>>>>>Adobe Photoshop can read PostScript and render it beautifully, but
>>>>>doesn't provide any debugging help.  With PhotoShop you can make gif
>>>>>files to include your artwork in a web page; I've used this technique
>>>>>for a number of the articles on my web site.
>>>>>
>>>>>-- Don
>>>>>
>>>>>--
>>>>>Don Tillman
>>>>>Palo Alto, California, USA
>>>>>don at till.com
>>>>>http://www.till.com
>>>>>
>>>>>----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>Date: Tue May 28 11:26:17 -0700 2002
>>>>>From: Don Tillman <don at till.com>
>>>>>To: amajorel at teaser.fr
>>>>>CC: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>>>>Subject: Re: [sdiy] dial graduations
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 15:33:48 +0200
>>>>>>From: Andre Majorel <amajorel at teaser.fr>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>On 2002-05-23 21:25 -0700, Don Tillman wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>From: "Michael Ruberto" <frankentron at hotmail.com>
>>>>>>>>Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 21:46:25 -0400
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I am in the process of designing front panel graphics for all
>>>>
>>>>of
>>>>
>>>>>>>>my modules so I can have them laser etched. the biggest
>>>>
>>>>problem
>>>>
>>>>>>>>so far is creating the tick marks to go around the knobs. I am
>>>>>>>>doing it "by hand" in photoshop but it is really quite time
>>>>>>>>consuming. is hand drawing these the only way to go?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>This is very easy to do in raw PostScript.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Interesting. Would you care to post a code fragment, for those
>>>>>>of us who don't mumble PostScript in their sleep ?
>>>>>
>>>>>(Hey, you wouldn't ask this of that guy who suggests doing everything
>>>>>with a PIC!)
>>>>>
>>>>>Below is a PostScript program for drawing three dial scales, complete
>>>>>with center crosses.  See, it's easy.
>>>>>
>>>>>Note that there are several very cool features about this approach.
>>>>>It's accurate in the sense that you can say "I want this switch
>>>>>*here*", where here is the measurement you specifcy with respect to any
>>>>>other point you specify.  You can parameterize stuff, so that if you
>>>>>decide later to change the style of something you only have to change
>>>>>one parameter.  And you have complete control over everything.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>----------------
>>>>>initgraphics
>>>>>
>>>>>%% scale to inches
>>>>>72.0 72.0 scale
>>>>>
>>>>>%% draw the center cross
>>>>>/center-cross-size 0.25 def
>>>>>
>>>>>/draw-center-cross {
>>>>>gsave
>>>>>1.0 72.0 div setlinewidth
>>>>>-0.5 center-cross-size mul 0.0 moveto
>>>>>+0.5 center-cross-size mul 0.0 lineto
>>>>>0.0 -0.5 center-cross-size mul moveto
>>>>>0.0 +0.5 center-cross-size mul lineto stroke
>>>>>grestore
>>>>>} def
>>>>>
>>>>>/dial-inside-radius 0.5 def
>>>>>/dial-outside-radius 0.75 def
>>>>>/dial-arc 270 def
>>>>>
>>>>>%% draw a dial here
>>>>>%% stack:
>>>>>%%   n divisions
>>>>>/draw-dial {
>>>>>gsave
>>>>>currentpoint translate
>>>>>draw-center-cross
>>>>>0 1 2 index
>>>>>{
>>>>>gsave
>>>>>1 index div dial-arc mul dial-arc 0.5 mul sub rotate
>>>>>0.0 dial-inside-radius moveto
>>>>>0.0 dial-outside-radius lineto stroke
>>>>>grestore
>>>>>} for
>>>>>grestore
>>>>>pop
>>>>>} def
>>>>>
>>>>>1.5 72.0 div setlinewidth
>>>>>
>>>>>%% draw a few dials
>>>>>2.0 8.0 moveto 10 draw-dial
>>>>>4.0 8.0 moveto 10 draw-dial
>>>>>6.0 8.0 moveto 10 draw-dial
>>>>>showpage
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>----------------
>>>>>
>>>>>-- Don
>>>>>
>>>>>--
>>>>>Don Tillman
>>>>>Palo Alto, California, USA
>>>>>don at till.com
>>>>>http://www.till.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
> 
> 

-- 
uzs159 at uni-bonn.de
http://www.uni-bonn.de/~uzs159

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