Drawings - overlapping views

[Sainted]

I am doing a presentation piece of work and am experiencing a few difficulties.

I want to use a drawing page to present my final images.

1. On screen I can overlap part images of the same part so that one appears in front of another but in the print preview the final piece does not look the same - the lines that appear to be obscured from view on the screen as I want are visible in the print preview and consequently on the printout.

2. I have included an LCD screen on my part and following great help on here I was able to include the whole product as an edited screen capture on my drawing page. I did this using the insert object approach. The image does appear a little to pixillated for my needs - Any suggestions?

3. This picture object is also overlapping and blocking out a part view I have on the page. I hoped there was an easy Bring to front/ send to back approach and I have tried to set the object into the background using the edit sheet format but perhaps I am way off beam here? Should I be looking at layers - would this solve my problem?

4. Having set my printer to best quality - i thought that a cylinder would print out as a very smooth curve - but so far I am getting an image that is clearly made up of multiple straight line segments. Any way I can improve the line quality on curved lines?

Hope this is not too many questions in one go!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

1) Can you post in image here to show what you mean? faq559-1100

2) Increase your screen resolution if your card & monitor allow. Most screens show 72 or 96 dpi, but some can show 120dpi or more. See also thread559-124199

3) Layers in a drawing will not help in overlapping or "bring to front/send to back" terms.

4) Basically the same answer as 2).
Go to Tools > Options > Document properties > Image quality & set to the maximum that your system can handle.
Also make sure your drawing views are set to High quality & not Draft


Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520

 

[Sainted]

http://img51.echo.cx/my.php?image=overlaps9ca.png

Havent done this uploading images before - hope it works!

The image is a basic representation of the problem.

I cannot seem to put a block of colour behind the drawings.

If I try to put one drawing in front of another so that they overlap i do not seem to be able to do this with any degree of control as the block images show - in one situation a block looks to be in front of another but if I try to move the front block up - it begins to disappear behind the back block.

I am starting to think that maybe SW is not supposed to be used for this type of basic presentation - ?

The print preview issue that I was having problems with seems to have rectified itself! I rebboted my PC - maybe this helped!

The screen resolution thing I am not so sure about - I will play about with the settings and see what happens.

 

[smcadman]

Are your parts constrained? Sometimes in 3D, you can lose depth-perception and an object can appear farther or closer than it is. Constrain the parts, and then move the parts as required to achieve what you are looking for.
You can also right-click the part in the assembly, and pick "change transparency" to, uh, make the part transparent. Then in your drawing of the assembly, choose "shaded", or "shaded with edges" so you will be able to see what is behind the front parts (the transparency will show in the drawing).
I STILL am a little unclear on what you are trying to achieve, but maybe one of these ideas will help you out.

Flores

 

[Sainted]

I realise that my description of the problem is not too clear!
I'll have another go.

Basically - I want to arrange a series of views of 3d products on an A3 page. I want to be able to put some images in front of others so that the overall presentation has a 'layered' feel to it - and in doing so I want the images in front to obscure those in the background. I suppose the effect is like having a series of photographs of a product cutting them out and sticking them down so that some appear in the foreground and some in the background.

The coloured block I referred to is a graphic technique that I have used with hand drawings - I put a block of colour behind different views of the same product so that they have a 'tie' that links them together. I also find that it tends to throw the images forward if they appear to have a background colour rather than having them appear on a a purely white page!

Hope this explains the style I am trying to achieve smcadman!

Incidentally I am very new to SolidWorks and was delighted at the quality of some of the 3D products that I was able to achieve relatively quickly - it is just the presentation of these pieces that has put the brakes on my progress!

As for the curved line quality - I got that problem sorted - just had to change a setting in the tools - options section.

Thanks guys.

 

[meintsi]

You might try creating an assembly of all the parts you want. Arrange them on the screen as you want the drawing view to look.

That way, you only need to add a single view to the finished drawing.

As far as the colored block, try right-clicking the open drawing area and select EDIT SHEET FORMAT. Add the picture, and then right-click again and select EDIT SHEET.

Remember...
[navy]"If you don't use your head,[/navy]
[navy]your going to have to use your feet."[/navy]

 

[smcadman]

On your parts, start a sketch on the front face of your part. Go to Tools > Sketch Tools > Sketch Picture, and browse to find the image you need. Double click on the image to resize and move it around to locate it. Do this for each of your parts. Now in your assembly, make an exploded view of your assembly. Go to View > Sketches and make sure the Sketches is checked so you will be able to see all of the pictures on the parts.
Now on your assembly, Save-as JPG, or do a screenshot of your assembly.

Flores

 

[Sainted]

meintsi

Tried your suggestion for the coloured block problem but it still appears in front of the parts that i bring in afterwards!
Unless I am following your instructions incorrectly - though I dont think I am.
I had actually tried this method before without success.

The idea of arranging my shapes in the assembly makes sense to me but unfortunately would not give me the ease of moving the shapes around on the drawing page - that I am am looking for.

 

[Sainted]

smcadman

When I have tried this approach the jpeg from my screen grab always seems pixally when I bring it into the drawing page as a jpeg.

It was suggested earlier that the screen pixel settings could be the cause of this - I am using a GeForce Fx 5500
card - When people talk about pixel settings am I right to assume this is the same as screen resolution eg 1024 x 768
which is my current setting - Do you think this is too low?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Sainted ... why not make the coloured block as a solid part in the model? Then arrange the other blocks in front of it.


Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520

 

[Sainted]

Thanks smcadman
It comes back to the same problem - I can make a solid part as you suggest but when I try to put it in a certain position ie behind other parts I have brought into the model I dont have the control to do this.

I need to be able to move drawing views around - decide what looks good and then puit a block of colour behind them when I am happy with the arrangement.

I think an option at this stage is to use the Drawing package as usual to print out views that I want - physically cut them out - draw out by hand a colour block and then stick them down on a page - Its just that this seems such a chore when I seem to have such a sophisticated piece of CAD software- so I thought there had to be an easier way!

Still open to suggestions before I get out the scissors and glue though!

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I can make a solid part as you suggest but when I try to put it in a certain position ie behind other parts I have brought into the model I dont have the control to do this.

Are you saying you cannot move parts around in an assembly?


Making the best use of this Forum. faq559-716
How to get answers to your SW questions. faq559-1091
Helpful SW websites every user should be aware of. faq559-520

 

[Sainted]

CBL - I see what you mean
I had thought you meant to save a coloured block as a separate part (my mistake for misinterpreting a very clear suggestion) and then position it as a drawing view behind my other drawing views - which is still something I can't achieve.

I guess I can do what you suggest - its just that it is not giving me the freedom to produce a graphic layout that I can easily manipulate from the drawing window.

I appreciate all the suggestions but am still considering (reluctantly) heading for the drawer in the kitchen where the scissors glue anmd string are kept!

:-(

 

[meintsi]

Sainted - Have you even tried building an assembly?

From here you have to options:

1) Completely constrain all the parts in relationships to each other using distance mates. After inserting a single drawing view of the assembly, if you change the assembly mates, the drawing will automatically update.

2) Drop all the parts in freeform. Then either move the parts manually with the move tool, either the mouse or by typing the changes directly into the dialog box. Again a ny changes to the assembly, will automatically update the single drawing view.


Also, when working in the drawing view, you can access all mates in the feature manger tree on the left. Double-clicking them in the tree, will cause the distance to appear on the screen. You can then double-click that dimension to change it there. Then, hit ctrl-Q to force the drawing view to update.

Remember...
[navy]"If you don't use your head,[/navy]
[navy]your going to have to use your feet."[/navy]