Tag: design

Trace

Post author By Chris Miller
Post date May 9, 2019
No Comments on Trace

I have enjoyed using Affinity Designer and it’s sister products Affinity Photo and the beta Affinity Publisher, but the lack of a trace function in Designer is a serious drawback. Compared to CorelDraw (£599) or the endless cost (and irritation) of Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer (£50) is fantastic value for money and there are no extras or pressure to use on-line ‘services’. So, why is it taking the developers at Serif EU such a long time to add trace?

Designer was launched almost five years ago and whilst Serif have never specifically promised to have a trace function users have always wanted it, and eventually gone elsewhere – Illustrator or CorelDraw. Inkscape (freeware) manages a trace function but Inkscape can be clunky and it’s interface a little daunting. The power of current computers is such that the trace function should be straightforward. Come on Serif!

Tags Adobe, Affinity, Affinity Designer, affinity photo, Affinity Publisher, design, drawing, Inkscape, trace, vector

Toy

Paddle craft, model and toy

Post author By Chris Miller
Post date April 21, 2019
No Comments on Paddle craft, model and toy

A little work to correct some errors and it is ready.

Paddle craft, self-assembly toy, 3mm laser-cut plywood, approx 20cm x 10cm.

This is the rear paddle version, which proved easier to design and seems to be well received. On sale soon.

Tags Affinity Designer, children, construction, craft, design, drawing, gift, laser-cut, model, paddle, paddle boat, paddle ship, plywood, present, self-assembly, Toy, vector

Toy

Plywood model boat No.7

Still toiling over another model/toy boat. Laser cutting is a great way to make things and the precision available constantly tempts me to make more complex designs. But complex is not necessarily the way to go, when what I am looking for is play value, simple clean lines and ease of assembly. paddle drawing for web

This (detail) drawing in Affinity Designer is getting quite complicated, hopefully the final design will reflect the ideas above, rather than any underlying complexity. I had a trip down memory lane trying to measure the length of an arc. Finding π on the keyboard was not as straightforward as it should be – Alt 227 won’t work for me, I don’t know why.

Many years ago my father taught me to use a fretsaw and then a treadle fretsaw; I was so proud to make cut-out models and shapes, happy to spend cool evenings in our tiny kitchen sawing, sanding and gluing with a hot, smelly glue pot and a sticky brush. Dad made lots of wooden toys – forts, garages, vehicles &c., often working from plans in Hobbies magazine. He invariably gave them away. I think he would have loved the laser cutter.

Tags Affinity Designer, children, construction, design, diagram, π, kerf, laser-cut, maths, model, plywood, Software, Toy

Software

Affinity

I am using Affinity Designer to create another plywood model boat – the world needs more – and I have nothing bad to say about this £50 app. But it cannot rival the likes of Autocad (more than 10 times the price). One thing I want to do is measure irregular objects on-screen and that is proving tricky. flex_

In the physical world the flexible curve is invaluable but is there one for Windows? It doesn’t appear so, only straight line rulers are available. So, print out the shape, check the printout size matches that on screen, then measure with the flexible curve. There must be a better way?

Tags Affinity Designer, AutoCad, design, measure, MixPLy, plywood

Toy

Plywood Toys

I went to Ross-on-Wye yesterday where my son Luke has a lovely organic food shop, Field Fayre.

Field Fayre
18-19 Broad St, Ross-on-Wye HR9 7EA

The town has started having a craft market on Saturdays; Field Fayre has some homemade items and I thought we might sell some of the MixPly models. That did happen but the day was slow regarding sales. But it was most enjoyable sitting in the Spring sunshine. I made some posters and a banner for the stall.

Four boats (more soon) and one helicopter, lots of fun assembling these toys, lots of fun playing with them. Available here, etsy and ebay for just £12 each kit including postage, they are ideal presents for girls and boys.

Tags boat, children, construction, craft, design, Field Fayre, food, helicopter, laser-cut, MixPLy, model boat, plywood

Toy

Boats

A trip through the rain to Basically Wooden in Devon to collect many laser-cut toy boats, ready for packaging and hopefully for some sales. Sue and Andrew at Basically Wooden design, laser-cut and assemble fine objects for the gaming world, and some other items. They have just made a new dice tower, really lovely. They use quite a lot of fine, detailed engraving, something I have avoided with these toys.

Tugboat, Helicopter,Lifeboat and Trawler all about 20cm x 10 cm

My toy/models have moving doors and a working winch. They are suitable for children over 3 (small parts), come with visual instructions, glue (not strictly necessary but makes a more permanent toy), and string for the winch. I am selling on Etse and ebay , £11.95 each including UK postage, add £3 for postage worldwide. Buy all five for £50, (plus £5 for shipping outside the UK).

Tags Affinity, Basically Wooden, Bristol, children, construction, craft, design, drawing, embellish, engrave, laser-cut, model, plywood, self-assembly, Toy

Toy

Helicopter – now on sale

Yours for just £9.95, introductory offer while stocks last. This press-out version is supplied with pva glue.

3mm plywood, laser-cut and sanded on both sides, approx 20cm x 10cm. Instructions included. Contains small parts so not suitable for children under 3. Assembly may need adult assistance. Free postage in the UK, £3 for the European Union.

Tags children, construction, craft, design, helicopter, laser-cut, model, plywood, Toy, vector

Toy

Vectors

Working on a steampunk design for a helicopter, I have struggled the last few days to get a look that will translate to plywood. The devil really is in the detail. My plywood laser-cut toys are plain and unadorned but steampunk is not about clean lines.

I spent a while this morning drawing this window in the style of an old diving helmet, here as a .png file (WordPress won’t allow vector files, if anyone wants a copy let me know and I will send).

Affinity Designer is perfectly adequate for 2D drawing like this.

Tags Affinity, children, construction, craft, design, drawing, helicopter, laser-cut, model, plywood, sketch, vector, wordpress

Software

Poster printing

Printing documents that are larger than A4 can be a pain. I find Windows to be way behind the mac in this respect, and most of the cheaper apps don’t have printer dialogue boxes that can handle this.

So third party apps would seem to be the way, but are there any? I tried Wrapcandy Poster – it crashed repeatedly; Easy Poster Printer£2.09 from Microsoft Store but it is a weak and feeble thing which does not print to the correct size. Gimp is supposed to be able to handle poster but it is difficult to work through, I couldn’t get a result.

Then, having wasted about 40 sheets of A4, (even printing both sides) I discovered that Acrobat Reader now has poster print ability. Not the best print dialogue box but it worked and produced an 18 sheet print that was the correct size. So two cheers for Adobe, who I have little time for, generally.

Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher all lack the ability to print posters, which is a glaring omission.