Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

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Solo318i
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Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by Solo318i » Sun May 16, 2021 7:32 pm

Lets say I have a completed cad drawing of a puppy. Say the puppy is 7 inches wide.
COOPER SIGN.svg
(63.79 KiB) Downloaded 341 times
Now lets say I want to scale that drawing up to cut an 11 inch wide sign.The calculator math says to scale it up by 1.5714285714.
Is there a procedure than will allow me to just enter the 11 inches and not have to go search for a calculator?
The above svg is of my Great Pyrenees. I drew it as a practice file (learning by doing) I would love to find a way to scale up or down future projects to a set measurement. (x,y or both)
As always, thanks for the help.

CVH
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by CVH » Sun May 16, 2021 7:52 pm

Solo318i wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 7:32 pm
Is there a procedure than will allow me to just enter the 11 inches and not have to go search for a calculator?
Hi,
most input fields can calculate.

One can simply enter '11/7' and rather all common math functions are supported.

Regards
CVH

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Husky
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by Husky » Sun May 16, 2021 7:56 pm

Solo318i wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 7:32 pm
Is there a procedure than will allow me to just enter the 11 inches and not have to go search for a calculator?
QCAD will do the math for you. If it is 7 and needs to be 11 the scale factor has to be 11/7.

Husky-2021.05.16-02.png
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Solo318i
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by Solo318i » Sun May 16, 2021 8:17 pm

So there is no way to just enter 11 inches? Am I understanding correctly that the 11/7 calculation is always the size you want/the size it is?
I was really hoping to be able to import or draw a file and just "set it" to the desired size without having to go in and measure everything first.

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petevick
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by petevick » Sun May 16, 2021 8:33 pm

Solo318i wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 8:17 pm
So there is no way to just enter 11 inches? Am I understanding correctly that the 11/7 calculation is always the size you want/the size it is?
I was really hoping to be able to import or draw a file and just "set it" to the desired size without having to go in and measure everything first.
I don't think that is possible, Qcad needs to know what to scale up from, it doesn't know that it's 7 units, it could be any size, any unit.
Pete Vickerstaff
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon, Qcad Pro 3.29.6

CVH
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by CVH » Sun May 16, 2021 8:42 pm

Solo318i wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 8:17 pm
I was really hoping to be able to import or draw a file and just "set it" to the desired size without having to go in and measure everything first.
As Pete just explained, QCAD wouldn't be able to know what to use as reference.
It is not equipped with any kind of AI that can recognize what is represented with the drawing. :wink:

A workaround would be to create all your master designs in a fixed format.
Then again, why setting up limitations.

Do you mean by 'to go in and measure' that you don't open the file and are working without GUI?
Then there are ways to use a bounding box. Maybe something to look up. :wink:

Even with a bounding box method there are two options in 2D.

Regards,
CVH
Last edited by CVH on Sun May 16, 2021 8:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Solo318i
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Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2021 2:54 pm

Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by Solo318i » Sun May 16, 2021 8:51 pm

So when I select all and click scale, the software doesn't read how big it is currently? I normally would measure point to point on the width and point to point on the height and grab a calculator. with the math function I can simplify that somewhat, but the software seems like it should know the size instead of me doing the point to point thing. If it's a software limitation than I can live with it. Sure beats dealing with autodesk.

CVH
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Re: Dimensioning to a fixed measurement

Post by CVH » Sun May 16, 2021 8:56 pm

Solo318i wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 8:51 pm
So when I select all and click scale, the software doesn't read how big it is currently?
Can be done .. 1 catch .. In X or in Y? :roll: :wink:

Feel free to file a feature request. :P

Regards,
CVH

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