Tiling in corel

[Robert Walters]

I'm not exactly sure how to describe this properly, so I'll explain what I did and what I want to accomplish.

I'm only using three rings is the example, but it could be 20 rings in a row, or a 10x10 matrix of semi-overlapping rings, or even triangles as well.

I want to be able to vector cut out the resulting shape (shown as E and K) while being able to change the stroke thickness in the original file. Then "flatten" out and save as a new file (I know I can't do both concurrently, so it would need to be separate steps/files).

By 'flatten', I mean take 'J' (preferably 'B') then apply some method/process to produce 'K'.

Using this figure (the top section is NORMAL view, the bottom section is WIREFRAME view):

http://i52.tinypic.com/ng5y6t.jpg


A: Created drawing a 1" circle with a 10pt stroke, no fill.
B: Duplicated 'A' three times, aligned, and semi-overlapped.
C: Same as 'B', but changed the stroke to 4pt to give a thinner appearance.

If you notice F,G,H show single line wireframe

D: Duplicated 'B', then ARRANGE > 'Convert outline to object' (CTRL+SHIFT+Q)
K: I manually cleaned up 'J', removed segments, removed duplicate overlapping elements, closed strokes, etc.

I'll admit, I haven't tried cutting out 'B' on the laser, but something tells me it wouldn't work anyway, though I could be wrong.

'K' is what I'm after, but in this example there was a lot of work for only three circles.
If I have 100 overlapping circles this would be cumbersome.

I would like to maintain the ability to change all object's stroke width,
even if that has to be done in multiple steps/files.

Is there an easier/simpler method to accomplish what I'm doing here and have a file I can send to the laser that's not going to take excessive time or be duplicating cuts on overlapping objects?

I hope this made sense, if something needs clarification please let me know.

Thanks!

[John Noell]

I don't know an easy way to do all of it, but make two concentric circles (the Master), then CLONE (under Edit menu) as many times as you want, then arrange them (per "G"). Now any change to the master will change the cloned set. Next, duplicate the cloned set, convert to curves, and maybe you are part way there? I do not know any eay way to automate the rest.

[Robert Walters]

John,

Thanks for the tip on the CLONE tool. I'll have to read up on it some more.


I've been looking at larger picture for so long, that I just realized that there isn't a way in corel to be able to create 'K' (without the overlapping lines) within the given set of tools:

http://i55.tinypic.com/raav6x.jpg

In the above example (both being the same), I separated where the rings would overlap.
The thing is where the rings do intersect that the laser is going to duplicate cuts. =(

Unless there's something I don't know, maybe I need to be looking at a different tool other than Corel?

[Richard Rumancik]

I think I would probably address it like this:

First, note that the first and last ring in the chain are the only ones different from the rest.
I would take the circles in B and convert to objects as in J, like you did. (Probably delete the original circles at that time.)
Then weld the three circles together. Look at which entities you need to duplicate in order to keep the "chain" going. Use the node edit tool to break the center partial ring away from the other two. Break the whole thing apart; delete extraneous entities. Then duplicate what you need to (99 times) Finally, manually edit the last ring (won't go into that as there are many possible ways to finish it.)
I would then combine the whole thing so it lasers in a contiguous piece instead of hopping.

I think you would have to go back to the beginning for each chain of different linewidth.

Edit: this is for a linear chain and does not address the issue of doing a "matrix" of rings. That is an entirely different problem and it is hard to come up with a general solution for that situation.

[Neil Pabia]

Wouldn't the weld tool take care of the overlapping cuts and make it one complete piece?

[Richard Rumancik]

Neil, not quite sure what you are suggesting - if you weld the 3 rings in Fig J there will be no overlapping cuts, but it will not look like Fig K which is what Robert wants. Figure K can't be created directly from Fig J with normal shaping tools (weld/trim/intersection/etc.)

[Andrea Weissenseel]

Looks like a challenge, Robert :)

Here's how I would solve it: (I hope the explanation can be understood, since I have a german Corel version ;) )

1. Draw an arc with start-/end angle of 135° / 45° (I just used a hairline)

2. calculate the difference they would intersect - in my sample I used a 25mm circle, so the difference between height and width is 3,662 mm, take that 2 times - that would be your intersection.

3. then I used the "change" flyout - the offset for the vertical position is -17,676 mm (25mm circumfence - calculated intersection) and hit "apply to duplicate, as often the circles are needed (make sure "relative position" is checked)

4. at first you have to take care of your last circle, since it must be treated different. Select the last circle and close it, just by hitting the "circle" button. Then use the contour tool for your last circle, set the contour to inside and apply. Then go to "arrange" and split this contour group.

5. Select all your circles, except for the last inner one, and combine them. Again use the contour tool, but this time use outside and apply. Select all objects and split the combination of the contour group again.

6. Delete the original circles - done :D

To take care of the different stroke width, you just change the distance of the contour. I would clean up the nodes though, just select all nodes and set the smoothing to "10" that should work.

Cheers, Andrea

[James Aldrich]

This is some what easy to do. Attached is a step by step way to do it (overlap circles .cdr). Most steps can be combined without re-selecting the image. Sorry my instructions may be hard to follow, I am better at doing than explaining.

191410
Jim
191397

[Richard Rumancik]

Interesting approach, Andrea. Just one thing - how did you close the last circle? You say <Select the last circle and close it, just by hitting the "circle" button.> I did not know Corel could complete an arc - I can't figure out how to make it work. Can you elaborate?

James - also an interesting approach. I have noticed the "simplify" command but it is not as intuitive as the rest of the options so really haven't used it. (And the name of the command doesn't really help clarify it.) But it works here to take a "bite" from the top inside circle. However, I don't think you want to repeat steps 7 & 8 if it was a chain of one hundred as Robert suggested. Works for a string of 3, but once you get three rings done I would still say that you probably want to duplicate the top inside circle (with the bite) and the ( ) pair "n" times as needed.