Gravostyle 7 setting XY Origin

[Chris J Anderson]

Hi to All,

Can anybody out there please tell me if I can change the X0 - Y0 reference (origin), to be at the top left in the software on screen.
At the moment my Grav7 program has the X0-Y0 at the bottom left...

Now heres the problem...

When I select an object (say some ext), and try to set its position on the screen, the editing window uses bottom left as 0.
... while the actual engraver uses (and shows on its LC Display) top left as 0.

The other issue I have is that when text is selected, the reference point is at the bottom of the line of text, not in the middle.

All of the above mean you need a calculator and notepad on hand to correctly position objects on the screen, and you need to work backwards, taking heaps of extra time when you have a job like today - engraving a huge range of different style electrical power outlets.

Any advice appreciated...

Cheers,
Chris

[Kev Williams]

No way to change the 0/0 that I know of. I put up with the same thing every day with the same machine. When I find Y coordinate(s) on the part, I have to deduct it from the 8.267 default Y engraving area to get the correct number to enter into the program. If you enter a plate size other than the entire engraving area (12.008 x 8.267) then that just further complicates the calculation. Which is why, when I'm doing manual placement work, where I use the machine to find out where I need to engrave,, I always start with the default size, and keep "8.267" in my calculator memory to speed things up a bit...

If you know the dimensions you need to enter, like from a blueprint (not using the machine to locate coordinates) there is an easy way around this as long as you don't mind adding a minus sign to the number. Just unlock the layout, and draw a box the same size as the plate layout you're working with and place it directly below the work area, top corner of the box at the bottom corner of the layout (you don't even need the box, just helps with a visual). Then you just enter all your Y coordinates as negative numbers.

For example, if your working with a 8x8 layout and have to put "J3" at 2" from left and 3" down, just enter "-3" instead of just 3, etc. When you're done with the layout, simply move everything up 8".

Corel is essentially the same-- you can move the 0 point to top left in the layout but then everything below it is in negative numbers. The people who build these programs obviously don't understand what a nuisance it is not being able to choose your own starting point, and just proves to me they've never done any real-world graphics work, or refuse to listen to their customers...

Entering text coordinates in engraving programs is nearly always done by the text baseline. When working with text that have centered-on-Y coordinates from a print, just enter the coordinates as listed. When finished, hit 'F10/display', and change the 'arrow move' to half the height of the text. Then group all text and jog it down one click. This assumes all text is the same height, different height text will have to be moved different amounts obviously.

Hope this helps some...

[Chris J Anderson]

Kev,
firstly, thanks for your detailed reply.

That idea of working below the work area on screen is a great idea, at least it would be like using corel.
But first I have to get my head around how to 'unlock' etc and move objects, I don't really use this machine enough yet to be proficient with the software (hell the software is clunky though when you're used to corel, its just not fluid software, lots of steps to do simple things).

I still can't believe they have the origins in a different location on the software and screen - I can't think of any reason why this would be classed as a major design fault, and how the 'engineers' have not picked up on this. I'm still hoping theres a fix for this.

Yes corel allows you to move the 0-0 origin, which would solve all of the issues if Gravo did that.

I've emailed my Gravo supplier and he is getting back to me.

Thanks again for your reply, you've given me a quick workaround for now...

cheers,
Chris

[Chris J Anderson]

Kev,
I've just had one info from my support man, and at this early stage all is well.

I had to replace a file in the bravo directory to repair a problem I had with turning the rulers on.
(see the repair procedure at the bottom of this post).

Now that the rulers are there, there's a crosshair in the top left corner (just like in corel) that you can drag to move the zero reference.

Hope this helps...

Cheers,
Chris

... Repairing the config file...
(from our support mans email)...
1- Go to c:/gravostyle7000/config directory
2- Find a file called paramdlgmaster.bdv and copy and paste a copy to your desktop.
3- Then go back to config directory and find paramdlg.bdv and delete it.
4- Then rename the file on your desktop to paramdlg.bdv and cut and paste into config folder
5- Then go back and try your options menu again