[Solved] Scaling

[mdd]

I am new to this program. Can someone please tell me is it possible to setup a page with a scale ie: 1:100

[acknak]

Yes, and no.

Tools > Options > OO.org Draw > General > Scale > Drawing scale allows you to set an arbitrary scale.

However, I suggest you be extremely careful about trying to use Draw for any kind of technical drawing where scale is critical, especially if you're using non-metric units. Draw's dimension objects, and dimension handling in general, are full of bugs.

Draw is not a good substitute for CAD software.

[mdd]

Thank you for replying. I use visio and was interested in how draw might work. At first glance I am impressed perhaps if I persevere I will find the bugs but what you said to me is very useful so I am hoping the bugs will be sorted out or am I looking for something that is not going to happen.

[acknak]

Draw is perfectly adequate for simple technical illustrations--flowcharts, org charts, annotating images, furniture arranging, simple maps, etc. As you start to get into things more like drafting or engineering, it simply isn't complete or reliable, even though it has some features that might lead you to think it can be used that way.

E.g. set the drawing scale to 1:100, as I described above. On the same options dialog window, set the units to "foot".

Now draw a rectangle, then use Format > Position and Size > Position and Size > Width: 12.5', Height: 2'

That will make a rectangle of an exact size.

Now use the Drawing Toolbar > Lines and Arrows > Dimension Line tool to insert a dimension. Just insert it anywhere, then drag the anchor points to the rectangle, so that the dimension line measures the width of the rectangle. Make sure that View > Grid > Snap to grid is OFF, and Tools > Options > OO.org Draw > Grid > Snap > To object points is ON. That will allow you to snap the dimension anchors exactly to the rectangle corners.

What does the dimension display as the width of the rectangle? On my system, it says the box is 12.53ft wide--not quite right. Note that this isn't lack of accuracy in placing the dimension object, it's internal to the way Draw handles measurements and unit conversions.

OOo documents use (mostly) metric units internally, so if the display unit is metric (e.g. meter) the dimension object will show the correct size.

Here, I made a 3.50m wide rectangle, then copied it to another drawing and changed the units from 'meter' to 'foot'. The exact size of the rectangle should be 11.483' but the dimension shows it as 11.51.

draw_dimension.png (2.96 KiB) Viewed 5798 times

[mdd]

hi again I really appreciate your help. As I understand from what you are saying metric works okay, which is good for me as I do not work in feet and inches. Thank You

[acknak]

Correct. Working in metric units is much less troublesome.

[morphingstar]

Metric is not reliable either. Set units to mm and scale to 5:1.
Draw a dimension line horizontal or vertical. In FORMAT set it to 25mm.
The result on the page displays 24.99 mm on my WIN7 computer, which is not the number the person machining an object need to use for a sensible size.
The computer screen can not differentiate between 24.99 and 25 mm. There is not reason to deliberately change the entered correct value.
So you need to hand-correct the dimension on the print-out.
The metric system is not binary. I wish the advent of decimal computers.
After all these years of refining OO I expect better.

[acknak]

... Set units to mm and scale to 5:1.
Draw a dimension line horizontal or vertical. In FORMAT set it to 25mm.
The result on the page displays 24.99 mm ...

Sorry, I can't reproduce this. I see 25 mm on the dimension line and 25.00 on the status bar.

I have had difficulty with dimension size when they aren't exactly horizontal or vertical, but that's not the case here. I'm not sure what would cause the problem you're seeing. I suppose it could be a version-specific issue; I'm using AOO 4.1.3.