Coming from Sketchup and finding my marks>

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#1

Hi there,

I’m new to shapr3d and would like to know if I can change the way I’m drawing a line I’ll explain :
Most of the time I don’t need to be precise at the 1/64th. I would love to have the option to draw by 1/16th or 1/32nd or even 1/8th but when I draw a line it’s down to the 1/64th.
I feel like it is probably not the first time someone ask this question so please if you feel like moving this toping in the right place do it.
If the option doesn’t exist yet please think about it.

Thanks.

#2

Zoom out or in on the screen until you see the scale you want in the upper right corner. Then tap on it and lock that scale. You can turn on or off the snap to grid in the lower right corner, settings.

2 Likes
#3

Thank you McD I appreciate your help.
The problem is that it doesn’t lock my drawing by the 32nd or the 16th or whatever I want it to be.
Is there a place where I can pitch the idea? It’s really a feature that I liked on Sketchup.
Thanks.

#4

Out of curiosity, why are you using fractional inch measurements? Woodworking?

#5

Nico, have you looked at the U shaped magnet icon in the lower right (or left if you changed to left handed), and tried adjusting the snap features? McD

#6

Hi Oregonerd,

Do you leave in Oregon? I’m a welder/fabricator so yes it’s technically the same as woodworking when we talk about measurement.

#7

Yes I have. It doesn’t change anything. I know we mostly all enter our measurements when drawing but sometimes I like drawing at the right measurement right away. When you are down to the 64th it is just a pain and you decide to just enter your measurements.

#8

Yeah, Oregon Coast. I’m an old builder in a former life. I stop at 32nds. :slight_smile:

Constantly having to convert back and forth from SAE and Metric in Shapr for my designs. Thinking in inches and converting to Metric for my Printer.

I’d like to see us just switch to Metric. But the retooling cost would be great I suppose.

#9

I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you slightly-

You’re lucky you deal with steel, cos that’s usually quite close to those fractional dimensions you mention. An inch is an inch- and as I’m sure you know, the definition of an inch is 25.4 millimeters.

However, if you’re working with lumber an inch can be anything but. Two inches is usually 38mm, unless you’re dealing with treated lumber in which case it’s usually closer to 40.

Base 12 can be useful sometimes, I like the way it deals with thirds, for example.

Maybe there could be a workaround, perhaps you could use a unit of 1, then scale everything up by 25.4 for export. That way you could use standard inch decimals.

I don’t have shapr3d yet, I’m trying to study it before I get an iPad Pro, in March when they come out with a new one, so I’m quite probably talking out of my arse.

But there are usually ways around everything-

#10

I agree that conversions are a pain, but for that reason, I now try to do everything in metric. Dealing with fractions is far worse, IMHO. And almost all lumber, especially sheet goods like plywood, are some nightmarish fraction like 25/32 or some such nonsense.

It is so much easier to just measure to the nearest millimeter. It is easier, faster, and far less error-prone than trying to juggle assorted half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth and thirty-second’s of an inch when trying to make furniture or cabinetry.

The only real downside is that most American woodworking magazines are still stuck in the dark ages if you want to use their plans. But I usually just take their ideas as inspiration and create my own version in metric. And also, watch a lot of British YouTube woodworkers LOL.

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#11

It’s just time to switch to metric. There really is no reason not to. My Ram truck has both (Fork me!). Keeps the tools companies happy I suppose.

#12

I was mostly referring to my woodworking hobby, but I definitely agree that it is way past time to switch completely or at least to seriously start moving in that direction.

The thing that really boggles my mind is how few people seem to realize how much EASIER everything is when you use metric. You can literally learn everything you need to know in an hour or less, and life becomes so much simpler. You never have to waste even a few seconds trying to remember (or figure out) which weird fraction is bigger than another one, e.g. “is 11/16 larger or smaller than 5/8”, etc. And there is so much less to remember. My wife has been cooking for 50 years (fabulously) but she still asks me stuff like how many ounces in a pint or cups in a quart, etc.

#13

When I was a kid, we were told that the US would be fully metric by 1980.
Seems we’re a bit behind on that schedule!