Clipping and vectorizing images in 2D design.

 First of all i imported an image. To do this i went to file > import file.

 I then chose my image and left clicked "ok".

After selecting ok, another window is opened allowing you to alter the size and position of the image. I kept these properties the same and then selected ok.

After importing the image i resized it by left clicking and holding, i then dragged my cursor across the image to select it. I selected the bottom right resizing node by left clicking and dragged the image whilst holding shift. This resized the images according to its original proportions.

After resizing the image i then selected the clip path tool from the main toolbar and chose the close curve tool from secondary menu that appeared. This would allow me to draw a smoother, more accurate clip path around the part of the image that i wanted.

 I then traced around the image by left clicking repetitively around the section i wanted. To stop tracing i double clicked.

 After i had traced the section of the image i then selected the clip tool from the main toolbar.

I then located the path i had traced by left clicking on it. A clip settings window then appeared asking me whether i would like to trim the outside or inside of the clipping path, i chose clip outside.

 This left me with the remaining part of the image that was left inside the clipping path.

 To vectorise the image i selected the "vectorise" tool from the main tool bar. I then located the image by left clicking on it.

 I vectorisation window then appeared with the option of changing the colours and the amount of them that were contained within the image. To change the amount of colours i clicked and dragged the slider below the group tolerance section. The colours could be changed by clicking on the "choose col" buttons to the right of each square of colour and then selecting from the colour pallete window that appeared. I then pressed ok to complete the vectorisation.

Aligning different objects in 2D design.

First of all i drew three random circles using the circles tool.

By left clicking and dragging across the page i highlighted all three circles.

I then selected the space tool located in the main tool bar on the left of the programme. An allignment window appeared an i chose "centre vertically" from the type section and "locate object to align to" from the location section. This would mean that i got the choice of which circle i would align the other two from.

I then selected ok to finish the alignment.

Making curved lines, using contour lines and using text in 2d Design

First of all i drew i Christmas tree shape using the line tool on an orthagonal grid, i also used grid lock to make the process quicker and easier.

I then left clicked on one of the lines and opened the start edit menu at the bottom right of the programme. To make this straight line curved i clicked "To Curve" on the start edit menu.

After clicking "To Curve", two more nodes appeared between the two original nodes that mark the beginning and end of the line.

By clicking and dragging these nodes it allowed me to bend the line that had originally been straight. After i had finished bending the line, i double clicked away from the drawing to deselect it. I then repeated this on some of the other lines.

To add nodes so that the line can be bent at different places i selected the line, opened the start edit menu and left clicked on to curve. I then left clicked on "add node" twice, located in the start edit menu. This split the line up into 3 equal sections.

Using the grid lock function to make sure that both of the lines were curved equally, i left clicked on the nodes that i had created and dragged them downwards 20mm.

By doing this, the lines from the base of the tree had overlapped with those i had just curved. To delete the overlapping lines i left clicked and held down the "Del" button from the main menu. I then selected the "delete part of an object between the nearest two intersections" option that appeared in a horizontal menu.

Using my cursor i then located and left clicked in the part of the lines that were overlapping. This deleted the lines to where they had overlapped.

I finished the tree by curving the rest of the vertical lines that i had left straight. I did this by selecting each line using the "To Curve" function located in the start edit menu.

After i had finished my tree, i went on to adding a contour line. This tool is used to draw an outline around an object taking into consideration the width of the tool or machine that it is going to be cut by. The "contour" tool can be found in the main tool bar on the left of the programme.

After selecting the tool a window pops up with options of the type of tool path you want to use and the width of the gap between the object and the contour line, you can also change the amount of contour lines that you apply to the drawing. Here i have chosen "Tool Path" and 2mm as my contour spacing keeping 1 as my number of contours. I then selected ok.

To apply the contour line i left clicked on the outline of the object.

To finish the design ready to be cut out as a whole object i deleted the lines that ran through the bottom of the design. I did this by using the  "delete part of an object between the nearest two intersections" delete option which can be found when left clicking and holding the delete button found in the main tool bar on the left of the programme.

To make a graphical path contour i copied and pasted my tree, using "Ctrl-C" and "Ctrl-V". I then selected the contour tool and changed the path to graphical. I also changed the contour spacing to 2mm to be able to get a proper comparison between the two.

The difference between the two lines is that the tool path makes a rounded edge around the object where as the graphical draws an identical path.

To add text to the design i selected the "ABC" button located in the main toolbar on the left of the programme.

I then located the area in which i wanted to place my text and wrote the desired text in the window that appeared. By left clicking on the "Settings" button it allowed me to edit the font, size, colour and placement of my text.

To change the line colour of my text i left clicked on the "col" button in the attributes section of the editing window and selected a colour from the pallete that appeared.I then clicked ok to finish editing.

To resize the text i had created i first selected it, then i held down shift and left clicked and dragged the top right resizing node. This allowed me to scale the text to its original proportions.

To position the text i left clicked and held down on it and then dragged it to the desired position.

Using Orthagonal, Isometric and oblique drawing in 2D Design.

To change the type of drawing method on 2D design i double left clicked on the grid tool which is located in the tool bar on the right of the programme. Having grid lock on meant that i could accurately draw lines to the desired length because the cursor snapped from dot to dot on the page.

A window then pops up and to change the type of drawing to isometric, i selected the isometric option in the section grid angle. From this window the style, angle and colour of the lines can all be changed manually.

I then clicked on apply an ok so that my drawing grid changed to isometric.

I then selected the line tool which can be found in the tool bar on the left side of the programme.

Using the line tool and grid lock i drew an isometric box.

 To change the properties of the lines i selected them and then left clicked on property, located at the bottom right of the program. A line properties window appeared displaying the dimensions of the line i had selected and the options to edit the style, thickness and colour of the line. I clicked the line button and selected a dotted line from the scroll menu that appeared on the next menu.

I also changed the colour by clicking on the "col ." button and selecting a colour from the menu. I clicked on ok to complete the process.

To select multiple lines i held down shift an left clicked on each one individually. I was then able to change the properties of all the lines i had selected. To change the thickness of the lines i selected the "line" button which can be located along the top bar of the programme. To change the thickness of the line i selected the thick option and changed the width of the line to 1mm.

To change the grid style to orthagonal i double left clicked on the grid tool and selected orthagonal from the grid angle section of the window.

I then drew an orthagonal drawing using the line tool and i changed the style of the line using properties, i did this so that indentations in the object could be identified.

To add dimensions to my orthagonal drawing i first selected the "dim tool" from the tool bar located on the left of the programme.

To add a dimension i left clicked on each end of the line i wanted to measure and then i dragged out the dimension to an appropriate distance away from the drawing.

To change the grid style to oblique i double clicked on the grid tool and selected the oblique option within the grid angle section.