Sizing plans on PC

[lastvautour]

There are several ways of scaling your plans but I prefer doing it on my PC. I first make a build folder to keep all research materiel and drawings, photos etc... I select the drawing in question and download to my subject build folder. Then open a word processing sheet. I prefer MS Word as it came with my PC. Insert the drawings onto the page. You will note that the drawings is automatically reduced in size to fit the page. (see photo 1 below)

I next copy the image and place one aside as a reference point. Using the crop feature I select the area that will fit a standard printer page once it is properly scaled. (see photo 2 and 3)

I next make a box with the drawing/insert feature and get it to measure 1/2 span measurement of 14.64 cm or 5.76 inches. Make the box with no fill and place over the drawing. Enlarge the drawing until it fits the box. Some programs will require you to use the wrap text feature. I select through so that images can be stacked over each other. At this time, select the image property and check out the percentage of the original drawing size. In my case it turns out the be 12%. The enlarged cropped wing 1/2 spans works out to 32%. So if you take any portion of the original drawing, crop what part you want and enlarge to 32% it should give you a 1/72 scale drawing of that part. The reason I keep a copy on hand at the top of the page is so I can copy another to crop for the next part. On occasion you may have to make your paper landscape but not in this case.

Once I have printed and confirmed the measurements are good, I will save that one page and label it HP Hampden wing or whatever portion you are scaling.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

Lou I think it is fair to say that many people do not realise that MS Word can be used to import drawings and photographs in this way,very nicely presented.

Our local copy shop have a machine that will copy up to A1 size,this is really useful for large drawings,you just give the chap behind the counter the wingspan say and he scales it to suit,then prints everything off,what I usually do now is buy two sets,one to paste onto card as templates and the other as a working drawing,in the past I used to draw up by hand but now it is hardly worth the effort,how technology has helped us ?

Barry.

[lastvautour]

I too used to take even small black images from Jane's all the World's Aircraft and size it up by measuring and redrawing to whatever scale I needed. It took time and usually generated many errors. Now the thing to watch out for is that your drawing is accurate. The F2H-3 Banshee drawings found on most web sites are incorrect. I tried getting the word out but no one has made the required changes. I also tried photocopying to a certain percentage of the drawing I had but soon found out that photocopiers are set to print 1% larger than what is requested to avoid the black edges if the paper is not perfectly lined up during the process. Also, photocopiers, even the $12,000 super deluxe versions will enlarge X% in the vertical but Y% in the horizontal. If you keep on enlarging from the enlargement you will quickly see what the drawing is hopelessly skewed. No system is perfect so, as I am reminded many times when I screw up, measure, measure and measure again before you first cut into that wood.

Lou

[rbeach84]

Although this is an slightly aged topic, it certainly remains relevant.  I'd like to describe the method I use to properly scale out plans that I've either scanned or others have scanned and posted to the web, so I'm starting with typically a .jpg or .gif image file.

I use two applications primarily: Paint Shop Pro image editing software and the OpenOffice.ORG drawing and work processing apps (no cost download of the suite from OpenOffice.Org site...direct 'open source' replacements for Microsoft's products!)

First thing, I consider how big the final scaled plans will be and how they will fit on the paper choices I have available with my printer (up to 11x17 inch 'tabloid' size paper...handy for the larger 1/48 sized subjects.)  Sometimes I need to reorganize the 'views' for best fit for printing onto one sheet, which I can do by separating the image into its separate views using the Print Shop Pro tool.  So, for example, a 3-view might result in three different image files that I can then manipulate individually.  I do this using a copy of the original scan/downloaded file so if something goes awry, I always can start over 'clean'.

Then with the appropriate break down accomplished, I open the 'Draw' OOO application.  Draw is a vector based graphics tool, so stuff drawn with it can be scaled to any size with no impact on fidelity (ie, no 'jaggies'.)  This of course only applies to images created in Draw.  .Jpg or .bmp files, etc that are raster-based formats depend on 'pixel' data and are what you use 'Paint' & 'PaintShop Pro' to edit.  In this case, I follow a procedure of inserting the .jpg images into the Draw document so I can properly size them, which involves several steps:

1) Using the 'Insert picture' function, I drop the image into the DRAW doc which is set to a Page format appropriate to the paper I plan on printing it on.
2) Using the 'CTRL-Drag' keyboard/mouse functionality, I snag the image corner to enlarge or reduce the image on the page.  The 'CTRL-Drag' snag keeps the proportions equal since I want to avoid distorting the image either in the vertical or horizontal directions.
3) Using 'calculator' I determine how big a certain feature of the image needs to be to set the desired scale.  For example, for a subject with a 48 foot wingspan, a 1/48 scale value would be 12 inches, according to calculation:
48 ft x 12 (the number of inches/ft) = 576 in.
578 in / 48 (the desired scale) = 12 in.

4) I then open a retangular 'box' object in DRAW.  I set one of the dimenions of the box to 12 in. and apply a 50% transparency to the box's fill color. This gives me a reference to overlay on the .jpg image to gauge my 'CTRL-Drag' to set the wingspan to match the reference object.  Once I have enlarged or reduced the .jpg to the correct scale dimension (and have successfully maintained the proportions within the image), I now set the image to a 'size protected' state to prevent it from changing as I work further.

5) Using the same reference, I can then set the other related view that has the same feature, i.e., wingspan is visible in both the top and front (or rear) views.  With the top view properly set to scale, I can then resize my reference 'box' to match for 'length' which then allows for the side view to be also set to same scale.

6) I then check various features for consistency between the different views using appropriately sized 'reference' rectangles.  I often (in fact, almost always) find inconsistencies between views.  This is often related to previous reproduction processing such as when a scan of a "Xeroxed" plan is made, even in plans published in magazines (the MAP plans and SAM 'centerfold plans' are two well-known examples.)  The scan is likely correct (aka, not distorted) but the original was already distorted to some degree.  There are also apparently instances where improper drafting techniques were used by draughtsman who authored the plans (sometimes apparently intentionally to sort of 'sign' the works with minor mistakes...ha!) So, make sure everything is consistent between views!

Once the plans are arranged and scaled on the DRAW file, I can then export it to a PDF using that functionality in the DRAW app.  I find that printing a PDF is easier than printing from DRAW directly.  Plus it keeps me from inadvertently editing the DRAW file, also allows for 'sharing' of the reworked plans when desired.

I'm not going into the specifics of how to use the editing tools, just want to convey the basics.  I use DRAW to make artwork for my custom decals (inkjet printed) when needed, so I'd say learning to use the application effectively is a good investment in time.  DRAW is not as 'slick' as say 'CorelDRAW' or 'Photoshop' etc, bit being open-source it is also inexpensive (as in 'free'...)

I hope this information is useful! Cheers!
Regards, Robert

[lastvautour]

Thank you, Robert. I appreciate you taking the time to clarify another method for scaling drawings.

Louis

PS. Have you made any solids lately?

[rbeach84]

No, unfortunately! My carving is typically to support making vac masters... I don't have the skill to make a fine solid model.