I am close to placing an order for both 2U and 4U 10mm aluminum faceplates. I have already made drawings that they can use to do the CNC work, but I am a little stuck on making a drawing that they can use to do the print (here is the page describing their print service).
If someone here has already submitted a drawing to them for faceplate (or rear panel) printing, would you mind sharing it with me so I can see what it is supposed to look like? Also, is there any free software I can use (e.g. Gimp) to generate the drawings?
The problem I am imagining is that I have made the CAD drawings in Fusion 360, but the print files (CDR, AI or EPS?) will come from different software, and it will be difficult to confirm the text is aligned with the knobs, switches, etc.
Let me know if you have any tips or links to tutorials, etc. I am also looking at Front Panel Designer (from frontpanelexpress.com) to see if I can generate/export both drawing types with the same software.
Thanks in advance!
If someone here has already submitted a drawing to them for faceplate (or rear panel) printing, would you mind sharing it with me so I can see what it is supposed to look like? Also, is there any free software I can use (e.g. Gimp) to generate the drawings?
The problem I am imagining is that I have made the CAD drawings in Fusion 360, but the print files (CDR, AI or EPS?) will come from different software, and it will be difficult to confirm the text is aligned with the knobs, switches, etc.
Let me know if you have any tips or links to tutorials, etc. I am also looking at Front Panel Designer (from frontpanelexpress.com) to see if I can generate/export both drawing types with the same software.
Thanks in advance!
Good morning Booja
This question seems to have stalled a bit, so I’ll give it a try:
No, I haven’t yet got a faceplate printed at modushop.
But:
1.) use their template-files (to be downloaded from the site) for both your CNC and print job.
2.) when working with type/fonts, once everything is good, convert them to eps-pathes (so that the font isn‘t required anymore and isn‘t editable neither)
3.) use illustrator, affinity designer or gimp for that stuff.
4.) if not sure, ask Gianluca (info@modushop.biz) I bet he has the answers ready already
5.) enjoy
David
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I draw a rectangle with the exact dimensions of the panel I would like to get printed and add the text. I then convert the text to curves/paths and submit a vector file (vector pdf, Adobe Illustrator, etc.)
I use Affinity Designer on my Mac. It's not free (it's $50) but it is very good.
I'm pretty sure I've had one design where I included the text in the CAD drawing (QCAD Pro - $40) and Gianluca was able to work with that.
Tom
I use Affinity Designer on my Mac. It's not free (it's $50) but it is very good.
I'm pretty sure I've had one design where I included the text in the CAD drawing (QCAD Pro - $40) and Gianluca was able to work with that.
Tom
See? Gianluca is da man!
(If you need a conversion service (your design with fonts -> your design with paths), I could do that. Make sure you include the fonts (truetype or postscript), but beware: I’m on a Mac too. Windows-fonts may or may not work)
(If you need a conversion service (your design with fonts -> your design with paths), I could do that. Make sure you include the fonts (truetype or postscript), but beware: I’m on a Mac too. Windows-fonts may or may not work)
I use FrontPanel Designer to draw the CNC .dxf file.
Then I convert the .dxf to a .wmf file in order to load it in PowerPoint and to use it an overlay with the rights dimensions. Take care to set PowerPoint slide size and pdf printer paper size larger than the panel you want to print; I use A3. In PowerPoint I fill the areas with color, add text, etc.. then send it as a .pdf to GianLuca with the dxf. The pdf. is bitmap, not vector based, but it's ok for printing.
Then I convert the .dxf to a .wmf file in order to load it in PowerPoint and to use it an overlay with the rights dimensions. Take care to set PowerPoint slide size and pdf printer paper size larger than the panel you want to print; I use A3. In PowerPoint I fill the areas with color, add text, etc.. then send it as a .pdf to GianLuca with the dxf. The pdf. is bitmap, not vector based, but it's ok for printing.
Thanks for the tips guys!
I actually decided to omit the text from my design altogether. Once I had decided to skip the mute switch on the preamp, that left only volume, source, and power on the preamp, and power on the amp. Pretty easy to remember. 🙂
I was originally going to mark the positions of the selector switch on the preamp, which would probably be the most useful marking. But then I thought if I ever changed the component (e.g. Lorlin rotary selector), increased the number of inputs, or changed to an encoder, it wouldn't make sense. So for the sake of flexibility it's going to be blank!
Here's a 3D screenshot of the design I submitted:
There are LEDs on either side of the power switches. On the preamp they will each be powered one of the VRDNs. The amp has LEDs on both the F5 amp boards and the Universal PSU so I'll choose one and use flying leads to move them to the front panel.
Oh, and one other funny thing... I was taking care to make sure I could fit the preamp/PSUs in a 1U chassis, and in the end I went for 2U! I ended up liking the look better. And it means I can do things like mounting the VRDNs vertically, to the side rails, have potentiometer extensions to switch/pot in the back, maybe put some shielding between the PSU section(s) and the preamp/signal wiring.
I actually decided to omit the text from my design altogether. Once I had decided to skip the mute switch on the preamp, that left only volume, source, and power on the preamp, and power on the amp. Pretty easy to remember. 🙂
I was originally going to mark the positions of the selector switch on the preamp, which would probably be the most useful marking. But then I thought if I ever changed the component (e.g. Lorlin rotary selector), increased the number of inputs, or changed to an encoder, it wouldn't make sense. So for the sake of flexibility it's going to be blank!
Here's a 3D screenshot of the design I submitted:
There are LEDs on either side of the power switches. On the preamp they will each be powered one of the VRDNs. The amp has LEDs on both the F5 amp boards and the Universal PSU so I'll choose one and use flying leads to move them to the front panel.
Oh, and one other funny thing... I was taking care to make sure I could fit the preamp/PSUs in a 1U chassis, and in the end I went for 2U! I ended up liking the look better. And it means I can do things like mounting the VRDNs vertically, to the side rails, have potentiometer extensions to switch/pot in the back, maybe put some shielding between the PSU section(s) and the preamp/signal wiring.
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