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Rick Johnson

About Rick Johnson

https://rj-graffix.com

https://rj-graffix.com/about/

Posts by Adobe Wan Kenobe:

AxoTools adds Tangent Line tool

AxoTools now includes a new Tangent Line tool.
Tangent Line tool
To use it, move your cursor over a path near the point you want the tangent line to begin. You’ll see a guide line appear showing the tangent angle. Click on the path and drag a line, which will be constrained tangent to the path. If you press Alt or Option, the tangent point will be adjusted, if possible, to align with your cursor. If you drag to another path, the tool will draw concentric rings when it’s near a tangent point there. For best results, find the spot where the rings collapse into a solid blue ball.

tangent line tool dragging

If your Draw Settings have checked “Automatically concatenate lines” then paths at both the start and end points will be cut and concatenated (joined). While dragging, you can press the keys “J” to toggle line concatenation or “W” to automatically assign stroke widths to path remnants.
The preferences includes a new item for “Curve tangent precision” which will affect both the Tangent Line tool and the extruding process for curve fitting. The default value of 0.1 will probably work fine for most or all of your work, but you can adjust it as high as 1 for faster performance or as fine as 0.001 for the most precision.
I’ve actually wanted a tool like this for my own work since the 90s, so it’s a thrill to be able to finally offer it to other AxoTools users. The added tool is part of a free update, available for download now.
I hope you find it useful!

Worker72a Text Overflow Alert now available

wopdThe second Worker72a plugin is now available here. When Text Overflow Alert is installed, it automatically scans all  documents when opened for text frames or text paths with overflowed text, and selects it for you to inspect and edit as needed. You can read more about it on its product page or follow upcoming Worker 72a plugins on the Worker72a download page.

The plugin is on sale through August 2022, with prices as low as $3.00 for an individual license.

Look for more Worker72a plugins in the near future.

Easy isometric grids

isometric gridAn isometric grid is one of the most commonly asked-for features in AxoTools, as well as a frequent topic on the Adobe Illustrator user forum. It would be really nice if Adobe Illustrator’s Perspective Grid presets included Isometric, but that’s not an option right now. In the meantime, there are some easy alternatives.

If you’re lucky enough to have Hot Door’s CADtools, an axonometric grid tool is already built in.

For the rest of us, just do a simple internet search, you’ll probably come up with a gazillion links showing how to make your own. For example, there’s this short tutorial by envatotuts+ on “How to Create an Isometric Grid in Less Than 2 Minutes.” Essentially, you create a rectangular grid with Illustrator’s built-in Rectangular Grid tool, then project it to isometric using any of several methods.

But it gets even easier! Your internet search results will likely include many Adobe Illustrator documents with an isometric grid already built. Just download it and save it as a template to use any time you need it!

So, considering how isometric grids are so easily and readily available, it’s not likely to be added to AxoTools any time soon. Instead, you can expect new features that are really new.

Worker72a plugins now part of Graffix

Worker 72a

Worker72a is now part of the Graffix family of Adobe Illustrator plugins

Doug Habben has been writing Adobe Illustrator plugins for a couple of decades, and in 2006 began offering them to the public under the banner of Worker72a. Doug and I have been in touch for many years, trading tips as fellow part-time plugin developers. After several years of retirement from his day job, Doug decided to retire from his own business, as well, and contacted me about handling and maintaining his plugins going forward. We obviously reached an agreement and for the first time, Worker72a plugins will be available for Windows, and also run natively on the new Apple M1 processors.

wopdThe first of Doug’s plugins to migrate over is White Overprint Detector. When installed, it automatically scans all opened documents for text or path art with white overprinting strokes or fills, and selects it for you to inspect and edit as needed. You can read more about it on its product page or follow upcoming Worker 72a plugins on the Worker72a download page.

The plugin is on sale through August 2022, with prices as low as $3.00 for an individual license.

Best wishes to Doug in his “other” retirement!

AxoTools improves CADtools integration

works with CADtools

If you use Hot Door’s CADtools plugin for Adobe Illustrator, you already know how AxoTools complements its extensive set of tools and features with additional options for axonometric drawing. With CADtools to quickly and accurately create orthographic art and AxoTools to project and finish axonometric views, you’ve got the best set of technical illustration tools available for Adobe Illustrator.

AxoTools has improved its integration with Hot Door’s CADtools plugin to share axonometric projections and document scales. To enable this, first select one or both of the CADtools options in AxoTools’ Preferences dialog.

The preferences dialog can be called by double-clicking any of the AxoTools tools or in the menus at Illustrator > Preferences > Graffix Plugins > AxoTools… (Mac) or Edit > Preferences > Graffix Plugins > AxoTools… (Windows).

preferences for CADtools

CADtools offers an extensive array of options for formatting values, but in AxoTools you’ll have to choose from the presets in the Scale units menu in the Preferences dialog.

To import CADtools’ scale or axonometric settings as set in its CADaxonometric panel, first ensure that you have CADtools installed and have checked the AxoTools preference to use CADtools axonometric view. Next select “Load CADtools settings” from the flyout menu in AxoTools’ Projection panel. The first time you do this, it may take a few seconds to make the connection from one plugin to another, but subsequent calls to CADtools will happen very quickly.

AT/CT projection settings

If you change the scale or axonometric settings in CADtools, AxoTools will not be alerted and so cannot automatically import the new settings. In that case, you must manually update AxoTools by selecting “Load CADtools settings” again from the Projection panel’s flyout menu. Every time you open or change your current document, AxoTools will look for CADtools to import its settings. If you don’t have CADtools installed, it’s recommended that you uncheck these two settings.

For more information on Hot Door’s excellent CADtools plugin, please visit https://hotdoor.com.

AxoTools adds tools for arcs, ellipses, and rectangles

AxoTools 23.1.2 adds three new tools to create axonometric arcs, ellipses, and rectangles. Each tool draws directly on either the left, right, or top axonometric plane, or can be created numerically with a dialog box. As with many other tools in the AxoTools plugin, tap the Alt or Option key to toggle between different planes. dimensions will be scaled and formatted according to the new Preferences settings for the document

arc toolAxo Arc tool

arc tool usageAs you drag with the Axo Arc tool, the arc will appear highlighted. You can drag the arc forward or backward, left or right. Guide lines will appear to show the location of the arc center as well as a tangent line of the arc’s exit angle. If your preferences select Help text, the tool will also display the current arc’s extent angle and radius.

As you drag, press the Alt or Option key to adjust a fixed radius, or press the Ctl or Cmd key to change the arc’s starting angle. Press the shift key to constrain the arc’s extent to increments of 45°.

Click with the tool to display a dialog box to create an arc numerically. The Start angle represents the angle before projecting the arc to its axonometric plane, so you won’t need to hassle with converting angles on the screen to simple flat art. For example, a Start angle of 0° in the dialog would be drawn at 30° in an isometric top or right side view, and a 90° extent makes a quarter of a circle, regardless of the angles on the screen. Here, too, you can specify the radius of the arc with dimensions given in units you specify, such as feet or meters, and scaled to the current document ratio defined in your AxoTools preferences. Finally, choose whether the arc should curve to the left or to the right.

arc dialog

arc toolAxo Ellipse tool

ellipse tool usageAs you drag with the Axo Ellipse tool, the ellipse will appear projected onto your current axonometric plane. If your preferences select Help text, the tool will also display the current width and height using the units specified in your preferences and scaled to your document scale.

As you drag, press the Alt or Option key to anchor the ellipse at its center point. Press the shift key to constrain the ellipse to a circle.

Click with the tool to display a dialog box to create an ellipse numerically. Enter a height and width, which will be scaled according to the document scale in your preferences. You can also enter a depth to extrude the ellipse to create a cylinder. Stroke widths and shaded fills will be adjusted according to your Axo Draw settings if you have that options set in your preferences.

ellipse dialog

rectangle toolAxo Rectangle tool

rectangle tool usageThe Axo Rectangle tool works similar to the Axo Ellipse tool, except that it draws a rectangle. Like the Axo Ellipse tool, pressing the Shift or Alt/Option keys work as they do in Adobe Illustrator’s built-in Ellipse or Rectangle tools, only the art is drawn on an axonometric plane.

Click with the tool to display a dialog box to create a rectangle numerically. Enter a height and width, which will be scaled according to the document scale in your preferences. You can also enter a depth value to extrude the ellipse to create a box. It can be styled according to your Axo Draw settings and preferences settings.

rectangle dialog

These three tools have been among the most requested features, so it’s exciting to now make them available. Tutorial videos will be coming to demonstrate how to use them.

AxoTools adds Axo Shear tool

AxoTools Rotate tool iconAxoTools now includes an Axo Shear tool that will allow you to shear artwork that’s already been projected onto an axonometric plane. It functions similar to Adobe’s Shear tool in that its default anchor point is the center of the selection, but you can click to place the anchor anywhere you’d like.

shear tool demo

The plugin will display a cube annotation with one of the three axonometric faces highlighted. Simply tap the Alt/Option key to choose the plane you’re working on. Drag to shear the art, and the current shear angle will be shown near the cursor. Press the Shift key while dragging to constrain the shear to increments of 15°.

To shear art numerically on a projected plane, Alt/Option click on a location for the anchor point of the operation. In the dialog box that appears, fill in the shear amount, the axis angle to shear on, and the face upon which to shear.

The new tool is available in the current version of AxoTools for Adobe Illustrator 2019 – 2022. You can download it here for either Mac or Windows.

AxoTools adds “Free” mode

Some of you may recall using a free “Isometric Line Tool” plugin for Adobe Illustrator. I wrote it in 1997 to simply draw straight lines constrained to isometric angles. When I rewrote my plugins for CS6 and CC, it was renamed simply “IsoTool.”

axo line toolThe plugin was discontinued after it was included in AxoTools, but remained free to use after the trial had expired. As AxoTools gained new features, the free tool could seem buried amid nine tools and six panels. Now AxoTools includes a “Free” mode to accommodate those users. Unlicensed installation of the plugin have a menu item File > AxoTools > Show only free AxoTools features. If you choose this item, the next time you launch Adobe Illustrator, AxoTools will load only the free features. As part of AxoTools, the free parts go beyond the old line tool.

Projection panel

The Projection panel gives you any axonometric projection you choose, not just isometric. The Projection buttons won’t do anything and the Options are irrelevant, but the preset menu will allow you to save and quickly recall your favorite settings.

draw tools free settings

Now you can choose to automatically apply either of two line weights as you draw, as well as to automatically concatenate lines. The stroke widths you choose will be saved in your plugin’s preferences.

The multi-purpose Axo tool now retains its Move functions for selected artwork for Free mode users to easily move artwork along the current axonometric paths. This includes selected anchor points within a path.

Axo Info panel

The Axo Measure tool is also available for free. It measures distances and angles, including the delta between two angles, as measured on any of the axonometric or orthographic planes.

And if you later decide to go for a license (annual licenses are currently on sale for only $5/year), that remains an option as well. You can download it here for Adobe Illustrator 2019 – 2022 for either Mac or Windows.

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