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Sharp line vs. rounded lines


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I'm afraid, the short answer is no.

 

I think there will be all sorts of reasons for this, but mostly I imagine it is because of the nature of pen thickness (line weight) in a CAD program as opposed to a graphics program. The effects you are showing will be barely discernable at anything other than a very large Pen thickness because pen thicknesses are page-based and do not scale. The only time you will really be able to discern this effect is when you have Zoom Pen thickness enabled. This is an artificial effect that is only designed for the user to understand the relative pen thicknesses of objects as they relate to one another when viewed at different Zoom values.

 

However, because more and more output is now straight to pdf where it is shared, then the possibility of an end user being able to view at many different zoom values other that 100% may mean that it becomes something worth considering.

 

Of course, all the examples above are infinitely achievable using filled polylines which do scale correctly.

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53 minutes ago, markdd said:

 

I'm afraid, the short answer is no.

 

I think there will be all sorts of reasons for this, but mostly I imagine it is because of the nature of pen thickness (line weight) in a CAD program as opposed to a graphics program.

 


it’s a limitation of Vectorworks, not CAD programs in general.  Programs like AutoCAD give you control over how lines graphically join and end during plotting/pdf making. It’s really something we should have for making crisp drawings.

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Long Long ago in a drawing system called Minicad, there was a huge discussion on how to draw lines. 😉

 

Short answer, a long time ago VW (Minicad) shifted from using a Square pen to using a Round pen. The Round pen allows diagonal lines to have the same thickness as vertical or horizontal lines. With the original Square pen (i.e. pixel based), the diagonal of the square meant that the line thickness changed between angled and H/V lines.

 

I don't remember ever seeing a request for better end conditions. I recommend that someone who wants them put something in the Wish List forum.

 

And as @markdd says, this is mostly an issue with very think line weights. I have used filled polygons/rectangles with thin line weights as substitutes for lines in cases when I needed a square end.

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6 hours ago, jeff prince said:

it’s a limitation of Vectorworks, not CAD programs in general.  Programs like AutoCAD give you control over how lines graphically join and end during plotting/pdf making. It’s really something we should have for making crisp drawings

 

I saw a pen plotter at a Goodwill a few years ago...

                My take: How a pen plotter once drew lines was long ago a factor. 

 

@markdd has it -  For controlled "line ends" ? ...create thin rectangles: butt ends / "over extended ends" / (violet), even  Soft and Round Ends (green)

.... or use the Double Line Polygon Tool set to something very narrow. Sharp ends / Sharp corners (blue) 

 

 

My 2¢ 

 

Peter

 

 

Lines.pdf

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