Software Tutorials for

TechSoft Design V3

The Educational CAD/CAM Specialists

CAD/CAM User Guides
 Software Tutorials for TechSoft Design V3

© Copyright TechSoft UK Limited 1995 - 2019

TechSoft UK Ltd.,
Falcon House,
Royal Welch Avenue,
Bodelwyddan,
Denbighshire, LL18 5TQ
U.K.

Tel: +44 (0)1745 535007

Fax: +44 (0)1745 535008
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.techsoft.co.uk

All rights in this booklet and the program are reserved. Reproduction, adaptation, or
translation, without the prior written permission of TechSoft UK Limited is prohibited,
except as allowed under the copyright laws.

The program described in this booklet is subject to continuous development and

improvement. All information of a technical nature and particulars of the program and
its use (including the information and particulars in this booklet) are given by TechSoft UK
Limited in good faith. However, TechSoft UK Limited cannot accept any liability.

Released: September 2019

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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
About this Booklet …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
Software Overview ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4
Educational Use …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ……………………………………………………………………………………… 5

INSTALLATION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5

SPECIAL FEATURES ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 6

Text and Fonts ………………………………………………………………………………………..……………………… 6
Bitmaps and Vectorisation ………………………………………………………………………..…………………… 6
Fills and Patterns ………………………………………………………………………………………..…………………. 7

OUTPUTTING ……..……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 8
Printers / Lasers / Print and Cut Systems ………………………………………………………………………. 8
Knife Cutting / Engraving / Milling / Plotting Devices ……………………………………………………. 8

TechSoft Design V3 HELP ………..…………………………………………………………………………… 9

TUTORIALS ………..………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Tutorial 1 – Screen Layout, Menu Selection, etc. …………………………………………………………… 10
Tutorial 2 – Setting Up the Software to Suit Your System …………………………………….………… 11
Tutorial 3 – Basic Drawing, ie., lines, circles, arcs, curves, etc. ……………………………………….. 12
Tutorial 4 – Object Selection and the Marquee Box………………………………………………………… 14
Tutorial 5 – Editing the Drawing ….……………………………………………………………….………………… 16
Tutorial 6 – Transformations …………………………………….…………………………………………………… 19
Tutorial 7 – Line Styles and Line Colours ………………………………………………………………………… 21
Tutorial 8 – Using Fills ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23
Tutorial 9 – Creating New Fills ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 26
Tutorial 10 – Text …………………………..………………………………………………………………………………. 30
Tutorial 11 – TechSoft Fonts …………………………..……….…………………………………………………….. 35
Tutorial 12 – Loading a Bitmap Image and Clipping It …………………………..………………………… 38
Tutorial 13 – Clipping an Image to Fit a Shape …………………………..……….……………………….…. 40
Tutorial 14 – Bitmap to Vector Conversion …………………………..……………………………………….. 42
Tutorial 15 – Contours …………………………..……….……………………………………………………………… 47
Tutorial 16 – Double Lines …………………………..………………………………….…………………………….. 50
Tutorial 17 – Construction Points …………………………..……….……………………….……………………. 52
Tutorial 18 – Scaling and Drawing to Scale …………………………..………………………………………… 54
Tutorial 19 – Grouping and Adding …………………………..……….…………………………………………… 56
Tutorial 20 – Dimensioning and Layers …………………………..………………………………….………….. 58
Tutorial 21 – 3D Effects and Exploding …………………………..……….……………………….……………. 61
Tutorial 22 – Exploding and Making Paths …………………………..…………………………………………. 64
Tutorial 23 – Coordinate Data Entry …………………………..………………………………………………….. 67
Tutorial 24 – Closing Boundaries (for Boundary Fill and Contour) …………………………..……… 69
Tutorial 25 – Setups and Customising the Software …………………..………………………………….. 71

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INTRODUCTION
About this Booklet
TechSoft Design V3 can be used without reference to a printed manual. Most functions are self-
explanatory and Help is always available. However, to achieve the best results in the shortest time,
it is recommended that you carefully work through the TechSoft Design V3 tutorials in this
booklet. The tutorials are intended as a practical guide to using the software on a day to day basis,
not as a deep technical reference. For technical reference information use the Help facilities
within the software.

Printing this booklet

This booklet is primarily intended to be used as a printed reference, and has been formatted as
such. Users wishing to follow the tutorials “heads up” on screen are advised to follow the
tutorials from the Help facilities within the software.

Software Overview
In general, there are two types of data for drawing packages, bitmap data (typically used in paint
type packages) and vector data (typically used in engineering or architectural draughting
packages).

Paint packages colour in the "dots" on screen to form an image. They are great for simple
drawings, or editing scanned or photographic images.

Vector drawing packages store the drawing as a series of objects, eg., lines, arcs, circles, etc. Only
the relevant coordinates are stored, so that when the image is reproduced (either on screen or
on a print-out) it can be to a set size, or accurately scaled without loss of definition.

TechSoft Design V3 is a powerful and sophisticated hybrid drawing package which allows vector
drawings to be created, and bitmap images to be loaded and incorporated into designs. TechSoft
Design V3 covers many key areas of graphic design but is also excellent for technical draughting
and design. For those wishing to run CAD/CAM systems, TechSoft Design V3 has its own
integrated drivers for output devices such as Roland CAMM 1, STIKA, CNC Millers/Engravers, etc.
It is also the perfect complement to laser cutters, print and cut systems, etc.

Educational Use
TechSoft Design V3 is easily capable of professional work, but because of its ease of use it is also
widely used in education. It is ideal for use from age 11 years up to degree level. In fact TechSoft
Design V3 (formerly 2D Design V2), is the standard CAD software for the vast majority of U.K.
secondary schools. It covers the Graphic Design, CAD and CAD/CAM elements of many syllabuses,
and it is used as a tool for all graphic elements in project work. Whenever a sophisticated package
such as this is used in education, however, there is always the risk that younger students may find
it daunting. TechSoft Design V3 deals with this problem by allowing the user to easily customise
the software and save the simplified setup as a named file. In this way several different setups
can be saved with facilities to suit different age/ability groups, or different topics.

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SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
1. TechSoft Design V3 will run on any system using Windows 7 / 8 /8.1 /10.
Although the software should run on the minimum specification computer for any particular
operating system, large drawings, particularly those with large or numerous bitmaps, may
benefit from a higher specification machine to improve speed.

2. TechSoft Design V3 requires a minimum screen display of 800 x 600, though a screen
resolution of 1024 x 768 or greater is strongly recommended. (To change the screen
resolution, from Windows you normally choose Start > Control Panel > Display > Settings.)

INSTALLATION
TechSoft Design V3 is a licensed product and must only be used on computers for which a licence
is held. The software is normally supplied as a downloaded. An activation code will be required
when the software is run for the first time. From time to time the licence must be verified and
for this purpose internet access will be required. Verification intervals vary according to the
licence type purchased.

The software is downloaded as a single .zip file. Once downloaded the file must be unzipped. In
Windows this can be done by clicking on the file with the RH mouse button and then choosing
Extract All. This creates the software folder. For Standalone or Home Use installation clicking on
Setup.exe to commence the installation. Network Managers should click on Network Setup.exe
to create all the distribution folders required. In both cases, follow screen prompts carefully
through to completion of installation.

Licence upgrades (eg., for new device extensions, or from single user to site), may often be done
by updating the licence from within the software - choose Help > Check for Licence Updates or
Help > Software Licence then click on Check for Licence Updates.

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SPECIAL FEATURES
Some of the important features of TechSoft Design V3 are highlighted below.

Text and Fonts

TechSoft Design V3 has some very powerful text facilities. It is possible to draw text at any size
and orientation, and each individual character within a word or phrase can have its own settings.
Thus, letters can be drawn back to front, upside down, and at any size if desired. Text can even be
made to flow along complex profiles - not just curves, but any shape or combination of shapes.

Most drawing packages support coloured text but TechSoft Design V3 also allows each font (or
each character) to have a different coloured outline using lines of any thickness, even dotted or
dashed lines. The fill colour does not just have to be a single colour either, any fill pattern (no
matter how complicated), or even bitmaps can be used. Although text parameters such as colour
and outline style can be set “on the fly”, it is often useful to pre-set a font so that it can be used
again and again This is easy to do in TechSoft Design V3 as it incorporates a special “Font Design”
mode. In this mode any existing font may be loaded and modified. Not just colours and fills
though, even the shape of individual characters may be modified to create your own custom font.
In fact, you can draw up a whole font of your own if you wish. Fonts created this way can be saved
as a TechSoft font, and then used within TechSoft Design V3 as any other font.

Also supplied in the TechSoft font format are a range of single line (or “stick”) fonts ideal for use
in engraved or laser cut designs, etc.

Bitmaps and Vectorisation

Bitmap images can be used in TechSoft Design V3 in a number of ways. Images can simply be
loaded directly as drawing elements and then accurately scaled to size if required. A typical use
might be to add a photograph or scanned image to an item of packaging.

TechSoft Design V3 also has sophisticated clipping routines which allow bitmap images to have an
outline drawn to “cut out” or “mask” parts of the image. Thus, for example, the image of a person
could be cut out of a group photograph then re-scaled and used as part of another image. Another
example might be to automatically trim a photograph to fit on the panel of a box.

Bitmap images may be converted to vector images. Normally bitmaps do not scale well,
particularly when making them bigger, as the pixels start to become visible. By converting the
bitmap to a vector equivalent this problem may be avoided. Bitmap to vector conversion works
best on simple images, such as clipart with a limited number of colours, or monochrome scans (it
does not normally work well for photographs). TechSoft Design V3 can also trace or contour
around bitmaps to create either graphic effects or sophisticated cutting paths.

Although not intended as a bitmap editing program, TechSoft Design V3 has many functions to
control the appearance of the bitmap. For example, a bitmap’s colours may be reduced, its
resolution may be reduced, or it can be changed to monochrome or greyscale, etc. By combining
bitmap and vector graphics, incredibly sophisticated images can be created with ease.

One word of caution when using bitmap graphics is to remember your output device. TechSoft
Design V3 can output to many more devices than just printers, but not all devices (eg., milling
systems) can output bitmaps.

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Fills and Patterns

Fills are generated in three ways - when objects such as rectangles, circles, double lines, closed
beziers, etc., are drawn; when “flood filling” pre-drawn boundaries; or when drawing text.
TechSoft Design V3 can fill objects with simple hatch or solid fills, or with graduated, texture, or
pattern fills.

Graduated Fills
These can be just simple blends from one colour to another. However, by defining numerous
options and settings, very sophisticated complex graduations can be created.

Examples of Graduated Fills

Texture Fills
Texture fills are created from bitmap images, such as simple bitmap drawings, photographs or
scans. Texture fills are normally used to create a background effect within a fill. One bitmap
may be used across the whole fill, or the bitmap may be repeated in a number of ways. With a
suitable bitmap, by flipping it left/right and top/bottom, a continuous seamless texture can be
created to simulate wood grain, fabrics, stones, etc. A wide range of suitable bitmaps are
supplied with the software for this purpose.

Examples of Texture Fills

Pattern Fills
Pattern fills provide a comprehensive way of using virtually any drawing as a fill. Images can be
vector or bitmap (or a combination). There are exhaustive ways of configuring the pattern to
create stunning fill images.

Examples of Pattern Fills

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OUTPUTTING
Output from Windows software is normally done using special Windows printer drivers, either
supplied with Windows, or by the device manufacturer, through a File > Print option. Whilst this
works fine for may output devices, it often does not allow the software enough control over the
output when driving many CNC machines such as cutting/engraving/milling/plotting type devices.
TechSoft Design V3 therefore offers two options, the standard File > Print for output via Windows
drivers (see Printers / Laser Cutters / Print and Cut Systems below), and the additional File > CNC
Output for output via TechSoft’s own built-in CNC device drivers (see Knife Cutting / Engraving /
Milling / Plotting Devices below). Where a TechSoft CNC device driver is available, you are
strongly recommended to output via File > CNC Output.

Further comprehensive details regarding output to individual machines, and how to get the best
out of them, are detailed in the Training Packs included with most CNC machines supplied by
TechSoft.

Printers / Laser Cutters / Print and Cut Systems

When outputting to a printer such as a laser, inkjet, etc., or some laser cutters such as a TechSoft
LaserCAM Star, or a print and cut machine such as a Roland TrueVIS, set the Windows printer
driver up in the normal way and use File > Print.

It is good practice to first set the screen drawing area to match the print device to be used.
To do this choose the Layout icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Setup > Drawing >
Layout). Choose Match current printer, in the Layout dialog box. If you do not match to
the print device, output can still take place, but you may find that the drawing does not come out
where expected on the media, or the drawing may be tiled across several sheets.

Changes to device settings must be made in the printer driver itself. These settings may be
accessed by choosing File > Print Setup, or File > Print, and then Properties. If necessary, fine
adjustments to the position of the drawing on the media, and to the line thickness printed, can
be made using File > Print Options.

If you wish to retain your chosen layout for future sessions, choose Setup > Set As Default or Setup
> Save Setup.

Knife Cutting / Engraving / Milling / Plotting Devices

TechSoft Design V3 uses its own built-in drivers for many Roland CAMM 1, STIKA, CNC
millers/engravers, etc. If your output device is listed (see Setup > CNC Devices), use File > CNC
Output rather than File > Print. The result is an enhanced output quality, and the ability to make
use of many special machine features, such as controlling cutting modes, depths of cut, feed rates,
etc., where appropriate. Additionally, output settings are saved with the drawing file. (N.B. Users
can still use standard Windows device drivers by using File > Print if preferred.)

Although it is possible to set the appropriate output device from the CNC Output dialog
box itself, it is good practice to always begin work by choosing the Layout icon from the
upper icon toolbar (or Setup > Drawing > Layout) to select the appropriate output device
and match the media size, etc., to it. If you wish to retain your chosen layout for future sessions,
choose Setup > Set As Default or Setup > Save Setup.

Further details of using the built-in drivers are in the TechSoft Training Packs supplied with
machines.

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TechSoft Design V3 HELP

Help is a standard Windows feature. Help gives you easy access to detailed information on every
menu item, tool, dialog box, button and feature in TechSoft Design V3.

You can access Help in the following ways:

1. Choose Help > Help Contents.

2. Click on the Help button in a dialog box for help on that dialog box.

3. With any menu item highlighted, press the F1 key to see a Help window describing that
menu item.

4. Choose What’s This? from the upper icon toolbar or Help > What’s This or press
Shift + F1 to display the Help cursor. Then click on any tool to see a Help window
describing it.

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TUTORIALS
TUTORIAL 1 – Screen Layout, Menu Selection, etc.
The TechSoft Design V3 program window provides a clear view of the current drawing, various
information areas, and a selection of icons with tools to cover the most common drawing, editing,
and display functions.

1. Start up TS Design V3 (Start > All Programs > TechSoft Design Tools > TechSoft Design V3
or use the desktop shortcut icon) and familiarise yourself with the screen layout as shown
below.

2. Menu items are normally chosen from the menu bar or the toolbox, using the mouse
(although many keyboard alternatives are available). To choose an item from the toolbox,
position the pointer over the appropriate icon and click the LH (left-hand) mouse button.
Some items in the RH (right-hand) toolbox (the Drawing Aids toolbox), such as Grid, will cause
the icon to stay selected (on) until it is switched off by clicking on it again.

3. Many of the items in the LH toolbox (the Draw/Edit toolbox) have pullout toolbars. These are
activated by positioning the pointer on the icon then pressing and holding the LH mouse
button for a short while. The pointer can then be dragged along the icon bar until the
required icon is highlighted, then the mouse button released. This selects the item, and
changes the icon in the toolbox to that chosen.

4. Most menu items, eg., text, grid, etc., have a related dialog box for settings. To access these dialog
boxes, double click on the appropriate icon with the LH mouse button, or click on the icon with
the RH mouse button.

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TUTORIAL 2 – Setting Up the Software to Suit your System

During the course of this tutorial you will set the software to suit your normal requirements. You
will then save these values as the default.

1. Start up TS Design V3. Choose the Layout icon from the upper icon toolbar (or
Setup> Drawing > Layout). The default setting is for A3 paper. Most people should
set the drawing screen to Match current printer or Set for CNC device. Use the dialog
box to select the printer/ CNC device/material size you will be using most often, then click
OK to close.

N.B. If you have an A4 printer you may wonder why you would change from the standard
A4 paper size. In fact most printers cannot print to the edges of the paper, so if you set to
match your printer, a grey dotted rectangle will appear, showing the actual printing area. If
you stay within this rectangle, you should not “lose” any image when printing. (This feature
depends on the correct values being set in the Windows printer driver, which is obviously
out of TechSoft’s control!). Choosing Match current printer also ensures that the paper is
orientated (ie., landscape or portrait) to match the current settings in the printer driver
(choose File > Print Setup to change).

2. You may wish to investigate some of the options under Setup > Drawing or Setup >
Customise. Any of the options set may be saved as default values in the next step. At this
stage however, it is probably better to leave these options, and to come back to them after
working through the other tutorials. (Tutorial 25 deals with setups further.)

3. Choose Setup > Set As Default. Click OK on the warning dialog box. Close down the software
completely, then restart it. You will see that it starts up with the Drawing Layout settings
you have made. (Any other settings made from the Setup menu, eg., the type of grid, will
also have been saved.)

N.B. If you ever wish to return to the factory default settings, choose Help > Restore Factory
Defaults, then Setup > Set As Default.

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TUTORIAL 3 – Basic Drawing, ie., lines, circles, arcs, curves, etc.

1. Choose the Single Lines icon (LH toolbox).
Move the cursor around, over the white area. (N.B. You can draw over the blue area,
but it will not be printed or output.) Notice the changing coordinates at the bottom of
the screen. Move the cursor to a position where you wish to start a line, and click the
LH mouse button. A moving line should now appear. To “finish” a line click the LH mouse
button again. Carry on drawing a few more lines. (To help with this tutorial, ensure that some
of them crossover each other.)

2. Choose the Connected Lines icon from the Lines toolbar (LH toolbox, click and hold on
the Lines icon then drag and release). Move the cursor to a start point, and click the
LH mouse button. To “fix” a line section, click the LH mouse button again. A new
moving line should now appear from the end of the fixed line. To “finish”, either double click
the LH mouse button (this will “fix” the moving line), or click the RH mouse button (this will
finish at the last fixed line). Try drawing a few lines finished in different ways. You will notice
that although a grid is showing, the lines are not starting and ending on grid positions.

3. Choose the Grid Lock icon (RH toolbox). Now draw a few more lines. The ends of the
lines will now be fixed to grid positions.

4. Choose the Step Lock icon (RH toolbox). Now draw a few more lines. Again the ends
of the lines appear to be free. However, they are not entirely free as will be seen after
the next two steps.

5. Choose the Zoom in icon (LH toolbox).

Note the prompt reading Locate one corner of zoom box. Move the cursor approx. 1
grid square (10mm) below and to the left of any “corner” that you have drawn, then
click the LH mouse button. The prompt will change to Locate opposite corner of zoom
box. Move the mouse to pull out a box up to the right, about 30mm square (three grid
squares), then click the LH mouse button. That area will now be redrawn to fill the screen.

6. Choose the Connected Lines icon again (LH toolbox).

Draw some more lines. Notice that when the mouse moves, the cursor moves in
small steps between the grid dots. In fact the default step spacing is 1mm.

7. Choose the Step Lock icon again (RH toolbox).

This time step lock will be deselected and the cursor will be free to move to any
position. Thus, there are three lock options, grid lock, step lock, and no lock.

8. Choose the Zoom Last icon (RH toolbox).

This will restore the previous zoom level, in this case the full drawing screen. (You
might also like to try the effects of the Zoom+ and Zoom- icons in the RH toolbox at
this point.)

9. Choose the Radial Lock icon (RH toolbox).

As you continue to draw connected lines you will find that any line drawn is now
constrained to 45 deg steps. Double click on this icon with the LH mouse button and
a dialog box will appear. This allows the start angle and step angle to be set. Try the
effects of different settings. Many other icons have dialog boxes accessed in the same way.
Alternatively, dialog boxes may be accessed by clicking with the RH mouse button. Try
clicking on the Grid icon with the RH mouse button.

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10. Choose the Single Lines icon again from the Lines toolbar (LH toolbox, click and hold
on the Lines icon then drag and release). Draw a few lines.

11. Choose the Attach icon (RH toolbox) and ensure that Grid Lock and Radial Lock are
off. The cursor will change to a small square. Position the cursor square to overlap
the end of any line, and click the LH mouse button. The start of the line being drawn
will automatically start exactly from the end of the selected line. Position the cursor over
the end of a different line, and click the LH mouse button again. You do not have to be
absolutely accurate in your positioning, as long as the square is over the line. It is possible
to change the size of the attach target box or the type of points being attached to, from the
attach dialog box (double click on the icon). Try setting attach to intersections as well as
end points, and try drawing lines between intersections. Remember, just make sure that
the intersection is inside the attach target box.

12. So far you have only drawn lines. Try some of the other drawing functions - circles, arcs,
shapes and paths. Follow prompts, and use Help for further explanation.

13. Try deleting as described below.

Delete functions are in the LH toolbox accessed from the Delete toolbar (click and hold on
the Delete icon):

Delete Any allows you to point to an object and delete it.

Delete Part deletes any part of a line, arc, circle or bezier curve back to the closest
intersection points from the locating point.

Delete by Box allows you to draw a simple rectangular box that will delete any items inside
or crossing it.

Delete by Lasso allows you to draw a complex shape that will delete any items inside or
crossing it.

Delete by Clip Path deletes any items inside or crossing a clip path (see Tutorial 12 for more
information about clip paths).

Pressing Delete on the keyboard deletes the current selection (see Tutorial 4 for more
information about selection).

Pressing ALT + Delete on the keyboard deletes the whole of the current drawing.

14. Now click on the Undo icon in the RH toolbox. This undoes the last operation, either
drawing, transforming or deleting. Click the icon a few times to step back through
all the work you have done so far.

Now click on the Redo icon in the RH toolbox. This effectively undoes the undo and
restores your work step by step.

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TUTORIAL 4 – Object Selection and the Marquee Box

As you will see in this tutorial, selection is carried out using normal Windows methods. Selected
objects may be dragged, rotated, flipped, resized or copied quickly and easily.

1. Start up TS Design V3, or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open), and load the drawing “Car.3vs” from the
Tutorials folder. For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help > Restore Factory
Defaults.

2. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor below, and to the LH side of the car. Press the LH mouse button, drag
a box around the drawing, then release (alternatively Select All using the keyboard
shortcut Ctrl + A or the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar). The car will be
highlighted in pink, and surrounded by a dotted box (a marquee box) with handles (yellow
shapes).

3. Familiarise yourself with the marquee box functions, as described below.

The large centre square handle allows the box to be re-positioned. Clicking once on the
handle with the LH mouse button allows the box to be moved around (Grid Lock and Attach
still operate). A second click with the LH mouse button “drops” the box in its new position
(or click the RH mouse button to cancel the operation.)
N.B. If the initial click is done with the RH mouse button, the handle will move and not the
box. Subsequent operations such as flip and rotate will act about this handle. When the
marquee box is de-selected, the centre handle will revert to its normal position.

The corner and edge square handles allow the box to be re-sized. Clicking with the LH mouse
button allows the handle to move, clicking again redraws the object/s at the new size.
N.B. Warning - moving the corner and edge handles can alter the aspect ratio. In this case,
arcs and circles (in this case the wheels) are converted to elliptical bezier curves, which can
no longer have tangency properties, etc. (Choose Undo Last if this happens by mistake.)
Clicking in a corner handle with the RH mouse button, then moving, maintains the aspect
ratio, keeping circles and arcs fixed.

The circular handle to the right of the marquee box allows the object(s) to be rotated.
N.B. This can be used in conjunction with the Radial Lock tool (RH toolbox).

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The diamond handles, above and to the left of the box, flip the object(s) vertically or horizontally,
and the double handle below the box copies the object(s), leaving the new copy selected.

Experiment with these handles to test the effects.

N.B. To undo a transformation (or any other drawing or editing operation), click on the Undo Last
icon in the RH toolbox.

4. An individual object (single line, arc, etc.) can be selected by moving the pointer near it and
clicking the LH mouse button. Clicking on another object in the same way will select the new
object (de-selecting the first object). Clicking on an object with the RH mouse button (or
SHIFT + LH mouse button) will "add" or "remove" the object from the selection by toggling
its select state.

Multiple objects can be selected by dragging a select box around them with the LH mouse
button. Dragging another select box in the same way will create a new selection (cancelling
the first). Dragging a select box with the RH mouse button (or SHIFT + LH mouse button), will
toggle the select state of the objects.

To de-select objects, move the pointer outside the marquee box and click the LH mouse
button. Individual objects may be de-selected using the RH mouse button (or SHIFT + LH
mouse button) as described above.

Try all of the above options on the car to get the feel of the selection process.

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TUTORIAL 5 – Editing the Drawing

Selected objects may be easily edited (start/end/centre/nodes of lines/arcs/paths/text, etc.,
moved and modified).

1. Start up TS Design V3, or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open), and load the drawing “Sammy.3vs” from
the Tutorials folder. For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help > Restore Factory
Defaults. T

Dynamic Editing

2. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the lower straight line forming Sammy’s tail. You will notice the Property /Start
Edit toolbox open in the bottom RH corner of the screen.

Click on the Start Edit button.

The line will turn grey, and a red and green circle will appear at the ends. These are the nodes
of the line (defining points), green indicates the start point, red the end point. Click on the
red node using the LH mouse button. The node will now follow the mouse freely around.
Click again and the line will be repositioned at that point. Click on Undo Last (RH toolbox) to
return the line to its original position. Now click on the red node again but using the RH mouse
button. The line will still move but is now constrained along its own path (so it can only get
longer or shorter). Click again to place the line, then click on Undo Last to return the line to
its original state. To remove the nodes, click “off” (away from) the drawing, (or click on End
Edit). This will return the marquee box. Click off again to de-select.

3. Now select Sammy’s stomach curve by clicking near it, then click on Start Edit.

The curve will grey, and circles will appear on it to denote the nodes. (In this case these points
are the original location points when the curve was drawn, green - start, red - end, and orange
for all other defining points). Each node has two yellow handles (only one for the start and
end points). Clicking on a node or a handle with the LH button allows that point to be moved
around. Clicking on one of a pair of handles with the RH button, locks the angle of the handles
and allows them to move together. Try a few of these options then click off to de-select.

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4. Now select Sammy’s back curve and then click on Start Edit. You may have
noticed that as Start Edit is selected, it is replaced by a longer option menu
(so far with all the options greyed out). To activate these options, a node or
line/curve section must be selected.

Move the cursor near to the centre section of Sammy’s back and click
the LH button. This section will turn pink, indicating that it is selected.

Click on the Add Node button in the Edit Mode toolbox. An extra node will appear on the
selected curve. Click on this node with the LH mouse button and drag the node upwards.
Click again to drop the node. Move the node and its handles until it looks something like
the illustration below then click off the drawing to de-select it. You have now given Sammy
a fin!

5. By now Sammy may be a bit of a mess. If so, close your drawing (File > Close) then
choose the Open icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open), and load the
drawing “Sammy2.3vs” from the Tutorials folder.

6. Choose the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Select > All, or
press CTRL+A on the keyboard) to select the whole drawing. Click on Start Edit (in
the bottom RH corner).

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Drag a select box over Sammy’s tail as shown below.

It is now possible to move the whole tail section. Click on one of the selected (pink) nodes
and move the mouse until Sammy looks something like the illustration below, then click off
the drawing to de-select it. In this way, very powerful editing changes can be made very
easily.

So far you have adjusted bezier curves, but all other drawing objects (circles, arcs,
text, etc.) have nodes as well and many have control points. When selecting nodes
or line/curve/arc sections the normal select rules apply. You can select multiple
items by dragging a select box over them and using the RH mouse button you can
add or remove items from the selection.

Editing Object Properties

It is often important to be able to look at and maybe alter the properties of an object. Some
properties such as layer, line type and fill, can be changed via the attributes bar at the top
of the screen (see Tutorial 7). However, full control of an object’s properties is available
via the Property button.

7. Click the LH mouse button near to Sammy’s eye

to select it. Choose Property from the
Property/Start Edit toolbox to open the Circle
Properties dialog box.

As you will see very comprehensive details of the circle are displayed. The values and
settings may be edited if required. You might like to try altering the value of the radius or
assigning a fill. Changing properties this way only works for individual objects. If more than
one object is selected the Property button will be greyed out.

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TUTORIAL 6 – Transformations
You have already tried simple transformations using the marquee box in Tutorial 4. There are
different transformation functions available in the LH toolbox, Move/Copy, Mirror Image,
Rotate, Distort, etc. All these functions operate in a similar way. First you must select the objects
to be transformed using the Select option. Then choose the appropriate transform option (the
objects will stay selected but the select box will disappear). Set/check the variables in the dialog
box that appears, then follow the screen instructions. The following example illustrates their
use.

1. Start up TS Design V3, or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open), and load the drawing “Flower.3vs”
from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help >
Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the leaf only, by clicking next to it, or by dragging a select box over it.

3. Choose the Mirror image icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Transform icon).
Ensure that Repeat/Replace is set to Repeat. Ensure that Grid Lock is on. At the
prompt Locate one point on axis of reflection, move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs
(200, 160), then click the LH mouse button. At the second prompt Locate another point on
axis of reflection, locate the cursor at co-ordinate position Abs (200, 100). The drawing
should appear as in fig b.

You will now repeat and rotate the petal around the circle. As the centre of the circle is not on
a grid position we will need to set the software to automatically attach to its centre.

4. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the petal only, by clicking next to it, or by dragging a select box over it.

5. Ensure that Grid Lock is off, then click on the Attach icon (RH toolbox) with the RH
mouse button (or double click with the LH button) to open the Attach Settings dialog
box.

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6. Select Centre of arc/circle then click OK to close the dialog box.

7. With the Attach icon still highlighted, choose the Rotate icon (LH toolbox, click and
hold the Transform icon). Ensure that Angle of rotation is set to 60 deg,
Repeat/Replace to Repeat, No. repeats to 5, then click OK. At the prompt Locate
centre of rotation, move the cursor (now a square) over any part of the circle and click the
LH mouse button. Click off to deselect. The finished drawing should now appear as in fig c.

It is good practice not to leave attach items set when you are not using them, as this can cause
confusion if you are locating and attach to the wrong thing. Click on the Attach icon again with
the RH mouse button and untick Centre of arc/circle.

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TUTORIAL 7 – Line Styles and Line Colours

This tutorial will deal with drawing and changing line styles and colours.

So far, all the drawing done (if you are following these tutorials closely!) will be in solid black
lines. To set a different line style or colour, new parameters are set from the attributes bar at
the top of the screen.

If the line and colour settings are changed to, say, dashed with colour red, all subsequent lines
will be red dashed lines. Existing lines may easily have their parameters changed as shown below.

1. Start up TS Design V3, or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Bracket.3vs”
from the Tutorials folder. For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help > Restore
Factory Defaults.

This drawing uses solid fine lines (the default setting). For visual reasons it is sometimes desirable
to use thicker lines, eg., in this case it would be better if the main lines of the bracket were thicker
than the centre lines to be drawn later.

2. Choose the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Select > All or press
CTRL+A on the keyboard). See fig a. You will notice that the Line... and Col... windows
on the attributes bar are now blank (indicating that the settings may be changed).

3. Click on the Line button on the attributes bar at the top of the screen.
The Line Style Settings dialog box will open.

Select Thick and set the thickness to 0.75mm. Click OK. Click off the drawing to de-select it.
You will see that all lines have been redrawn much thicker.

You may have noticed that some of the lines should be hidden detail lines (short dashes). You will
now select these lines and change their settings and colour.

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4. Ensure that the Select icon (LH toolbox) is chosen.

Select any one of the hidden detail lines (see the pink lines in fig b if unsure) by
clicking on it with the LH mouse button in the normal way. Change to the RH mouse
button and select the rest of the lines one at a time. Each will be “added” to the
selection. (If a wrong line is selected by mistake, click on it again with the RH mouse button
to remove it from the selection.)

5. With all the hidden detail lines selected, click on the Line button on the attributes bar again
to open the Line Style Settings dialog box. Set Type to a short dash, Pitch to 6mm and Width
to Fine, then click OK.

6. With the lines still selected, click on the Col button next to the Line button.
The Line Colour dialog box will open.

Choose the blue colour in the Custom colors section, then click OK. Click in a clear space to deselect
the lines.

Whilst it is easy to change the line style and colour retrospectively, it is usually more sensible to
use the correct settings in the first place. You will now draw some centre lines on the drawing.

7. Click on the Line button on the attributes bar at the top of the screen to open the Line Style
Settings dialog box. Set Type to a long dash and a dot, Pitch 15mm, Width to Fine. Set the
colour to Custom color red by clicking on the Col button next to the Line button.

8. Choose the Single Lines icon (LH toolbox) and ensure that Grid and Grid Lock (RH
toolbox) are on. Draw in the centre lines as shown in fig c.

When creating or changing a line style you may have noticed that the first linetype in the list is
Invisible, and you may have wondered what use an invisible line is. When drawing an object such
as a filled rectangle, by default it will be drawn with a black line surrounding it. If this black line is
not required, it may be set to invisible instead. (N.B. Invisible lines can have their on-screen
appearance changed using the menu Setup > Customise > Redraw Settings - useful if you have
forgotten they are there!)

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TUTORIAL 8 – Using Fills

TechSoft Design V3 has very powerful fill capabilities. Objects may be filled with simple hatch or
solid fills, or with graduated, texture or pattern fills. This tutorial will show how to draw filled
objects, and how to fill areas of existing drawings. For details on creating new fills see Tutorial
9.

Any closed object, eg., rectangle, circle, polygon, closed bezier, etc., can be given a fill as it is
drawn. The current fill type is shown on the attributes bar at the top of the screen.

If the fill settings are changed to say, solid red, all new closed objects will be filled in solid red.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial
only, choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Horizontal Rectangle icon (LH toolbox).

3. Follow the screen prompts to draw a couple of random rectangles. You will see lines only
with no fill (ie., you will be able to see the grid through the rectangle).

4. Click on the Fill button on the attributes bar at the top of the screen. The Fill
Settings dialog box will open.

Select Solid and set the Colour to Custom Color Red. Click OK to close the dialog box. Draw some
more rectangles and note the red fill with a black border. Draw some more closed objects, eg.,
circles, in different colours.

Drawing filled objects in this way is useful, but often you will have created an outline from a variety
of lines, arcs, curves, etc., and you then wish to fill inside it.

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5. Close your current drawing (File > Close). Choose the Open icon from the upper icon
toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Cottage.3vs” from the Tutorials folder.
Note that a few of the more “fiddly” parts of the drawing have already been filled.

6. Choose the Boundary Fill icon (LH toolbox).

From the Boundary Fill settings dialog box, click on the Fill button to open the Fill Settings
dialog box. Click on the Load Fill button and load the fill “Tiles” from the Fills folder. Note the
settings in the Fill Settings dialog box then click OK to close all dialog boxes. At the prompt
Locate one edge of boundary on side for fill, locate at approximately point 1 shown above. To
the question Any islands, answer No. The roof will fill with the tile texture at the size specified.

Double click with the LH button (or click with the RH button) on the Boundary Fill icon to bring
back the dialog box. Click on the Fill button to open the Fill Settings dialog box. Click on the
Load Fill button and load the fill “Bricks” from the Fills folder. Note the settings in the Fill
Settings dialog box then click OK to close all dialog boxes. At the prompt Locate one edge of
boundary on side for fill, locate at approximately point 2 shown above. To the question Any
islands, answer Yes and locate at point 3, repeat for points 4 and 5, then answer No. The walls
and chimney will fill, leaving holes for the windows and door. Note that an island can be
internal or external, external islands are filled, internal ones are not.

Repeat the procedure above to fill with “Grass” at point 6 and “Sky” at point 7. (N.B. When
filling the sky you could treat the “sun” as an island and not fill it, but as the sun will be fully
filled later there is no need in this case.)

When the sky was filled you will have noticed that the sun was obscured. This is because parts of
the sky outline were drawn after the sun, so the sky fill is also drawn after the sun, ie., “on top”
of it. It is however easy to correct as explained below.

7. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor over the sky fill and click the LH mouse button to select the fill. The
whole fill should be cross hatched in pink.

Choose the To Back icon from the upper icon toolbar.

The drawing data will be re-ordered so that the sky is now drawn first.

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8. To finish the drawing, proceed as in step 6 to fill the sun with the fill “Sun”, the door with fill
“Door” (don’t forget to select the knob and letterbox as islands), and the curtains with fill
“Curtains”. Your drawing should now appear as below.

Changing fills once drawn is a very similar process to changing line types and fills (see Tutorial
7). You select the fill or fills you wish to change, then click on the Fill button on the attributes
bar at the top of the screen to set the replacement fill.

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TUTORIAL 9 – Creating New Fills

TechSoft Design V3 has a very sophisticated and powerful facility to use and create a variety of fill
types from simple hatch or solid fills, to graduated, texture or pattern fills. These fills can be used
when objects are drawn, as in-fills for pre-drawn boundaries and for filling text. The full range of
possibilities is way beyond the scope of this booklet. A selection of fills is supplied with the
software, but it is easy to create new fills and to save them for future use.

In Tutorial 8 you used some fills that had already been created. In this tutorial you will create and
save some fills of your own.

Creating a Graduated Fill

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Shapes.3vs” from
the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help >
Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Click on the Fill button on the attributes bar.

The Fill Settings dialog box will open. Select Graduated.

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You will see a square sample window showing the current fill, and a rectangular colour bar that
is used to set the fill colour parameters. Under the colour bar at each end is a small paint can
which determines the colour at its position on the bar. Move the cursor over the black can, then
click and hold the LH mouse button and drag the can backwards and forwards whilst observing
the effect. You will notice that in the Position box a reading is given of the position of the can
along the bar. Now drop the black can and try the same thing with the white can (the cans can
be crossed over each other). Notice that the active can has a red pointer on top.

3. Move the cans back to their start points. Click on the LH can to make it active, then click on
the Colour... button, to open the Fill Colour dialog box. Select Red from the Custom colors
selection, then click OK to close. In the same way, change the colour of the RH can to black.

4. Click on the Add Colour button. This will open the Fill Colour dialog box. Select White from
the Basic colors selection, then click OK to close. A new can will appear on the colour bar.
Slide this can to position 30 (alternatively you can enter this value in the Position text entry
box and choose Apply). Add another can, colour red, at position 55.

5. Select Fixed Size and change the value in the X Size text entry box to 8mm, then click on the
Apply button to activate the setting. The Fill Settings dialog box should now appear as
below.

6. Click on Save Fill and save the fill with the file name “Red Tubes”.

7. Try changing a few other variables to see the effect. In particular try rotating the fill by clicking
on the dial in the Rotation section and spinning the dial around (or type in a value and Apply).

Creating a Pattern Fill

8. Select Pattern. Click on the Load Pattern button and load the image “Duck.wmf” from the
Patterns folder.

Load Pattern allows any graphics file that TechSoft Design V3 can load to be used as the basis of
a pattern fill.

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9. The sample window represents a rectangle 40mm wide. This should give you an idea of
scaling in the final drawing. In this case the window is a little small to get the full effect of the
pattern. Change the Sample Width setting to 80mm then choose Apply to get a better view.

10. In the Tessellation Settings section, change the Offset value to 12mm, the X Gap to 4mm then
click Apply. (The total repeat spacing for the ducks is 24mm - an X size of 20mm + an X Gap
of 4mm. To get an even overlap, an Offset of half this, 12mm, has been set).

11. Select Flip X. This flips alternate images in the X axis.

If the fill is used as it is, the background (the space between the ducks) will be transparent, and
any other drawing underneath will show through. You may like to try this later. In this case we
will set a coloured background colour.

12. Untick Transparent. Click on the Background Colour... button to open the Fill Colour dialog
box. Select the pale yellow from the Basic colors selection, then click OK to close. The Fill
Settings dialog box should now appear as below.

13. Click on Save Fill and save the fill with the file name “ducks”.

Creating a Texture Fill

14. Select Texture. Click on the Load Texture button and load the bitmap “Shiny Metal
Weave.jpg”. from the Textures > Weave folder.

Load Texture allows any bitmap file that TechSoft Design V3 can load to be used as the basis of a
texture fill. In this case the texture is one of the library of textures supplied with the software.

15. Select No. Rows/Columns, and set the No. Columns to 3, then click Apply. The Fill Settings
dialog box should now appear as below.

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16. Click Save Fill and save the fill with the file name “Mesh”, then choose Cancel to exit the
dialog box.

Having created some fill patterns you can now use them.

17. Choose the Boundary Fill icon (LH toolbox).

From the Boundary Fill Settings dialog box, click the Fill button to open the Fill
Settings dialog box. Click on the Load Fill button and load the fill “Red Tubes” which
you saved earlier. Click OK to close all dialog boxes. At the prompt Locate one edge
of boundary on side for fill, locate the inside edge of the curved shape. To the question Any
islands, answer No and the shape will fill. Double click with LH button (or click with the RH
button) on the Boundary Fill icon to bring back the dialog box. Load the fill “Ducks” and fill
the hexagon with it. Repeat the procedure to fill the lozenge with the fill “Mesh”. The
drawing should now appear as in fig b.

You may have noticed that Texture fills only use bitmaps, whilst Pattern fills use any drawing
(which could include a bitmap). On the face of it Texture fill is not really necessary. In fact whilst
Pattern fills provides very powerful options, they are optimised for use with vectors and mixed
drawings. Texture fills are optimised for use with bitmaps, so that when images are repeated
they can form perfectly tessellated seamless fills.

Fills can be used with a variety of drawing operations; drawing new closed objects (where the
fill is set on the attributes bar), using boundary fill (where the fill is set in the Boundary Fill
Settings dialog box), and text, (where the fill is set in the Text Settings dialog box). Each of these
operations has its own settings, ie., changing a fill for text will not affect the settings for new
closed objects. If you wish to quickly match one of the other fills (without saving and re-loading),
the Fill Settings dialog box has buttons at the bottom to allow this.

Warning - A pattern fill is very powerful and can be used to create stunning graphical effects.
Any drawing file can be used, in particular TechSoft Design V3 files, and WMF vector files
(commonly used for clipart) can be ideal. However, when a large drawing is used as the
“pattern”, which is then repeated multiple times, drawing sizes can become very large, resulting
in potentially slow redraw times and possible computer memory problems.

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TUTORIAL 10 - Text
The text functions are very comprehensive. Text fonts may be in Windows Outline or TechSoft
Font format (see Tutorial 11 for more details of TechSoft Fonts). There are three basic text
functions, Linear text by variable which allows the user to set all variables, font, sizes, spacings,
colours, etc; Linear text by box which allows the user to pre-define font, colour, etc., then to apply
the text to a user defined box; and Text along a path which allows text to flow around the outside
or inside of a selected path object (normally a circle, arc, polygon or bezier curve).

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Linear text icon (LH toolbox). Ensure that Grid Lock (RH toolbox) is on. At
the prompt Locate start position for text, move the cursor to position Abs (120, 200)
approx., then click the LH mouse button. The following dialog box will open.

Type in TechSoft<Return>for<Return>CAD/CAM then click the Settings button. The following

dialog box will open.

Ensure that the font is set to Arial Black (if not available choose another font), and Height to 25.
Click OK on both dialog boxes. Your text should appear as below.

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3. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor over the text and click the LH mouse button to select it. Notice the
Property/Start Edit toolbox open in the bottom RH corner of the screen.

Click on the Property button. The Text Entry dialog box will open. Click on the
Settings button to open the Text Settings dialog box.

Set Alignment to Centered then click on the Col... button next to Fill... and change the colour
to Custom color green. Tick Add drop shadow and change the X and Y values to 15. Click on
the Spacing button to open the Text Spacing dialog box

Set the Line Spacing to 80, then click OK to close all dialog boxes. Your text should appear
as below.

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N.B. Obviously all the settings in steps 2 and 3 could have been made at one time, but one of the
objectives of this tutorial is to show how text can be changed in different ways.

4. With the text still selected, click on the Property button again to open the Text Entry dialog
box as shown below.

Highlight the words “CAD/CAM” (drag the text cursor over the characters so that they are
highlighted in blue). Click on the Settings button to open the Text Settings dialog box. Change the
Height value to 30, then click on the Fill... button to open the Fill Settings dialog box.

Select Graduated, then click on the Colour... button and set the colour to Custom color red. Click
OK to close all dialog boxes, then click off to de-select. Your text should appear as below.

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The above example has shown how to edit the properties of selected characters within a text
phrase. Below is an alternative option for doing the same thing.

5. Select the text again, but this time click on the Start Edit button in the bottom RH corner of
the screen. Each text character will be drawn with a yellow handle (it is possible to move
each character by dragging the handle). You may now sub-select text characters. Use the
LH mouse button to click on the letter T. Use the RH mouse button to click on the letters e
c h in turn to select them (do not click on the handles).

With the letters selected click on the Adjust button in the Edit Mode toolbox in the bottom RH
corner of the screen. The Text Settings dialog box will open. Change the Fill... colour to light grey
and click OK to close all dialog boxes. The word “Tech” will turn grey. With the text still selected
click away from the text to undo the sub-selection. Now sub-select the letters S o f t and set
them to custom colour blue. Finally click away from the text a few times to completely deselect
it. Your text should appear as below.

6. This example demonstrates just some of the powerful text facilities available. Close the
current drawing (File > Close), then open the drawing “TextDemo.3vs” and observe some
of the many other possible text effects.

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The “textdemo” file raises an important point regarding the transfer of files which use either
Windows Outline fonts or TechSoft Fonts. When using any font, as drawings are created, edited,
re-drawn, etc., the software refers back to the font data stored in the computer. If a drawing is
saved and then loaded onto another computer, the text can only be reproduced correctly if the
fonts used are installed on the second computer. If the fonts are not found, the text cannot be
reproduced as the original. The “textdemo” file contains a variety of fonts unlikely to be found on
your computer. To be able to display them correctly, the text was first selected, then “exploded”
using Edit > Explode. This converts the text to a series of individual letter “shapes” (paths).
Although the text properties are lost, the shape of each letter can now be modified using Start
Edit, a useful feature in its own right. (N.B. Redrawing exploded text can be much slower than
redrawing normal text, so text should only be exploded when really necessary.)

TechSoft fonts can only be used within TechSoft Design V3. When any drawing containing
TechSoft fonts
is transferred to another software package, via cut and paste for example, the text will be
transferred as individual letter shapes.

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TUTORIAL 11 – TechSoft Fonts

TechSoft Design V3 comes with a range of TechSoft fonts. Most of these are single line fonts,
primarily designed for use with engraving machines, laser cutters, etc. It is possible to create
your own TechSoft font from scratch though this can be quite tedious. For most users a more
suitable starting point would be to load an existing font (Outline or TechSoft), and alter the
characters as required. This can then be saved as a TechSoft font. (Please note that copyright
restrictions must be observed.)

This tutorial demonstrates how a standard font may easily be altered and saved as a TechSoft
font.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
Font icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open Font) and load the outline
font Arial with Font Style Regular. (See fig a.)

2. Choose the Zoom in icon (LH toolbox).

Zoom in around the capital letter ‘R’ as shown in fig b.

3. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor over any part of the letter ‘R’ and click the LH mouse button to
select it. Click on the top diamond handle to flip the letter left to right. With “R”
still selected click on the Property button (in the bottom RH corner of the screen) to open
the Single Line Path Properties dialog box. Click on the Fill Col button and select the blue
colour in the Custom colors selection. Click OK to close all dialog boxes, then click in a clear
space to de-select. The letter ‘R’ will now be mirrored and blue.

4. Choose the Zoom Last icon (RH toolbox).

You will now select a rarely used character and replace it with a pre-drawn symbol.

5. Choose the Zoom in icon (LH toolbox).

Zoom in on the character ‘^’ (ascii code 94) as shown in fig c.

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6. Choose the Delete Any icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor over the ‘^’ character and click to delete it.

7. Choose the Add icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Add) and load the drawing
“NoSmoke.3vs” from the Tutorials folder. Use the handles on the marquee box to
adjust the size and position of the symbol (use the RH mouse button when moving the corner
handles to ensure that the aspect ratio does not change) until it is roughly as shown in fig d,
then click off the symbol to de-select it.

You will now need to adjust the width of the character cell to ensure suitable spacing of the symbol
when it becomes a text character.

8. Choose the Select/Edit Character Design Frame(s) icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on
Select). Move the cursor over the Character Design Frame with the symbol in and click
the LH mouse button to select the frame. (See fig e.)

9. With the Character Design Frame highlighted, choose Cell from the Frame/Cell
toolbox (now showing in the bottom RH corner of the screen).

10. Ensure that Dynamic cell width adjustment is selected then click OK. All frames
will have a vertical red line showing the cell width, and a circular yellow handle (in the
selected frame the handle will be pink). Click on the pink handle and adjust the cell width so
that it extends slightly to the right of the symbol (do not hold down the mouse button). (See
fig f.). Click the LH mouse button to fix the cell width, then choose the End button in the
bottom RH corner of the screen.

Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on Select) to exit the Font Grid Edit Mode
(or Edit > Font Grid Edit Mode).

The font must now be saved before it can be used.

11. Choose the Save Font icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Save As TechSoft
Font). Enter the name “Tutorial” and click OK to save the font.

12. Close the current drawing (File > Close), then choose the New icon from the upper
icon toolbar (or File > New) to start a new drawing.

13. Choose the Linear text icon (LH toolbox).

At the prompt Locate start position for text, move the cursor to a position Abs (160,
140), approx., then click the LH mouse button. The following dialog box will open.

Type in We R ^ then click the Settings button.

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The following dialog box will open.

Select TechSoft Font then select “Tutorial” from the list. Click OK on both dialog boxes.
Your text should appear as below.

Using the same basic procedure as above, any font can easily be modified to suit your specific
requirements.

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TUTORIAL 12 – Loading a Bitmap Image and Clipping It

Clip paths are invaluable tools for graphic design work. They are user defined closed shapes which
can be used to delete or hide parts of a drawing. The following example illustrates a common
application.

As part of a design, the image of an apple is required. The only apple image available is of an apple
in a bowl of fruit, so it is necessary to "extract" the image of the individual apple from the rest of
the fruit.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults. Ensure that Grid Lock and Step Lock (RH
toolbox) are off.

2. Choose the Import Bitmap icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Bitmaps > Import
Bitmap) and load the image “Fruit.jpg” from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) The
Bitmap Image Size and Colour dialog box will open. Click OK to accept the default
values.

To work more accurately it will be helpful to zoom in to the apple.

3. Choose the Zoom in icon (LH toolbox).

Zoom in around the apple as shown in fig b.

4. Choose the Draw a Clip Path icon (LH toolbox).

Note that the Closed Path Segment toolbox has opened in the bottom RH corner of
the drawing area.

5. Choose the Close Curve icon from the Closed Path Segment toolbox.
Move the cursor to any position on the edge of the apple and click
the LH mouse button. Move the cursor about 15mm (see Distance
at the bottom of the screen) along the edge of the apple (either direction) and click again. This
will draw the first section of the clip path around the apple. Continue to move the cursor
around the apple clicking about every 15mm. When the cursor is about 15mm from the start
point click the RH mouse button to close the clip path (you could close the clip path with a
double click of the LH mouse button but this will put in an extra unnecessary point). The clip
path will be drawn as a thin grey line.

The clip path drawn will probably be a close, but not exact fit to the apple. It is difficult to get a
good fit when drawing around a shape as the curve may not always bend as required. The next
step shows how to adjust the clip path to be an exact fit.

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6. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox). Move the cursor to point to the clip path and
click the LH mouse button to select the path.

7. With the clip path highlighted, choose Start Edit from the Property/Start Edit
toolbox (now showing in the bottom RH corner of the screen). Move the nodes
and the handles to get the best possible fit of the path to the apple. You may also
need to add nodes for small detail. (See Tutorial 5 for more details of editing.)
When you are happy with the fit of the clip path, move the cursor away from the clip path
and click to leave edit mode (or click on End Edit in the bottom RH corner of the screen).

8. Choose the Clip to a clip path icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Clip icon). Move
the cursor to point to the clip path and click the LH mouse button to select the path.
The Clip Settings dialog box will open as below.

Ensure that Mask - Hide excess data and Clip outside are selected, then click OK. The excess data
will be made invisible, leaving just the image of the apple (see fig c).

Either masking or trimming would have given the same visual effect. In this case masking was
chosen as it may be useful to leave the original image available, to allow you to re-edit the clip
path at a later time. (To re-edit the the clip path, simply select it, then choose Start Edit from the
Property/Start Edit toolbox.)

Although the example above clips a photograph, clipping works with any image. Clip paths are (by
default) drawn in a fine grey line. By default, they are always drawn on top of the rest of the
drawing. They cannot be printed or output to CNC devices and so will not “spoil” your output. If
you do not wish to see clip paths on screen, they can be made invisible by choosing Setup >
Customise > Redraw Settings.

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TUTORIAL 13 – Clipping an Image to Fit a Shape

This tutorial demonstrates another common use of clip paths (see also Tutorial 12). When
creating a net for a card box, a photograph is to be placed on the main panel. As the photograph
is rectangular, it must be trimmed to fit.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “GorillaBox.3vs”
from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose
Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Import Bitmap icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Bitmaps > Import
Bitmap) and load the image “Gorilla.jpg” from the Tutorials folder. (See fig b.) The
Bitmap Image Size and Colour dialog box will open. Click OK to accept the default values.

You will see that the photograph obscures the box which will make accurate positioning difficult.

3. With the photograph still selected, choose the To Back icon from the upper icon
toolbar (or Edit > Arrange > Put to Back), to rearrange the drawing order so that the
box is drawn over the photograph.

4. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor to point to any line of the box and click the LH mouse button to select
the box. Click on the centre handle of the marquee box then move the box to centre
the main panel over the gorilla. Click again to “drop” the box (initially the image of
the box will stay fixed while the marquee box moves, on the second click the drawing will be
updated). It may take a few goes to get the positioning just right. Finally, move the cursor to
a clear part of the drawing area and click again to de-select the box.

5. Choose the Create a clip path by locating a boundary icon (LH toolbox, click and hold.
on the Clip Path icon). At the prompt Locate a closed boundary for the clip path, move
the cursor to a position inside the main panel, close to an edge, then click the LH
button. At the prompt Any islands? answer No. A clip path will be created around the central
panel of the box. The clip box will automatically be selected (when de-selected it will be seen
as a grey line).

6. With the clip path still selected, add the photograph to the selection by clicking on it with the
RH mouse button.

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7. With both items selected, choose the Clip selected object(s) to clip path(s) icon (LH
toolbox, click and hold on the Clip icon). The following dialog box will open.

Ensure that Trim -Delete excess data and Clip outside are selected, then click OK. The excess
data will be deleted, leaving the panel filled with the photograph (see fig c).

Either masking or trimming would have given the same visual effect. In this case trimming was
chosen as deleting the excess photographic data would make for a smaller file size when saved.
(N.B. Not all “excess” bitmap data can be deleted as bitmaps are always stored as rectangles.
The bitmap will be reduced to the smallest possible rectangle.)

Although the example above clips a photograph, clipping works with any image. Clip paths are
(by default) drawn in a fine grey line. By default they are always drawn on top of the rest of the
drawing. They cannot be printed or output to CNC devices and so will not “spoil” your output.
However, if you do not wish to see them on screen they can be made invisible by choosing Setup
> Customise > Redraw Settings.

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TUTORIAL 14 – Bitmap to Vector Conversion

Bitmaps are great for many reasons, but because the image is effectively made from coloured
dots, they do not lend themselves to outputting to most CNC machines for cutting purposes.
These operations normally require a vector line for the cutter head to follow. In addition, bitmap
images do not scale up well - if you start with a small image and enlarge it, the dots quickly become
obvious and can spoil the effect. For these reasons TechSoft Design V3 has a built-in bitmap to
vector converter. The software can isolate different colours in an image and “trace” around them
to produce a vector equivalent of the bitmap. However, whilst bitmap to vector conversion can
produce great results, care should be taken with the source image. Conversion works best with
relatively simple images with a few colours. A photograph, for example may have literally millions
of colours in it and each patch of colour can be very complex. To make the mathematics of
conversion realistic on a desktop PC, firstly the number of colours has to be reduced to a realistic
level. This is done automatically in the software, though some manual input can be used to help
the software “see” the required image correctly. The complexity of large bitmaps is also
controlled automatically by effectively lowering the resolution of the image to a manageable size
(this can be overwritten if you wish to have a more accurate result and are patient!).

Despite these reservations bitmap to vector conversion can be an invaluable tool for allowing
machining of hand drawn images (when scanned), bitmap clip art, pre-printed images (eg.,
existing school logos), etc.

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1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial
only, choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Import Bitmap icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Bitmaps > Import
Bitmap). Load the image “ManualCover.jpg” from the Tutorials folder (see fig a.)
The Bitmap Image Size and Colour dialog box will open. Click OK to accept the
default values.

The source material for this tutorial is an old workshop manual cover which has been scanned.
The objective is to create a vector image that could be used to cut out one of the logos on a CNC
machine.

3. Choose the Zoom All icon (RH toolbox).

4. Choose the Clip to a box icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Clip icon). Ensure
that Grid Lock and Step Lock (RH toolbox) are both off. Refer to fig a, then follow
the screen prompts and draw the clip box from position 1 to position 2 (if you wish,
you may zoom in further first).

The following dialog box will open.

Ensure that Trim -Delete excess data and Clip outside are selected, then click OK. The excess
data will be deleted, leaving only the logo (see fig b).

5. Choose the Zoom All icon (RH toolbox).

6. Choose the Vectorise icon (LH toolbox).

At the prompt Locate the bitmap for vectorisation, locate the bitmap. After a time
delay, the Color Selection for Vectorisation dialog box will open.

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You will notice that although at a glance the bitmap appears to be just two colours it actually
contains around 20,000 different colours. These will be mainly different shades of yellow and grey.
The software has already reduced these to a more manageable number of colours by grouping
together colours that are similar. However, as we just want a simple cutting path, we can do
better by manually setting to monochrome to have just two colours.

7. Select Monochrome. The image will turn to black and white only. You will notice that there is
some “noise” on the image (black speckles). These may well be removed automatically during
the conversion process, but to help out, move the Luminance slider from side to side. As you
move the slider to the right, more of the image becomes black and the noise increases, as
you move it to the left more of the image turns white and the noise reduces but the image
starts to disappear. In this case a good compromise value is around 100, so set the value to
this and click OK to continue. The Bitmap Vectorisation Settings dialog box will open.

The default Conversion Settings have been found to give the best results for most bitmaps, but
you may wish to experiment sometime later.

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N.B. The Conversion Resolution section of the dialog box above may or may not be visible
depending on how tightly you have clipped to the logo. By default the image is reduced to a
sensible size for conversion as indicated at the LH end of the slider. The value at the RH end is
the full resolution of the bitmap. Increasing the resolution may increase the quality of the
conversion (it will also increase significantly the conversion time), but in a few cases it may also
reduce it, as reducing the resolution can “smooth out” imperfections along edges. If the section
does not appear this is because the image is already small enough.

Stick with the default values for now and click OK to continue. After a short pause the image will
be changed to vectors. If you wish you may now edit the vector image to alter it in some way.
Do this by selecting the image, then choosing Start Edit from the Property/Start Edit toolbox in
the bottom RH corner of the screen.

Now to try a full colour conversion.

8. Close the current drawing (File > Close), then choose the New icon from the upper
icon toolbar to start a new drawing.

9. Choose the Import Bitmap icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Bitmaps > Import
Bitmap). Load the image “Penguin.bmp” from the Tutorials folder (see fig d.) The
Bitmap Image Size and Colour dialog box will open. Click OK to accept the default
values.

The source material for this tutorial is a small clipart image. As you can see, the pixelation at
this size is marked.

10. Choose the Vectorise icon (LH toolbox).

At the prompt Locate the bitmap for vectorisation, locate the bitmap. The Color
Selection for Vectorisation dialog box will open.

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You will notice there are only 13 colours in the design. The conversion can easily handle this
number of colours, although if the image was being produced for use in vinyl cutting it would pay
to reduce the number further. With this image the background colour may be a nuisance, so as
we just want the penguin image, we will remove the background during conversion.

11. Move the Col Group Tolerance slider from side to side. As you move the slider to the left,
more colours will be visible, as you move it to the right less colours will be visible. This is
because the colours are combined in groups, the higher the tolerance the more colours will
be combined into one group. In this case a good compromise value is 70, so set the value
to this.

12. Untick the Inc. setting for the first colour in the list (a shade of pale blue). This will stop this
colour from being converted and will leave only six colours in the design. Click OK to
continue. The Bitmap Vectorisation Settings dialog box will open. Leave the default settings
and click OK to continue. The penguin will now be converted to a vector form with the
background removed. The image can be edited by selecting it, then choosing Start Edit
from the Property/Start Edit toolbox in the bottom RH corner of the screen.

The ability to remove the background in this way is very useful. Often the background to a bitmap
of this type is white. This can still be removed in the same way, though it is easy to forget to do
so! (N.B. When removing backgrounds in this way it is possible to inadvertently remove other
areas of the drawing in the same colour. These end up as “holes” in the drawing. These will
become obvious if the image is placed over a coloured background.)

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TUTORIAL 15 - Contours
The Contour drawing routine has a number of practical uses. It can be used to create a cutter
diameter compensated toolpath for machining purposes; it can be used to create interesting
graphical effects; or it can be used to “pick out” the outline of a complicated shape to create a
single outline profile. The following examples illustrate these uses.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing
“Heart.3vs” from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.
2. Choose the Contour icon (LH toolbox). The following dialog box will open.

Ensure that the Contour spacing is set to 10mm, the Max number of contours to 1, and that Tool
path is selected. Click OK.
3. At the prompt Locate one edge of the boundary on side for contour, move the cursor to
position 1 approx., as shown in fig a, then click the LH mouse button.
4. In order to bring back the Contour settings dialog box, double click with the LH
mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button) on the Contour icon (LH
toolbox). Select Graphical path instead of Tool path, then click OK.
5. At the prompt Locate one edge of the boundary on side for contour, move the cursor to
position 2 approx., as shown in fig b, then click the LH mouse button. The drawing will
appear as in fig c. This example clearly demonstrates the difference between a Tool path
and a Graphical path. A Tool path produces a radius around sharp corners. (The path is
actually the locus of the centre of a cutting tool producing the shape, hence the name). The
main purpose of the Tool path contour is to create toolpaths for subsequent machining
using milling type systems (typically Roland CNC engraver/millers). If the tool follows the
contour produced outside the shape, the shape will be cut out accurately. If the tool follows
the contour produced inside the shape, a “hole” of the shape will be cut out.

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The Graphical path more accurately follows the contour of the shape and is often preferred when
producing graphical effects. (It will, however, sometimes lead to exaggerated profiles at corners
as illustrated above.) Of course, Tool path can also be used for graphical effects if preferred.

The next example illustrates the use of multiple contours for graphical effects.

6. Close the current drawing (File > Close), then choose the Open icon from the upper
icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Butterfly.3vs” from the Tutorials
folder. (See fig d.)

7. Choose the Contour icon (LH toolbox).

Ensure that the Contour spacing is set to 5mm, and the Max number of contours to
20, then click OK.

8. At the prompt Locate one edge of the boundary on side for contour, move the cursor to
position 1 approx., as shown in fig d, then click the LH mouse button. The drawing should
appear as in fig e. Locate again at position 2 approx., as shown in fig d. The drawing should
appear as in fig f.

In this example, the contour shapes will be the same whether Tool path, or Graphical path
is used. The maximum number of contours was set at 20 to ensure that the shape would
be fully filled. If you wish to fully fill a shape, choose a number slightly larger than you think
you will need.

The next example illustrates the use of the Contour function to “extract” a boundary from
a complex shape.

9. Close the current drawing (File > Close), then choose the Open icon from the upper
icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Box.3vs” from the Tutorials
folder. (See fig g.)

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10. Change the current line colour to red, by clicking on the Line Col... button on the attributes
bar at the top of the screen, then choosing Custom Color red from the Color dialog which
will open.

11. Choose the Contour icon (LH toolbox).

Ensure that the Contour spacing is set to 0mm, and the Max number of contours to
1, then click OK.

12. At the prompt, Locate one edge of the boundary on side for contour, move the cursor to
position 1 approx., as shown in fig g, then click the LH mouse button. The drawing should
now have a red boundary.

13. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Move the cursor to position 2 approx., as shown in fig h, then click the LH mouse
button. The new outline shape should now be selected. (N.B. If two objects are
drawn over each other Select will first choose the last drawn, but re-clicking in the same
place will progressively select earlier objects). Click on the centre handle and move the
outline to its new position as shown in fig i. Click off to de-select.

Apart from the obvious graphical applications, this operation is particularly useful for creating a
cutting path for a CAMM 1 type system which uses a knife blade. In this case, the black lines can
be scored and the red outline cut (at stage 12).

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TUTORIAL 16 – Double Lines

Double lines are very useful drawing tools. They have a range of associated parameters which can
be changed to create useful and interesting effects. Two examples are given below.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawing (File > Close). Choose the New icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults. Ensure that Grid and Grid Lock (RH toolbox) are on.

2. Double click with the LH mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button) on the
Double Path icon. The following dialog box will open.

Set the Width to 8mm, and the Corner type to Round, then click OK. Notice the Path Segment
toolbox which will have appeared in the bottom RH corner of the drawing screen. By default, this
will be set to an Open Line path segment.

3. At the prompt Locate start point, move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (150, 180),
then click the LH mouse button. Locate again at position Abs (340, 180).

4. Choose the Open Arc icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (340, 110), then locate.

5. Choose the Open Line icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (80, 110), then locate.

6. Choose the Open Arc icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (80, 170), then locate.

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7. Choose the Open Line icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (290, 170), then locate.

8. Choose the Open Arc icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (290, 120), then locate.

9. Choose the Open Line icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (150, 120), then either
double click the LH mouse button, or single click the LH mouse button then single
click the RH mouse button, to finish.

The drawing should now appear as in fig a. Before starting the next drawing you may
wish to save the current drawing using the Save icon on the upper icon toolbar (or File
> Save).

10. Press Alt + Delete (Edit > Delete > All) to clear the current drawing. Ensure that Grid and
Grid Lock are on.

11. Set the fill to Solid, and the colour to Custom Color red, using the Fill... button on the
attributes bar at the top of the screen.

12. Double click with the LH mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button) on the
Double Path icon (LH toolbox) to open the Double Line Path Properties dialog box.
Set the Width to 20mm, and the Corner type to Round, then click OK.

13. Choose the Close Line icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (80, 40), then locate.
Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (210, 260), then locate. Move the
cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (340, 40), then either double click the LH mouse button,
or single click the LH mouse button then single click the RH mouse button, to finish. (See fig
b.)

14. Set the fill colour to black using the Fill Col... button on the attributes bar at the top of the
screen.

15. Double click with the LH mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button) on the
Double Path icon (LH toolbox) to open the Double Line Path Properties dialog box.
Set the Width to 15mm, and the End cap to Triangle - Width 15 - Height 15, then
click OK.

16. Choose the Open Line icon from the Path Segment toolbox in the bottom RH corner
of the screen. Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (250, 60), then locate.
Move the cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (250, 130), then locate. Move the
cursor to co-ordinate position Abs (180, 80), then locate. Finally move the cursor to co-
ordinate position Abs (180, 150), then either double click the LH mouse button, or single
click the LH mouse button then single click the RH mouse button, to finish.

The drawing should now appear as in fig c. You may like to try experimenting with other double
line settings.

N.B. It is possible to convert a single line path to a double line path, and vice versa, by first
selecting the path, then using Edit > Path Conversion > Convert to Double Line Path or Edit > Path
Conversion > Convert to Single Line Path as appropriate.

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TUTORIAL 17 – Construction Points

Construction Points are very important for helping to layout a drawing. They allow the user to
specify points for location. For example, construction points may divide a line/arc/curve into a
number of equal parts, or a construction point may be set a fixed distance along a line, etc. Once a
construction point has been created it may be located using the Attach tool. Thus, lines may be
drawn to construction points, circle centres located at them, lines cut back to them, etc. It is
important to remember that construction points, although marked on screen by a small grey circle,
will not appear on any output device, and so will not “spoil” a printout. (Construction Points can
have their on-screen colour/size changed or can be made invisible using the menu Setup >
Customise > Redraw Settings). The following example illustrates a simple application.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Radio.3vs” from
the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help >
Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Draw Construction Points which divide a given object icon (LH toolbox, click
and hold the Const Points icon). The following dialog box will open.

Ensure that the Number of divisions is set to 10, then click OK.

3. At the prompt Locate object, move the cursor to co-ordinate position 1 approx., as shown in
fig a, then click the LH mouse button. Locate again at position 2 approx. The drawing should
appear as in fig b.

4. Double click with the LH mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button) on the
Attach icon (RH toolbox). The following dialog box will open.

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Ensure that Construction point is ticked, and that all other Attach entities are not ticked, then
click OK. Ensure that the Attach icon is on.

5. Choose the Single line icon (LH toolbox).

At the prompt Locate start point, move the attach cursor (now a square) over the
bottom left construction point, and click the LH mouse button. At the Locate end
point prompt, move the attach cursor over the top left construction point, and click the LH
mouse button to draw a line.

6. Complete the drawing by connecting up the other construction points in a similar way, as
shown in fig c.

N.B. It is worth noting that apart from printing and plotting, construction points can be treated
as any other drawing object, ie., they can be deleted, moved, copied, repeated, etc.

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TUTORIAL 18 – Scaling and Drawing to Scale

It is possible to set the paper/material size to represent very large sizes and work at full size.
Thus, you could effectively be drawing a full size aeroplane on a very large piece of paper.
However, if you did this, your printout may be tiled into hundreds, even thousands of pieces of
A3 or A4 paper. Thus, this practice is not recommended!

It is more normal to stick to a standard size piece of paper (normally the standard size for your
printer or plotter), and to scale the drawing so as to fit onto the paper. Paper (media) sizes are
set using Setup > Drawing > Layout (or choosing the Layout icon on the upper icon toolbar). The
drawing scale is set using Setup > Drawing > Scale. The Drawing scale dialog box allows the
Media (output or printed size) to World (actual size) ratio to be set. Thus, if a scale of 1:10 is set,
a line of actual length 100mm long will be printed 10mm long.

The following simple drawing of a garage should illustrate the point.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial
only, choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults. Ensure that Grid and Grid Lock are on
(RH toolbox).

2. Choose Setup > Drawing > Scale. The following dialog box will open.

Choose a Preset scale of 1:20, then click OK.

It is possible to work in millimetres (the default unit), but this entails using lots of rather large
numbers. It is therefore preferable to change the units to metres at this point.

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3. Choose Setup > Drawing > Units. The following dialog box will open.

Set the Length Units to metres, then click OK.

4. Choose the Connected Lines icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Lines icon).
Draw a line from Abs (2.2, 3.4) to (2.2, 0.8) to (6.2, 0.8) to (6.2, 3.4). (Click the RH
mouse button to finish.) (See fig a.)

5. Draw a new line from Abs (2, 3.2) to (4.2, 4.8) to (4.2, 5) to (2, 3.4) and back to (2, 3.2).
Draw a new line from Abs (4.2, 4.8) to (6.4, 3.2) to (6.4, 3.4) to (4.2, 5). (See fig b.)

6. Draw a new line from Abs (2.8, 0.8) to (2.8, 3.2) to (5.6, 3.2) to (5.6, 0.8). (See fig c.)

7. Choose the Delete Part icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Delete icon). Finish
the drawing by deleting the part lines where the walls intrude into the roof.

You might like to save this drawing and come back to it later after working through Tutorial
20 - Dimensioning. You can then add some dimensions and see how the scaling affects the
dimension sizes.

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TUTORIAL 19 – Grouping and Adding

Often groups of objects are more conveniently treated as one object. As in the example below,
it is much easier to treat a chair as one object, rather than as a lot of individual lines. A group is
formed by selecting the required objects, then “grouping” them. A group can be treated as a
single object, selected, copied, deleted, etc. It is also possible for a group to contain sub-groups.

When loading a drawing using File > Open, a new drawing window is opened and various setup
parameters, eg., paper size, units, etc., are restored. You may, however, wish to incorporate a
pre-drawn (library) item into your existing drawing. This is done using the File > Add option. (File
> Add is also useful for loading a file without affecting the current setup parameters.)

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Office.3vs”
from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.)

2. Choose the Semicircular arc, locating end points icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on
the Arcs icon). Ensure that Grid Lock (RH toolbox) is on. At the prompt, first locate
at Abs (2.60, 3.80) then at (2.60, 3.20) to fix a semicircle. (N.B. The drawing scale is
1:20 and units have been set to metres.)

3. Choose the Connected Lines icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Lines icon).
Draw a line from Abs (2.60, 3.80) to (3.00, 3.80) to (3.00, 3.20) to (2.60, 3.20), to
form the outline of a chair. Turn on Step Lock (RH toolbox).

4. Choose the Contour parallel to a line, arc/circle or curve icon (LH toolbox, click and
hold on the Contour icon). In the Contour Settings dialog box, ensure that the
Contour spacing is set to 0.06m, then click OK. At the prompt, locate at Abs (2.75, 3.75)
approx., (2.35, 3.50) approx., then (2.75, 3.25) approx. This completes the chair (see fig b.)

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5. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Drag a select box from Abs (2.20, 3.00) approx., to (3.20, 4.00) approx., to select the
whole chair.

6. Choose the Group icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Group, or press CTRL +
G on the keyboard. In future the whole chair can be selected by clicking near any of its
component parts.

7. Choose the Add icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Add) and load the drawing
“Desk.3vs” from the Tutorials folder. A desk and chair set will be “added” to the
drawing. (See fig c.) Note that the added drawing is automatically selected.

8. Choose the Radial Lock icon (RH toolbox). Click on the rotate handle of the marquee
box (the small yellow circle on the RH side of the box), with the LH mouse button.
Rotate the desk until it matches the orientation in fig d, then click the LH mouse button
again. Note that with Radial Lock on, rotation is constrained to 45 degree increments. Turn
Radial Lock off.

9. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox). Ensure that Step Lock (RH toolbox) is off. At the
prompt Select object(s)/transform/edit, position the cursor near any part of the chair
and click the LH mouse button. Click on the centre handle of the marquee box with
the LH mouse button. Turn Grid Lock on. At the reposition prompt, locate at (2.00, 2.40). (See
fig e.)

10. Choose the Rotate icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Transform icon). In the
Rotate Settings dialog box, ensure that Repeat/Replace is set to Repeat, No. repeats is
set to 2 and Angle of rotation is set to 70 degrees, then OK. Turn off Grid Lock (RH toolbox).
Double click with the LH mouse button (or single click with the RH mouse button) on the Attach
icon (RH toolbox) to open the Attach Settings dialog box. Ensure that Centre of arc/circle is
ticked, then click OK. Ensure that Attach is on, then at the prompt Locate the centre of rotation,
position the attach cursor over the circle (so that the circle cuts the attach target), and click
the LH mouse button to locate. The drawing should now appear as in fig f.

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TUTORIAL 20 – Dimensioning and layers

TechSoft Design V3 has a range of dimensioning functions sufficient to meet most needs. For some
dimensions, it is important that exact points are located, eg, ends of lines. In these cases the
Attach tool should be used to ensure accurate location. For other dimensions, a rough location is
all that is required, eg., locating a circle to dimension its radius.

Layers are a useful way of keeping discrete parts of a drawing separated. In concept, layers can
loosely be imagined as transparent drawing sheets, each with its own part of the drawing, and
which can be placed over each other, or removed. A typical use for layers is to put dimensioning
on a separate layer, so that if further work is needed on the drawing, the dimensioning layer may
be turned off to remove the “clutter” of the dimensioning. In a similar way, if an object is to be
cut, machined, or engraved, the dimensioning/notes/border, etc., may be “turned off” first.

The following example illustrates the use of dimensions, and of putting dimensions onto a
separate layer. (Whilst dimensioning does not have to go on a separate layer, it may often be
useful to do so.)

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing “Dryer.3vs” from
the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help >
Restore Factory Defaults.

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2. Click on the Layer button on the attributes bar at the top of the screen. The following dialog
box will open.

Note that the current layer is called “Dryer” and is active. Click on the line “Layer 2”, then
click on the Current tick box to set this layer current. Choose the Rename button, and
rename the layer “Dimensions”. Click OK to close both dialog boxes. Any new drawing will
now be on the second layer called “Dimensions”.

N.B. Only one layer can be current. All layers not current can be made invisible, and/or
inactive. All new drawing will take place on the current layer. Objects on layers which are
not visible will not be drawn. Objects on inactive layers cannot be selected, whether visible
or not. There is no practical limit to the number of layers possible.

3. Double click with the LH mouse button (or click with the RH mouse button on the
current Dim Lines icon (any dimension icon will do, parallel is the default). The
following dialog box will open.

Ensure that Match text and line colours is ticked, then click on the Line Col button and select the
Custom Color Red. Click OK to close the dialog boxes.

4. Ensure that Attach (RH toolbox) is on and Grid Lock (RH toolbox) is off.

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5. Choose the Horizontal Dimension icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Dim Lines
icon). Position the attach cursor at position Abs (120, 230) approx., and click the
mouse button to locate. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (300, 230) approx.,
and click the mouse button to locate. Turn on Grid Lock. Position the cursor at position Abs
(200, 250), and click the mouse button to locate. The first dimension should now be drawn.
Turn off Grid Lock. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (120, 230) approx., and click the
mouse button to locate. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (85, 205) approx., and
click the mouse button to locate. Turn on Grid Lock. Position the cursor at position Abs (100,
250), and click the mouse button to locate. The second dimension should now be drawn. (See
fig b.) Turn off Grid Lock.

6. Choose the Parallel Dimension icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Dim Lines icon)
. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (85, 185) approx., and click the mouse
button to locate. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (120, 160) approx., and
click the mouse button to locate. Turn on Step Lock. Position the cursor at position Abs (90,
155), and click the mouse button to locate.

7. Choose the Vertical Dimension icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Dim Lines icon).
Position the attach cursor at position Abs (85, 185) approx., and click the mouse
button to locate. Position the attach cursor at position Abs (85, 205) approx., and
click the mouse button to locate. Turn on Grid Lock. Position the cursor at position Abs (60,
220), and click the mouse button to locate. (See fig c.) Turn off Grid Lock and Attach.

8. Choose the Angular Dimension icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Dim Lines icon).
Position the cursor at position Abs (290, 155) approx., and click the mouse button to
locate. Position the cursor at position Abs (260, 110) approx., and click the mouse
button to locate. Position the cursor at position Abs (300, 120) approx., and click the mouse
button to locate. (See fig d.)

9. Choose the Radius Dimension icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Dim Lines).
Position the cursor at position Abs (305, 220) approx., and click the mouse button to
locate. Position the cursor at position Abs (330, 230) approx., and click the mouse button to
locate. (See fig e.)

10. Click on the Layer button on the attributes bar at the top of the screen. In the dialog box
select the layer “dryer” and untick both Visible and Active. When the dialog box is closed, the
main drawing will disappear, leaving only the dimensions. (See fig f.) You might try the same
thing again but making only the dryer visible.

You may now like to start again and try out the other dimensioning options available. You
might also like to try the effects of changing some of the Dimension Settings.

If a dimension is selected, then Start Edit chosen, it is possible to reposition the

dimension control points. If Property is chosen, the Dimension Settings dialog box
appears allowing changes to the dimension variables, or say the text content, just
on the highlighted dimension. The ability to alter text content is very useful if non-standard
dimensioning is to be used.

N.B. Whilst every attempt has been made to comply with accepted standards on
dimensioning, drawings dimensioned manually must always rely on human interpretation of
the “rules”. It may therefore, occasionally be necessary to modify computer generated
dimensioning to suit individual requirements.

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TUTORIAL 21 – 3D Effects and Exploding

TechSoft Design V3 works with 2D drawing data. However it does have a range of 3D
Effects which make 2D drawings look 3D. The 3D Effects functions operate in a similar way
to the general transformation functions. First you must select the objects to be
transformed using the Select option. Then choose the appropriate 3D effects option. The
following two examples illustrate their use.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the
New icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this
tutorial only, choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Horizontal Rectangle icon (LH toolbox) and turn on Grid Lock (RH
toolbox). Draw a rectangle with corners at Abs (20, 20) and (180, 100).

3. Choose the Circle with a given centre and radius icon (LH toolbox, click and
hold on the Circles icon). Set the circle radius to 30mm, then click OK to close
the dialog box. Locate the centre at coordinates Abs (100, 60).

4. Choose the Closed polyline icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Path icon).
Draw a trapezium with corners at Abs (60, 100), (80, 120), (120, 120) and (140,
100). (Click the RH mouse button to finish). (See fig a.)

5. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox). Select the rectangle by clicking next to
it.

6. Choose the Perspective with double vanishing points icon (LH toolbox, click
and hold on the 3D Effects icon). Set the Finish depth to 60, then click OK to
close the dialog box. Locate the first vanishing point at Abs (10, 190), the
second vanishing point at Abs (410, 190) and the reference point at Abs (180, 20).
You should now have a 3D view of the rectangle. (See fig b.)

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7. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the trapezium so that it is highlighted.

8. Choose the Perspective with double vanishing points icon (LH toolbox). Set the Start
depth to 10, the Finish depth to 60, and ensure that the option Use last reference points
is ticked. Then you OK on this dialog the trapezium will immediately be transformed
to 3D. (See fig c.)

9. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the circle so that it is highlighted.

10. Choose the Perspective with double vanishing points icon (LH toolbox). Set the Start
depth to 0, the Finish depth to -50, and ensure that the option Use last reference points
is ticked. When you click OK on this dialog box your basic 3D transformation will be
complete. (See fig d.)

The three objects have each been transformed into a “3D object”. As with all objects they can now
be selected and edited, in this case by moving the control points to alter the perspective. As there
are three objects they should all be selected together to ensure that they keep the same control
points. The easiest way to do this is to “group” them before editing. (Grouping was dealt with in
more detail in Tutorial 19.)

11. Choose the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Select > All, or press
CTRL + A on the keyboard). The whole drawing should now be highlighted.

12. Choose the Group icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Group, or press CTRL +
G on the keyboard).

13. With the whole drawing selected you will notice the Property/Start Edit toolbox in
the bottom RH corner of the screen. Choose Start Edit. Three yellow control
handles will be shown. Click on any of these and move them about to see the effect
on the image. (See fig e.)

You may wish to delete the “hidden lines”. As TechSoft Design V3 is not a 3D package, there is no
automatic facility for this. However, for simple drawings it can be achieved fairly easily by using the
Delete Any and Delete Part functions. Before this can be done, however, each “3D object” must lose
its “3D properties” and be Exploded into the individual lines/arcs/curves that it is made up from.
The procedure is as follows.

14. As your drawing may by now be a bit of a mess, select End Edit, and close the drawing
(File > Close). Choose the Open icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and
load the drawing “Camera.3vs” from the Tutorials folder. (This is the drawing as it was
at the end of step 10.)

15. Choose the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Select > All, or press
CTRL + A on the keyboard). The whole drawing should now be highlighted.

16. Choose the Explode icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Explode, or press CTRL
+ E on the keyboard). In the Explode Settings dialog box, set the option Explode fully
to simple objects, then click Continue. The drawing should not look any different, but
you will now be able to use Delete Any and Delete Part to remove unwanted lines. (See fig f.)

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N.B. When exploding there is a choice between Explode one level only and Explode fully to simple
objects. Within a drawing there may be groups, paths, 3D objects, etc., in almost any
combination, eg., you might have paths within 3D objects within groups, etc. Explode one level
only just explodes one level of grouping, paths, “3D objects”, etc., at a time. In the above
example, the objects to be exploded were “3D objects”. If we had used Explode one level only,
each “3D object” would have been exploded into lines and paths (the paths being the rectangle
and the trapezium parts). If we had tried to use Delete Any on a line that was still part of an
unexploded path, eg., the hidden lower back line, the whole path would have been deleted. In
other circumstances this might be very useful, but in this case it was better to use Explode fully
to simple objects so that all paths were fully exploded into their component parts.

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TUTORIAL 22 – Exploding and Making Paths

Many objects (text, double line paths, filled shapes, etc.) are actually a collection of smaller objects
(lines, arcs, etc.). In fact, sometimes the smaller objects are themselves collections of even smaller
objects, eg., a dashed line is actually a collection of short lines. Sometimes it is useful to “break”
these objects down into their component parts so that the individual parts may be edited.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Linear text icon (LH toolbox). Ensure that Grid Lock is on (RH toolbox). At
the prompt Locate start position for text, locate at position Abs (110, 150), then click
the LH mouse button. The following dialog box will open.

Type in CAD then click the Settings button. The following dialog box will open.

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Ensure that the Font is set to Arial Black, Font Style to Italic, Height to 75 and Fill... to No Fill.
Click OK on both dialog boxes. Your text should appear as in fig a.

3. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox) and select the text by clicking on it.

4. Choose the Explode icon from the upper icon toolbar (or press CTRL + E on the
keyboard. The following dialog box will open.

Ensure that Explode one level only is ticked, then click Continue.

5. Select the letter A by clicking on it.

You will notice that only the individual letter is now selected, not the whole word, as the
explosion process has removed the text properties and has simplified the data by one level. If
the Explode fully to simple objects option had been chosen it would be possible to select each
line that makes up the letter. (This can still be achieved by selecting the letter and exploding it
again.)

6. Click on the centre handle of the select box and drag the A to a position Rel (-30, -20), then
click to fix the position.

7. Select the letter D, drag it to a position Rel (-60, -50), then click to fix the position. Your
drawing should appear as in fig b.

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8. Select the letter A again. Click on the Start Edit button on the Property/Start Edit toolbox
open in the bottom RH corner of the screen. Drag a select box around the two nodes at the
bottom LH leg of the A (see fig. c). Click the Grid Lock icon (RH toolbox) to turn off grid lock.

9. Click on the left-most selected node with the RH mouse button. Drag the leg of the A down
until it is level with the bottom of the D (see fig. d). Click again, then click off the drawing to
deselect.

10. Choose the Delete Part icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Delete icon). Delete all
the lines in the overlapping areas (be sure to get even the small lines). The drawing
should now appear as in fig e.

Having created a new shape it would be useful to combine the parts together so that they may be
treated as one path so that they could, for example, be filled (as long as it is a closed path). This is
different to just grouping the objects as was done in Tutorial 19. In grouping, all the objects
remain completely unchanged, but when making a path the objects may be re-ordered, or have
their direction changed, in order to form a continuous path where possible.

11. Choose the Select All icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Select > All, or press
CTRL + A on the keyboard). The whole drawing will be selected.

12. Choose the Make Path icon from the upper icon toolbar (or Edit > Make Path, or
press CTRL + H on the keyboard. At the warning prompt click Yes to continue.

13. With the object still selected, click on the Property button on the Property/Start Edit toolbox
open in the bottom RH corner of the screen. The following dialog box will open.

You will see that the object is now a single line path. Click on the Fill button and in the Fill
Settings dialog box set the fill to be Solid and the colour to be Custom color Red. Click OK to
close all dialog boxes. Click off to de-select. The drawing should now appear as in fig f.

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TUTORIAL 23 - Coordinate
Some users occasionally wish to enter drawing data by typing in coordinates (although this is
not the recommended method for general drawing, as it can be tedious!). At any time when the
user is prompted to locate a point (drawing a line, selecting an object, defining a zoom box, etc.),
it is possible to either type in coordinates or use the mouse. Values may be input in Absolute
coordinates (measured from the drawing origin), Relative coordinates (measured from the last
point located), or Polar coordinates (the distance and angle from the last point located). This
tutorial deals with data input in this manner by creating the drawing below using only coordinate
input. It also shows how individual entities may have their coordinates (and other properties)
altered retrospectively.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings. Choose the New icon from the upper
icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only, choose Help >
Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Connected Lines icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Lines icon). At the
prompt Locate start point, move the cursor over the left-hand coordinate entry box (at
the top of the screen next to the Abs button) and click the LH mouse button. A text
entry cursor will appear in the box. Type 120, then press TAB (usually above Caps Lock) on the
keyboard to move the cursor to the right coordinate entry box. Type 90, then press Enter on
the keyboard (or click on the OK button with the mouse). The drawing cursor should move to
the bottom LH corner of the shape, ie., the absolute coordinates (120, 90).

3. With the mouse, click on the coordinate type button currently reading Abs, to change it to Rel.
(If you keep clicking on it, it will cycle around between Abs, Rel, and Pol). Now type in the
coordinates (130, Tab, 0, Enter). The base line will be drawn horizontal, 130mm length.

4. Change the coordinate type button to Pol by clicking on the button with the mouse, or by
pressing ALT+P on the keyboard. Type in the coordinates (75.42, Tab, 45, Enter). A line
75.42mm in length will be drawn at an angle of 45 deg.

5. Change the coordinate type button to Abs by clicking on the button with the mouse, or by
pressing ALT+A on the keyboard. Type in the coordinates (250, Tab, 170, Enter). Change the
coordinate type button to Rel by clicking on the button with the mouse, or by typing ALT+R.
Type in the coordinates (0, Tab, 40, Enter), then (-80, Tab, 0, Enter). Three more lines will be
drawn.

6. Choose the Arc through two points, locating centre icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on
the Arcs icon). At the prompt Locate first point, type in the coordinates (0, Tab, 0,
Enter). At the prompt Locate second point, type in the coordinates (-50, Tab, -50, Enter). At
the prompt Locate centre, type in the coordinates (50, Tab, 0, Enter).

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7. Choose the Single Lines icon (LH toolbox, click and hold on the Lines icon). Type in
the coordinates (0, Tab, 0, Enter), then (0, Tab, -70, Enter) to finish the drawing. (See
fig a.)

As you will have seen, entering a lot of data this way can be slow and requires great care. However,
it can be very useful occasionally when a particular set of coordinates, or a certain dimension is
required, eg., a line of length 76.48mm, starting at coordinates (53.76, 73.98), at an angle of
123.67deg.

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TUTORIAL 24 – Closing Boundaries (for Boundary Fill and

Contour)
The boundary fill and contour drawing routines rely on shapes having a closed boundary. In each
case, once a shape has been located, the software proceeds to “trace” around the edge. This
only works properly if the “tracing” routine finds a continuous boundary with no gaps or dead
ends. If a gap or dead end is found, an “incorrect” contour may be drawn if using the contour
routine, or if using the boundary fill routine, an “incorrect” boundary may be found, or an error
message may confirm that the shape is Not a closed boundary. In certain circumstances the
boundary finding routine may appear to go on forever (as it loops around an open shape), in
which case pressing Esc will abort the routine. It may be obvious where the problem is, but
sometimes, gaps may be too small to see, even on a maximum zoom. (Remember that the
system is normally working to an internal resolution of 0.0000001mm.) Gaps usually occur
where the drawing has not been fixed to a Grid or Step Lock, or the Attach tool has not been
used. Below is an example of such a problem and how it may be overcome.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the Open
icon from the upper icon toolbar (or File > Open) and load the drawing
“Boundary.3vs” from the Tutorials folder. (See fig a.) For the purposes of this
tutorial only, choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose the Contour icon (LH toolbox).

Click OK on the Contour Settings dialog box. At the locate prompt, move the cursor
to position 1 approx., as shown in fig a, then click the LH mouse button. A contour
should be drawn around the LH rectangle.

3. Choose the Boundary Fill icon (LH toolbox).

The Boundary Fill Settings dialog box will open. Click on the Fill button to open the
Fill Settings dialog box. Select Hatch then click OK to close all dialog boxes. At the
locate prompt, move the cursor to position 2 approx., as shown in fig a, then click
the LH mouse button. To the question Any islands? answer No. The LH rectangle will now
be hatched. (See fig b.)

4. Choose the Contour icon again (LH toolbox).

This time locate at position 3 approx., as shown in fig b. A contour will be drawn
inside and outside of the rectangle (see fig c).

This contour is “incorrect”. It has happened because somewhere there is a gap in the border and
the boundary finding routine has turned back on itself, causing the contour to “leak” inside the
rectangle.

5. Choose the Delete Last icon (RH toolbox) to delete the contour.

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6. Choose the Boundary Fill icon (LH toolbox). Click OK on the Boundary Fill Settings
dialog box. Locate at position 4 approx., as shown in fig b. This time a message Not a
closed boundary will be displayed. Note which lines are now coloured in pink (move
the message box out of the way if necessary), then click OK.

What has happened is that the boundary finding routine has “traced” around the inside of the
shape but has stopped at the gap at one of the corners. It is now necessary to find the gap and
close it. When locating on the inside of a boundary, the located section will not turn pink at first,
but all subsequent sections will turn pink as they are found. The routine will turn clockwise at all
junctions until the located section is found again, when it will also turn pink, completing the
boundary. If at any intersection a turn cannot be made, the boundary is incomplete. In the
example, the path is left along the bottom, up along the LH edge, right along the top, stopping at
the top RH corner. Therefore, that is where the gap is.

7. Choose the Zoom in icon (LH toolbox). Turn the Grid Lock (RH toolbox) on. Locate the
zoom box as shown in fig b. You should now clearly see the gap.

8. Choose the Zoom Last icon (RH toolbox).

9. Choose the Select icon (LH toolbox).

Select the RH line by locating at coordinates Abs (390, 160) approx.

10. From the Property/Start Edit toolbox (now showing in the bottom RH corner of the screen)
choose Start Edit. The lines node points will be displayed.

11. Turn Attach on and Grid Lock off (RH toolbox).

12. Position the cursor over the top (green) node and click the LH mouse button. Ensure that the
attach cursor is over the end of the RH end of the top line and click the LH mouse button
again. Finally, move the cursor well away from the drawing and click the LH mouse button
twice to deselect the line.

The gap should now be closed. You may like to re-try steps 4 and 6 to double check.

All boundary finding problems can be dealt with in a similar way - first find the gap, then close it.
As you have seen, the “pinking in” of boundary lines whilst finding a fill boundary, can be a useful
aid to finding a gap. If using the Contour routine, and an “incorrect” contour occurs, consider
using the Boundary Fill routine to help find the gap. Although the position of the gap is fairly
obvious in the example given above, more complicated shapes may require more detective work.

There are many ways to close gaps or eliminate dead ends, far too many to list. For example, using
the editing mode, node points could be repositioned using Grid Lock or Attach to ensure accuracy,
as we have just seen, or lines/arcs could be extended (click the RH mouse button on a node) to
ensure that they fully overlap. Any overlaps can be eliminated using Delete Part.

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TUTORIAL 25 – Setups and Customising the Software

During the course of this tutorial you will see how easy it is to reconfigure the user interface to
suit individual requirements or preferences.

1. Start up TS Design V3 or close any open drawings (File > Close). Choose the New icon
from the upper icon toolbar (or File > New). For the purposes of this tutorial only,
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

2. Choose Setup > Load Setup. Load the setup file “Year7.3cs” from the Setups folder. The
screen display will change to a much simplified version with larger text, and many menu items
removed.

3. To return to the original setup, load the setup file “Standard.3cs” from the Setups folder, or
choose Help > Restore Factory Defaults.

The process of creating and saving a user defined setup is very straightforward, as will be
demonstrated by the following example.

4. Click and hold on the Circles icon on the LH toolbox to inspect the Circles toolbar. Note that
there are many circle drawing option icons.

5. Choose Setup > Customise > Menu. The following dialog box will open.

Select Draw in the first column, then Circles in the second column. Click on the third circle option,
Two Points on Diameter, with the RH mouse button. The option will turn grey (inactive). Now
grey out the rest of the circle options in the column (apart from the first two) by holding down
the RH mouse button and “running down” the column. (To turn options back on again, reclick
on them with the RH mouse button.) Finally click OK to close the dialog box.

6. Inspect the Circles toolbar again. Note that there are now only two options. Thus we have
customised the Circles menu. All menu options in the software, not just the drawing
options, can be “turned off” in a similar way.

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7. Choose Setup > Customise > Drawing Area. The following dialog box will open.

Click on the Backdrop button to open the Fill Settings dialog box. Click on the Load Fill button and
load the fill “spaced out” from the Fills folder, then click OK to close all dialog boxes. The drawing
background fill will change accordingly. (It can be useful to have a different background fill or
colour for each setup, especially in education, so that it is easy to recognise the setup at a glance.)

8. Choose Setup > Drawing > Layout. (This is the same as choosing the Layout icon from
the upper icon toolbar). Set to Standard size ISO A3, and select Portrait. Click OK to
close the dialog box. Note that the drawing area is now Portrait.

9. Choose Setup > Customise > Information Area. The following dialog box will open.

Set all the text heights to 20, deselect all the Coordinate Entry options, all the Coordinate Display
options, and the Attributes Display option Current Layer. Click OK. Note the effect on the screen
layout.

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In a similar way, it is possible to change all the settings under the Setup > Customise sub-menus,
eg., to make the toolbox icons larger, use Setup > Customise > Toolbox. It is also possible to
change the scale, current units, etc., using the Setup > Drawing options, and the Tools and
Output route, etc., for the various plotting devices using Setup > CNC Devices.

10. Choose Setup > Save Setup. In the Save Setup Options dialog box you can select which
settings you want to include in the setup. Leave all options ticked including the Include >
Save Setup option in saved setup option and click OK. (Note that if this option is not ticked,
the Save Setup option will not be included when the setup is loaded later. Thus, it will be
difficult to overwrite this setup from itself. This may be of particular interest to educational
users.) Give the setup a name of “Temp”, then click on Save to save it.

Whenever this setup “Temp” is loaded using Setup > Load Setup, all the settings that were ticked
in the Save Setup Options dialog box when the setup was saved will be restored.

When a drawing is saved, all the settings available under Setup > Drawing (and the current CNC
device settings if Set for CNC device is chosen in Setup > Drawing > Layout), together with all the
current settings such as circle radius, text height, etc., are saved with the drawing. When the
drawing is loaded normally using File > Open, all the settings saved with the drawing are
restored. If you wish to load a drawing without changing the current settings, use File > Add.

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TechSoft UK Limited
Falcon House
Royal Welch Avenue
Bodelwyddan
Denbighshire
LL18 5TQ

Tel: 01745 535007

Fax: 01745 535008
Website: www.techsoft.co.uk
Email: [email protected]

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