Problems editing Partwizard files

[mikejohn]

Today I created a number of squares and placed letters in each square.
When I simulated the file cutting , I realised that the letters were 5mm bigger than I really wanted them.
Returned to the Part Wizard file (.art) and could not find a way of editing to change the size of the letters.
I deleted the letters and re-inserted them at the correct size.
When I'm using partwizard it is terribly slow. After clicking on 'text', for instance, there's a huge delay before I can actually carry out the command (as with most other commands). This is on a 2ghz computer.
Am I doing something wrong, or is Parts Wizard really this slow?
It reminds me of trying to run Windows 95 on a 386. Windows come up slowly, bit by bit.
I'm finding PW useful for Vcarving letters, but little else.
It does do what you want, but doesnt come close to the flexibility and power of AutoCad 2000.
.........Mike

[bleeth]

Mike-You can change the size and proportions of the letters in PW2 by selecting them and then opening up "Transform" in the assistants tab. PW2 is a super light version of Artcam Pro and is more of a product teaser than a fully functional Cad package. There are a lot of basic functions that I use it for on the fly. A lot of users find it's most useful function is importing other files and turning them into SB files. It runs pretty quick on all of my computers including the old Quantex that sits by the bot. It may be more a function of your video card or amount of RAM than the processor. Since it is drawing in true vectors it requires different resources than a program drawing pixels. I will tell you that there are a lot of guys out there using PW as a prime drawing program for their 2-d work.
Dave

[mikejohn]

Dave
Thanks for that.
I should say I can have Coral Draw and AutoCad running together, and listen to the BBC over the 'net, with no perceptible slowing of any program.
I am willing to accept its my fault that PW runs so incredibly slow, making it almost impossible to work it, I just don't know where to look to solve the problem.
Thanks for the 'transform' tip.
..............Mike

[bleeth]

Beats me too Mike-There just ain't that much stuff in PW2-Send SB support an e-mail.

[paco]

Hi Mike!

Just a though; I've notice that some softwares (including PW) can become VERY slow when the windows font folder has NUMEROUS fonts in it (because they read the folder EACH time the functon is called/used)... check this out and maybe move some in a different folder... there's more convinient solutions to handle large numbers of fonts without having 'em all "installed"...

[Brady Watson]

Yes...The more fonts that you have, the longer it takes for PW to populate the list of available fonts, hence the delay.

Contrary to most people's thoughts about the 'lightness' of PartWizard, it is deceptively powerful for doing 2D work. The more time you put into using it, the better you'll get. The best advice that I can give you is to learn the shortcut keys. Before long you can edit things very quickly and reliably. I use PartWizard to design MOST 2D shapes because it gives me the flexibility and intuitive tools to design things that are not really engineered parts...It's best for artistic designs that are hard to create in a CAD package such as AutoCAD. It all really comes down to what you are comfortable using.

In regards to editing the font size, simply select the text and press the 'E' key. This will bring the Font wizard up in the toolbox area & allow you to change the size or font of the selected text.

-Brady

[mikejohn]

Paco Wizard 2

Thanks Paco and Brady
I had 300 fonts on the font folder
I guess i need less than 30 for normal use, less than 10 for 98% of the time (Unless I start in the sign business in a big way !)
Now it has speeded up, I feel more inclined to look at the possibilities. It was hanging for around 15 secs each time I tried to change anything, which seemes an interminable time with computers now-a-days.
It is, as we have stated many times before, what you know. The right software (or hardware/tool) package is the one that works for you.
Years of AutoCad and Coral draw make most things easy for me (but not V-carving)
.
.................Mike

[paco]

Hummm... 300 fonts?!

I guess I'm patient; I had about 1400 before I decided to use The font thing (http://www.ozemail.com.au/~scef/tft.html)... I now have 2444!!! Probably that 20-30% are look-a-like though...

Keep in mind that PW is pretty much "a gift"...

Glad if it help!