Re: Radiate lines from chosen pivot point

CarolW wrote:
> 
> There must be a way to use the tools in PSP9 to place lines of equal
> length and width so their start (or end) points are joined, and they
> radiate at equal intervals. I haven't found an easy way to do this
> yet; does anybody know one?

Here's one way. Draw a vertical vector line. Draw a horizontal
vector line (or duplicate the vertical line and rotate it 90
degrees). Select both objects and do Objects > Align > Center
In Canvas. You will have a cross in the center of the canvas.
Do Objects > Group. Do Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste > Paste As
New Layer. Make sure only the grouped objects on the newly pasted
layer are active. Press and hold the Shift key and turn the
rotation handle of the Object Selection tool surrounding the
active object. It will rotate in steps of 15 degrees. Repeat the
copy, paste, rotate sequence until you get a full circle of lines.
The attached shows lines every 30 degrees.



> 
> Here's why I'd like to do this: I have two drafts here; the first is
> an animation, in which Vekkie demonstrates the making of insulin in a
> way that may be purely her imagination; the second uses syringes as
> elements of a pitchfork, in a parody of American Gothic by Grant Wood,
> to be called Vektorian Gothic.
> 
> The animation is my second effort; Vekkie gets tossed around a lot
> more in my first effort, but she still gets a bit of a tossing here,
> as the pivot point is off-center a bit in places.
> 
> In the pitchfork part, the marker lines on the syringe barrels are
> freehand, and really need fixing.
> 
> My first attempt to post this didn't arrive; let's see if I can get
> this one to work.
> 
> For the moment, I'm continuing to try to achieve this, by drawing
> lines with the pen tool, freehand, using a circle and a grid to help
> me place the lines. I can't figure out how to use Duplicate Offset, as
> the x and y definitions would be a difficult calculation, to say the
> least.
> 
> Any suggestions?
> 
> Fri, 7 Mar 2008  16:16:08
> Carol W
> 
>  [Image]
> 
>  [Image]

Oh my doGNess! What a GREAT idea!

On Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:54:47 -0600, Spandex Rutabaga
<SpRu@agabatur.xednaps> wrote:

>CarolW wrote:
>> 
>> There must be a way to use the tools in PSP9 to place lines of equal
>> length and width so their start (or end) points are joined, and they
>> radiate at equal intervals. I haven't found an easy way to do this
>> yet; does anybody know one?
>
>Here's one way. Draw a vertical vector line. Draw a horizontal
>vector line (or duplicate the vertical line and rotate it 90
>degrees). Select both objects and do Objects > Align > Center
>In Canvas. You will have a cross in the center of the canvas.

This far, I had already gotten, as I was using that to help me with
anything freehand. I also had two circles, a larger outer one, and a
tiny inner one, for the same purpose. I think they might show, or
partly, in the captures I added to my replies to Fred - well, no; they
don't, but they show in the Layers Palette.

>Do Objects > Group. Do Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste > Paste As
>New Layer. Make sure only the grouped objects on the newly pasted
>layer are active. Press and hold the Shift key and turn the
>rotation handle of the Object Selection tool surrounding the
>active object. It will rotate in steps of 15 degrees. Repeat the
>copy, paste, rotate sequence until you get a full circle of lines.
>The attached shows lines every 30 degrees.

As I did with Fred's message, I'll save this to a text file to refer
to as I try this. (I have no printer; ha!)

The Paste as New Layer is such a crucial technique, I've discovered,
to keep things in position, and reduce freehand efforts. I didn't know
holding Shift down would allow 15-degree rotation; how useful! So I'll
be trying this. I figure the more I learn, the better I'll manage
things later.

If I use your method as part of my final VekTorian Gothic, Spandex
Rutabaga, I guess I'd have to mask off or otherwise hide all but one
quarter of each of the two radiated-lines images I use to put markers
on the syringe barrels of the pitchfork.

I'm also working on a Preset Shape for the bend in the pitchfork; that
seems to be going all right, though it's terribly finicky on my
monitor.

For now, I'm keeping everything as much vector as possible, till the
last possible instant; then of course the final result will be Raster
throughout, as the final pictures in my project will all be Raster.

I have trouble with Masks - barely understand them; I know you can
mask a Vector layer; I'll play with that, too, and learn something
more. I once "masked" a vector layer by drawing a few rectangles on
the layer above it, which merely covered up the parts of the layer
below that I wanted to hide; that works fine!

Of course it may also alter other parts of the picture, if I'm not
careful with how I handle the layers.

Sat, 8 Mar 2008  09:13:42
Carol W

CarolW wrote:

> I have trouble with Masks - barely understand them; I know you can
> mask a Vector layer;

A mask is simply a control layer. The grey values on this layer
control the opacity of an associated regular layer, i.e. the
layer (or layers) with which the mask is grouped. Another kind
of control layer is the adjustment layer. The shade of grey
controls how much of the adjustment is applied where in the
image. A final kind of control layer is the selection. You can't
see it unless you do Selections > Edit Selection. The grey level
controls the degree of selection. White is always the full
effect (full opacity, full adjustment, full selection) and black
gives zero effect (no opacity, i.e. complete transparency, no
adjustment, no selection). Shades of grey give an intermediate
effect. These control layers can be applied to either raster or
vector layers by grouping the control layer with the relevant
visible image layer. If you apply rotations to the layer group
(i.e. when the group is selected and active in the Layer Palette)
all the layers in the group (including control layers) will
rotate in unison. That's pretty much all you need to know about
any of this stuff.

> I'll play with that, too, and learn something
> more. I once "masked" a vector layer by drawing a few rectangles
on
> the layer above it, which merely covered up the parts of the layer
> below that I wanted to hide; that works fine!

However, you may find it to be much more flexible to use a mask.
The attached PSP image shows both a mask and an adjustment layer
applied to a vector rectangle shape. If you hold the mouse over
the layer name in the Layer Palette the thumbnail will show you
what is painted on each of the two control layers either so as
to modify opacity or to change color.

> Of course it may also alter other parts of the picture, if I'm not
> careful with how I handle the layers.

That's one reason why real masks are better because they only
affect layers grouped with them and not other layers in the
layer stack outside the group.