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Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 10:43 pm
by Husky
Case:
Drew a rectangle (RE),
Drew a second rectangle (RE) around the first rectangle,
trimmed four lines from the inner rectangle to the outer rectangle (see screen-shot),
selected the inner rectangle to fill it with a hatch,
A Warning message pops up that the loop isn't closed. Why isn't it closed? How can I close it?
Husky-2013.05.26-01.png
Husky-2013.05.26-01.png (10.21 KiB) Viewed 10853 times
Additional question to the hatch: I can't move (etc.) a hatch with a defined (except free) snap point? :cry:

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 8:04 am
by andrew
You will need to cut the extended lines at the intersection point.

See also user manual about hatches, first figure. The hatch needs to be prepared as shown at the right side:
http://www.qcad.org/doc/qcad/3.1.0/refe ... ch_en.html

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 8:07 am
by andrew
Husky wrote:Additional question to the hatch: I can't move (etc.) a hatch with a defined (except free) snap point? :cry:
If you move a hatch using drag and drop, the closest reference point is used to position the hatch.

If you move a hatch using Modify - Move, you can choose a reference point using the snap tools and position it at the target point, also using an appropriate snap tool.

If you move a hatch using Cut with Reference & Paste, you can choose a reference point using snap tools when cutting, and use snap tools when pasting.

Perhaps there's a misunderstanding here. What kind of procedure are you trying to use?

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 9:55 am
by Husky
andrew wrote:The hatch needs to be prepared ...
Yep - thanks - that was my fear. :cry:
Right now I'm working on a simple Stained glass pattern. The idea was to put the glass colors as a solid hatch into the drawing. But if I have to prepare every single hatch area it will keep me busy for many hours. This is my first try with a simple design - but I have to accept that there is no way to do it on a normal, much more complicated design. :cry:
Husky-2013.05.27-01.png
Husky-2013.05.27-01.png (10.89 KiB) Viewed 10829 times
The second question was based on the matter of fact that I have to prepare those hatch areas. To get rid of this task I was thinking that I just have to prepare one area and copy the hatch in similar areas without the need of preparing every area again. I separated an existing solid triangle hatch and realized that there is no way to snap just a corner of this triangle - it needs a "non hatch" reference to do that.

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 10:17 am
by andrew
Husky wrote:But if I have to prepare every single hatch area it will keep me busy for many hours. This is my first try with a simple design - but I have to accept that there is no way to do it on a normal, much more complicated design. :cry:
Yes. A feature request exists:
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/bugtracker/in ... ask_id=763

Definitely a non-trivial problem though.
Husky wrote:The second question was based on the matter of fact that I have to prepare those hatch areas. To get rid of this task I was thinking that I just have to prepare one area and copy the hatch in similar areas without the need of preparing every area again. I separated an existing solid triangle hatch and realized that there is no way to snap just a corner of this triangle - it needs a "non hatch" reference to do that.
You're right. I can see that I have introduced that limitation at one point (hatches are excluded from snapping) but I can't remember why. I will re-enable that for the next beta, unless I can figure out what the reason was.

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 12:34 pm
by Clive
Hi Husky
Nice project you are working on here :wink: , is it inspired by 'The Tree of Life' by Frank Lloyd Wright ?

I have encountered this problem too quite a bit when working with repeated patterns etc..

Until we have a better solution this is what I do, it still involves some work but it may help!

1. Make a copy of all the shapes that are repeated many times - Place on different layers and modify them as you need (Rotate, Mirror etc.).
Pattern set-up.png
Pattern set-up.png (6 KiB) Viewed 10689 times
2. Create 'Hatch' fills with the colours you need.
Pattern set-up 2.png
Pattern set-up 2.png (4.89 KiB) Viewed 10689 times
3 Now you can use the 'Copy with Reference' tool and snap to any position.
Pattern set-up 3.png
Pattern set-up 3.png (17.63 KiB) Viewed 10689 times
4.Now you can paste the shapes where you want to using the paste tools if needed.

Hope this helps :wink:

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 9:00 pm
by Husky
andrew wrote:A feature request exists:
http://www.ribbonsoft.com/bugtracker/in ... ask_id=763
I've seen this feature request and yes - I think that is the only way to go!

andrew wrote:I can see that I have introduced that limitation at one point (hatches are excluded from snapping) but I can't remember why. I will re-enable that for the next beta, unless I can figure out what the reason was.
Thanks!

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 9:39 pm
by Husky
clive wrote:... is it inspired by 'The Tree of Life' by Frank Lloyd Wright ?
Yes it is ... :D
clive wrote:Until we have a better solution this is what I do, it still involves some work but it may help!
Thank you very much!

My point on this is more how easy a hatch has to be created. If I imagine how much work it is to prepare a transmission, cut in half, to do all hatches or to fill out a stained glass pattern like this ...
Husky-2013.05.27-01.png
Husky-2013.05.27-01.png (7.68 KiB) Viewed 10765 times
... then I think it would be more than nice to get a solution as caigner has described. I don't know how much work it is to program something like that but I have already worked with similar function ..... 25 - 30 years ago. :wink:

Re: Why is the Hatch loop not closed at a rectangle?

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2022 12:50 am
by Carolina
Hi Husky, Clive, Andrew - The post was from several years ago, so I'm not sure if it is still relevant, but I also use QCAD to draw intricate line drawings for chip carving and run into a similar issue with a need for a hatch that can be used like a paintbrush. It would be good to have a tool where you can select a whole drawing and pick areas to fill. I have two work arounds: First, you can print out and color by hand with markers or pencils. This is very meditative and enjoyable. But if you want to stay on the computer, the second way is to export the drawing into another vector program like illustrator. I am using inkscape, which is free. As long as you can clean up the drawing, make sure all lines are polylines and closed, you can import the drawing into inkscape and hatch there. But it would be great to have the capability in QCAD, please, thank you.