This section covers the various tools available in the Edit Objects section of the Drawing Panel. Top to bottom, left to right, the options are:
Selection cursors - The first cursor allows only for object to be selected, not manipulated in any way. The second cursor allows for the editing of individual nodes (vertices) and line segments on an object. Editing any nodes will strip away any special characteristics of the object (e.g a text box will no longer be editable text, but a generic object in the shape of letters). The third cursor is for transforming objects as a whole with the ability to resize, rotate, and move the object by clicking and dragging the anchor points.
Group/Ungroup - Grouping objects allows for the software to temporarily treat multiple objects as a single object. Any transformation to the group will be done to all objects in the group and when creating toolpaths it will be done to the entire group. Objects do not have to overlap to be grouped and can be ungrouped using the fifth button in the first row.
Measure/Inspect - This allows you to measure the distance and angle between two points, the length and position of a line segment, and find the area and perimeter of a closed vector. If you are working with 3D models you can also get a preview of a cross section of your choosing.
Merging Vectors - These options options on the second row allow you to merge multiple vectors together into a single object. Note that this is permanent, unlike grouping objects.
Vector Validator - This module checks for common design errors:
If any objects are selected the validator will only look at those, and if there are any overlaps or intersections with unselected objects they will be ignored. If no objects are selected the validator will check everything on the current workspace.
Create Fillets - Rounds the corner of objects in one of four ways. Normal fillets round the corner by curving the edge inward, Dog-bone and T-Bone fillets create extrusions to help slotted pieces fit together, and Plasma/Drag Knife fillets are used when working with plasma cutters and drag knives (neither are available at PPLD). Clicking on an existing fillet will remove it.
Extend - Extends a line segment until it reaches another line segment. Click on the line segment to be extended and a dashed pink line will appear, then click the target line segment to confirm and extend the line segment. Note that this does not connect the two line segments with a node or close off vector objects. The end node of the extended line will simply be sitting on the target line segment.
Fit Curves to Vectors - Alters vectors (open or closed) by converting the line segments into circular arcs, bezier curves, or straight lines. This may result in simplified objects or smoothed curves.
Vector Boundary - Creates closed vectors that loop around all selected objects. Offset boundary creates curved boundaries a specified distance around objects - intersecting objects are treated as single objects. Note that offset boundaries may be different than when the Offset tool is used - most notably that the offset will automatically merge any overlapping boundaries where as it will not here.
Rubber band boundaries create tight, straight lines around selected objects regardless of whether or not they overlap. If both offset and rubber band options are selected, the boundary will be a single curved vector the goes around all selected objects the specified distance away.
Edit Picture and Crop Bitmap - Edit Picture allows for basic editing of bitmap images that have been imported - adjustments can be made to the contrast, brightness, and gamma, as well as inverting the colors and converting to grayscale. There are also options to add rectangular or oval borders. The crop tool simply trims the image to fit inside a closed vector. These functions can be useful to quickly prepare a bitmap for tracing (see the "Vectorizing / Tracing Bitmaps" tab for more information), however complex edits will often be easier to make in a dedicated image editing program such as GIMP.
Join Vectors - The last row provides four options for closing vectors by connecting the start and end nodes. The first option allows for a tolerance to be specified - any nodes within that distance will be automatically moved to the midpoint and joined. The other three options close vectors by creating a straight line or curve between the start and end nodes, or by moving the two nodes to the midpoint and joining. Note that any of these options may produce unexpected results if multiple objects are selected as it will attempt to join the end and start nodes of the objects instead of closing off individual objects.