Lines offset from each other

 I would like to draw an undulating single line, and have CorelDRAW X3 automatically draw a matching line that is a constant distance away from the line that I am actually drawing. Is this feature, in some form or another, in there, and I am just too obtuse to locate it. I have tried both the Help file and the KB using "line offset" in the Search boxes, but so far, no luck.

 Thanks for the help.

  •  

    Pyrenees said:
    I would like to draw an undulating single line, and have CorelDRAW X3 automatically draw a matching line that is a constant distance away from the line that I am actually drawing.

    Hi Pyrenees

    Try using the transform function in CorelDRAW. Use F10 to access the transform docker. See the picture attached. You can draw an object. While selected, enter the values for transforming it (Object position in this case) & press apply to duplicate to get new object or just click apply to get the selected object transformed.

    You can use CTRL + R to duplicate the last action in CorelDRAW. Also try using it.

    Anand 

    •  Hi Anand

      I shall try the transform function as you suggest. As I state in my response to Gadget, I am drawing a hose with a 1.25" I.D. and a 1.5" O.D. so your example drawing is similar to my effort. Where I have a problem is at the point where my "hose" connects to another item. In my case that is an adapter that fits between the hose and a piece of pvc pipe. When I do a drawing like this, I usually need to draw at least 1/2 dozen hoses of varying lengths, sizes and shapes. This makes it quite difficult to just draw a single hose and then duplicate it. Following is the instruction set that I wrote for myself. As you can see, it is rather involved, so I was hopeful that there was a CorelDRAW tool available to the job for me.

       1)    Select the Bezier Line Tool from the Toolbox which is docked, vertically, on the left side of the screen. The Bezier Tool is in the fourth group down from the top.

      2)    Click the mouse button at the starting point, and then click at every point where you want a node. A node is a point at which you can make an adjustment to the line.

      3)    After you click the mouse button at the end point of your angle-connected individual lines, select the Pick Tool to terminate the Bezier Line Tool’s contiguous use. The Pick Tool is in the Toolbox in the first group down from the top. When the Pick Tool is selected, the Bezier Line drawing is automatically selected in the display.

      4)    Select the Shape Tool; it is in the Toolbox’ second group down from the top. Use the Shape Tool to adjust the position of any of the nodes.

      5)    With the Shape Tool selected, click on one of the end nodes to select it; hold down the Shift-Key and use the Shape Tool to click on each of the other nodes in the line to select them. When the Shape Tool is correctly positioned on a node, a crossed-t is formed under the Shape Tool’s icon.

      6)    With the Shape Tool selected, go to the Shape Tool’s Property Bar. It is docked, horizontally, at the top of the workspace window. On the Property Bar, first select the “Convert Line To Curve” icon, and then select the “Make Node Symmetrical” icon. These actions will cause the line to curve at each of the connection points, just like a hose would.

      7)    Select the Pick Tool in the Toolbox, and the Bezier Curve Line drawing is selected. At this point, the line is an “Outline”. You can change its thickness by going to the Pick Tool’s Property Bar, and selecting an “Outline Width”. You do not need to accept any of the preset widths; You can enter a custom width. For example, 6 pt. is NOT listed, so just enter it in the box, and press the “Enter” key. Whatever line is selected will immediately adopt the 6 pt. thickness.

      8)    If you keep the line in Outline form and if you want to change its color, first select the line and then left-click on the color of choice in the Color Palette which is docked, vertically, on the far right side of the CorelDraw window. REMEMBER, MY LEFT-CLICK IS A RIGHT-CLICK FOR A RIGHT-HANDED MOUSE CONFIGURATION.

      9)    To change the curved line from Outline form to Object form, first select the curved line with the Pick Tool. Go to the program’s Menu Bar and select “Arrange”. In the “Arrange” drop-down menu list, select “Convert Outline To Object”. In Object form, if you want to change the color of the curved line, right-click on the color of choice in the Color Palette. REMEMBER, MY RIGHT-CLICK IS A LEFT-CLICK FOR A RIGHT-HANDED MOUSE CONFIGURATION. ALSO, NOTE THAT THE CLICK IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE ONE REQUIRED FOR OUTLINE FORM.

      10)    To add an outline (border) to an object, select it, and then select the Outline Flyout in the Toolbox. It is the 3rd one form the bottom. Make sure that the outline color is black, and select the 1/2-Pt outline form. This will give the hose a black border.

      11)    To add a “Pattern Fill”, select the Fill Flyout, and then select the Pattern Fill Dialog icon. The Fill Flyout is the 2nd one from the bottom. Select the 2-color radio button; Select the fill drop-down arrow, and select the middle pattern of the last line of preset fills; reset the both the horizontal & vertical sizes to 0.1"; set the Skew to 10%; set the front color to 10% black, and set the foreground color to 20% black.

      • Pyrenees said:
        I shall try the transform function as you suggest. As I state in my response to Gadget, I am drawing a hose with a 1.25" I.D. and a 1.5" O.D. so your example drawing is similar to my effort. Where I have a problem is at the point where my "hose" connects to another item. In my case that is an adapter that fits between the hose and a piece of pvc pipe. When I do a drawing like this, I usually need to draw at least 1/2 dozen hoses of varying lengths, sizes and shapes. This makes it quite difficult to just draw a single hose and then duplicate it. Following is the instruction set that I wrote for myself. As you can see, it is rather involved, so I was hopeful that there was a CorelDRAW tool available to the job for me.

        Seems that you've worked out a decent method of creating them. A couple of tips that might increase your productivity:

        • you can type in any unit of measurement for the line thickness and it will convert it to points (eg type in "1.5 inches" and it sets it to "108 pt")
        • to draw the path of the hose, personally I would do it slightly differently:
          - On the "Freehand" tool, click on the start point and click on the end point.
          - This should draw a straight line between them. (Alternativly you could hold the mouse button down and 'freehand' a curve, but my hand has never been that steady: the faster you draw it, the smoother the curve)
          - Select the "node edit" tool and draw a selection marquee around the whole thing (enclosing all nodes)
          - Click on "Convert line to curve"
          - Select the start node and move the arrow to point in the 'direction of flow'. Do the same for the end node.
          - Double click on anywhere on the line to insert a node point for the curve and drag it wherever. Again, use the arrows to alter the 'direction of flow'
        • But if you were sticking to doing it like you illustrated above, remember that you can draw a selection marquee around multiple nodes and set them all to be  "Symmetrical" at once
        • Once you draw one "coupler", you should be able to save this as an object to use and re-use without having to draw it again.
        • Draw can "snap to nodes", so it may be worth adding in nodes at the mid-points of your connector and the end of your hose so that they can "snap" together nicely. (If you select one of the corner nodes and click on the [+] to add a new node, it adds it in the middle. If it didn't, try the other corner ;)
        • If you need to "extend" a hose or change it's path, it may be easier to re-draw the control line you generated it from in the first place rather than try editing the existing (really hard to keep the uniform thickness when you start to play with the nodes) - You can however draw from the start/end of the hose to generate a new one, then "weld" the two together.
        • you can R-drag an object with the correct fill (L-drag in your case) to another object and select "Copy Fill Here". For this purpose I would be tempted to draw a box with the correct fill somewhere on the page, then use it to fill everything else from.
        • Sorry: my brain just waved at me...

          Draw does have the tool you want - it's under the 'pen' callout called "Artistic media". Select the brush with the even thickness (about seventh down I think) and simply draw the path the line will take. It then can be node-edited as per any other line and the "double line" will follow that path.

          This double line can be filled with whatever without converting it into a "shape"

          The only problem I have found is that it tends to make some bits a bit thinner than they should really be -  I've not worked out why or where, but changing the flow of the node it runs into fixes it. (even if it's just moving it a fraction and moving it back)

          And it will "weld" it's self as it passes over it's self in loops. But that may be what you are looking for.

          • Hi Gadget

            Thanks for the reply. I shall try out both of your suggestions this coming weekend. Again thanks for the help. It is greatly appreciated. 

        • I think I've seen what you are looking for with some CAD packages: "Double Line" where you basically draw a double line ;) Used for drawing walls and things like that. Normally there is a setting to say where the center of the line is (ie are you drawing the center, outside or inside of the lines)

          Draw does not have this implicitly, but there are ways to re-create the effect (duplicating won't work for curves):

          1. Using the pen thickness.
            Simply draw your line, change the pen thickness to whatever you need the line offset to be and convert the outline to a shape. This will only draw the line centered on your original and you may need to remove the "ends" of the line to get two seperate lines.
          2. Using the contour.
            Again draw the line, then apply a contour to it. If it's a true "line" then you will have to make the contour thickness half the thickness of the double line spacing (since it draws inside and out), If it's a closed shape, then you can specify internal or external offset of whatever double line spacing. If it's a segment (created by non-joined bounding lines) then you may have to create a shape from this using the "smart fill" tool and then use this for your contour.
          3. Draw boxes.
            If you are using regular shapes, then you can draw boxes of the same width as your double line and weld them together. Draw a square of the same width/depth as your double line offset and use this to stretch circles and move duplicates to the correct offset. This seems easiest if you only know how to use the normal drawing tools, but it is convoluted and takes a lot longer than the other methods.

          In most cases the end result will be an enclosed shape rather than two individual lines: if that's a problem you can either cheat (draw a white box over the ends) or node-edit, select the nodes at the end, break curve. Do the same at the other end. Select the object and break it appart. delete the two end lines. Tidier file and image, but longer to do.

          If you are looking to draw double lines from an edge rather than the center, you may have to use one of the methods above to get the center line, then use the same technique again on this line. Depends on what you are drawing and what you want to use it for.

          •  Hi Gadget

             Thanks for the help. Yes, my CAD program does do an offset line as I draw the original. The undulating line that Anand has in his post is similar to what I am trying to do. Specifically, I am trying to draw a hose that is similar to a garden hose only my hose has a 1.5" O.D. When I do a duplicate of the original line, the ends of the "hose" do not match up properly for my needs. I was hopeful that there was a specific tool in CorelDRAW that would do this. Oh, well.

             Thanks for your help.

          • The easiest way is to set the required offset by going to
            Tools>Options>Document, expand Document>General, then set the values in the dialog box.
            Select the object  and press ctlr d for as many lines as you require.

            • Having a duplicate line is not the same as a double line - although it will work (and is probably the best way) if you are just working with individual two point, straight lines.