Issues with Atlas Map

Hey all,

Just a few points of contention with our beloved program I encountered while working on my Atlas submission: St. Cei the Beloved's Cathedra:

1: Mirrored Copies not aligning exactly. So, I'd draw either side of internal walls, go for the mirrored copy option, draw my center line, and the resulting copy would invariably be off, sometimes dramatically so. I'm assuming snap and ortho WILL affect alignment even on copies? Only thing I can think of

2: RE: above. Trying to Move entities to align proved to be impossible as I could not see the selected entity; trying to use non-visual move, well, since I'm unfamiliar with that, proved frustrating, as well. I'll educate myself on that feature asap. This is issue has already been reported in CC4 wishlist post.

3: Trying to match fill patterns on unattached lines and polys! ugh. I had to resort to TRACED on many. Some I tried (for example, the brick wall around the outside garden) produced strange results. So, I faked it as best I could.

4: Color Key to the rescue! Of course, since I resorted to TRACED and outright drew polys for walls, BREAK was useless. Color Key allowed me to do what I wanted, anyway---though must stress for those using FCW that the keyed out parts of the polys are /still/ there, just hidden in some fashion.

5: I decided to use 2 or 3 different SHEET effects styles, resulting in a bunch of unused sheets. I /thought/ there was an option to remove unused sheets somewhere, but I can't find it. In consequence, there are a lot of empty sheets in the FCW. I hope there's an option to remove that doesn't involve sheet-by-sheet manual removal! LOL

thanks

Cal

[Deleted User]

Comments

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer
    edited October 2021
    1. While I can't say I've had the mirror problem myself, I also don't have time right now to play with it right at this moment. Maybe you have an example or a screen shot?
    2. If the thing you are moving is a polygon or line, turn on Attach and pick a node as the point to move it from that you can align using either another polygon or line, or the grid, then once you have grabbed it that way turn on/off Snap and/or Attach as appropriate and move it. You can also move it by the point you select to a set coordinate.
    3. Traced is the only way to perfectly align fills between different entities by making them a single entity. It is best to have the shapes completely finished with door and window cuts already made before you do this, though.
    4. There is nothing wrong with using Color Key. I do it all the time. I wish more people would, since they are easier to edit than making (for example) an uneditable multipoly to break a hole in something.
    5. You can select multiple sheets for deletion by holding down the CTRL key whilst clicking on them. Perhaps a better way is to switch the effects on and off on a single sheet until you have it looking right. Then when you are happy, just delete the effects you don't like.

    I hope some of that is helpful :)

  • I've had an issue with mirrored copies not properly aligning before where the items being copied are on more than one Sheet. If you simply repeat the command for the items on each Sheet (key point - use the snap grid and ortho commands if you do this!) as separate actions, everything should be fine.

    There's an option to purge unused Layers, though I'm not sure if they take their associated Sheets with them when they go. At one time, unused Sheets (Sheets with no entities added to them) would simply vanish when you closed that file. That too could be irritating, so one of the Updates in recent years stopped that, so far as I recall. Though that can mean you end up with lots of empty Sheets now instead, something that can be very time-consuming to identify and remove separately, and always with the danger you'll accidentally delete a Sheet with something vitally important on it). Another reminder to save the file regularly and separately...

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer

    I've used purge layers once too often. That was why Ralf had those error messages on the most recent Live Mapping stream. I had purged the layers, and by doing so had deleted the ones that mattered.

    I think a purge sheets button would be equally dangerous, though maybe both would be less dangerous if it was possible to undo the purge.

  • Unless it only purges IF nothing is associated with the sheet or the layer? Would that be possible I wonder?

    Anyway, thanks for the advice, guys

    😁

    Cal

  • LoopysueLoopysue ProFantasy 🖼️ 39 images Cartographer

    Well, the issue Ralf encountered was because I had purged layers that I hadn't used, but which he needed. So it was, all in all, a really bad idea I had one day.

    But maybe we could suggest a purge and a capacity to undo both layer and sheet purges on the current CC4 thread?

  • I have never had a problem with purge layers. Though an undoable purge Sheets would be great. You used to have that happen if there was nothing on them and they weren't in the Template, but now, not so.

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