Problem making a symbol fill
TheIneffableCheese
Traveler
I'm trying to get a basic repeating diagonal line fill for solid areas in a B&W map I'm working on.
I drew a bunch of lines on the 45 filling a 20' x 20' area. I created a symbol from that. I can see the symbol in the catalog, and I can place them on the map (even tiling them up so they're continuous).
However, when I go into the Fill Styles dialog, and to the Symbol Fill tab, I can see the symbol I created in the drop down ("Diagonal Lines"), but when I make a new Fill and try to select the Diagonal Lines symbol from the drop down, the preview window is blank. Furthermore, most of the time when I select the symbol name anyway, it crashes the program.
I've tried a couple of different times, I've deleted the symbol and remade it under a new name, I've tried cloning the symbol and using the clone - nothing has worked.
It seems like it ought to be pretty easy, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Comments
It works fine for me, so it doesn't seem to be a general problem. But of course, that doesn't help you.
Let's start with the blank preview. Make sure the sample width is set to something sensible. Often it defaults to something so small that it only shows a tiny section of your pattern, which may be a blank area. Since your pattern is 20x20, try something like 100. Not that this is really important, it is just a preview after all, what matters is if it works when you try to use it in the map, which you didn't mention at all if that was a problem or not.
Now, as for the crashing. That dialog can sometimes be a bit fickle when you add/remove styles. My general recommendation is always make everything ready, which in your case includes defining the symbol, then save the map. This gives you a read to use starting point in case of a crash. It is also possible to do the fill definition in steps, i.e. go in first, create a new symbol fill, then immediately close the dialog and save. Then go back in, and change the symbol for your new style to the one you made. This makes it easier to track down exactly what causes the crash if it is repeatable.
If you attach your map here with the symbol to use for the fill already defined I can also try to define it, see if everything works fine for me with your map and symbol, or if there is an issue with either.
Okay - so, I've reopened the map. I haven't done anything yet but turn on the Sheet Effects.
I see the symbol I want to use in the symbol menu:
I can place the symbol on the map with no issue:
Those are 5 foot grid snaps, so the 1:1 scale of the symbol is definitely 20 feet on a side.
Now I go into the Symbol Fill dialog and make a new fill style "Diagonal Fill:
The preview is fine with the vector Board Fill that I started with.
But when I choose "Diagonal lines" as the symbol name it's blank (set the sample width to 100 as suggested):
I saved it, and it didn't crash this time. It says the Diagonal Fill is the fill style now:
I've set the line width to "0" and when I try to draw a shape, nothing happens; I make the shape and it's completely invisible.
But if I change the properties to, for instance, the Board fill:
Again, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It's quite frustrating...
(Edited to attach the FCW file)
The issue here is with the wide lines. Unfortunately, symbol fills cannot have lines with a width other than 0, nor can they have solid filled polygons.
If you change the line width to 0, it should work, but that probably won't be the look you are after then.
You're probably better off making that as a png image instead and using it as a regular bitmap fill instead.
The other option if you want to stay with vector files is a hatch style, but they work a little differently.
Well, that explains it perfectly. I'm glad that there is a simple explanation - I was really tearing my hair out.
@Ralf - any suggestions on where to learn about hatch styles? I looked into that before and I wasn't able to find a good section in the Tome that explained how to make them.
Hatch styles are just CC3+ drawings. Very similar to symbol fill, but it uses an .fcw file instead of a symbol. You'll find all the existing ones in @Hatch Styles.
Hatch styles are not normal fills however, and only work with drawing tools. If you make a custom drawing tool, and set the outline to be an extra entity, you can pick the desired hatch style in the properties for it in the tool. The list here is just all the files in @Hatch Styles.
These hatch styles should be basic, simple drawings.
I know Ralf have done some work on hatch styles in some of the live videos. I'll update this post with links if I can identify them.
Here's one explanation: