So I'm redrafting some ship blueprints using Inkscape and I want to know if I have my scale set correctly so that when I get it printed later, I don't have any surprises.
The original blueprint was 72x16 inches. and the ship drawn on it was 1/16 of an inch = 1 foot. (1/192 scale) I set my grid units for inches and spacing X and spacing Y set to 0.06250 (1/16th if an inch) Then I set my Major grid every 4 (This is because every 4 feet on the ship is a frame (rib) can be connected to the keel)
I attached a screenshot of the tip of the bow, however when I was reviewing "scale" it's set to 90 units per inch... I that ok? I noticed when I monkey with that number it screws up my whole document. Is it fine to leave 90 there and it should not effect rendering/printing. correct?
Never print out of inkscape. It is not reliable enough to do so.
Instead, create a rectangle on the lowest layer in your layer stack - called backer. This rectangle should be 72 X 16". Create another layer above the backer to hold your trace in "life size". When ready to output, do the math yourself. Lock all layers other than backer. Export - selection - enter your desired pixel counts - and export to png. Your pixel count = your desired output size X the DPI you can print at.
Another option would be to create your trace - select it all - remember to activate all of your scaling commands, unlock all layers etc - activate transform tool - scale - x= 1/192 - y= 1/192 - note, values for both x & y will both be a small percent truncated at thousandths - then export. With this option nothing really changes from first option as pixels do not matter during asset creation in SVG.
The drawing is already at 1/192 scale. When I imported the original blueprint, (which I have hidden as a layer), I mathed out it's scale to match my original grid setting above. The blueprint I have is the PNG output from a scan of a Xerox copy of a lithograph copy of a one of the copies of the master deck plans. In the various conversions of the picture it had been warped and distorted (Which is why I'm redrafting them). I realigned and un-warped the "original" blueprint in Gimp as best I could. Now I only have misalignments within a 32nd of an inch, that's perfectly fine as there is a rule in shipbuilding that there is no such thing as a 64th of an inch.
The hardest thing about tracing was reading the globs that was once text and figuring out what originally was written. Lucky for me, the navy standardizes everything. It also helps that I lived on that boat for a few years.
I wasn't planning on printing from Inkscape, but to export to PDF an have it printed professionally. (I did an export proof and the scale appeared spot on)
But I can see where you are going. I just did it backwards as my "backing" is the original blueprint scaled at the proper resolution for tracing. I was just worried that if I exported my drafting, I was going to lose 10% somewhere.
If you know how many inches you want your finished page to be - eg it is going to be a scaled Image on a legal page - and you know how many pixels per inch are doable - eg 600 DPI at Fedex office - math out your need and export for it. You can pull the ping into a publisher if you need to. You will not lose anything as long as you control the math.
Beginners' Questions Do I have my scale correct?
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So I'm redrafting some ship blueprints using Inkscape and I want to know if I have my scale set correctly so that when I get it printed later, I don't have any surprises.
The original blueprint was 72x16 inches. and the ship drawn on it was 1/16 of an inch = 1 foot. (1/192 scale)
I set my grid units for inches and spacing X and spacing Y set to 0.06250 (1/16th if an inch)
Then I set my Major grid every 4 (This is because every 4 feet on the ship is a frame (rib) can be connected to the keel)
I attached a screenshot of the tip of the bow, however when I was reviewing "scale" it's set to 90 units per inch... I that ok? I noticed when I monkey with that number it screws up my whole document. Is it fine to leave 90 there and it should not effect rendering/printing. correct?
Never print out of inkscape. It is not reliable enough to do so.
Instead, create a rectangle on the lowest layer in your layer stack - called backer. This rectangle should be 72 X 16". Create another layer above the backer to hold your trace in "life size". When ready to output, do the math yourself. Lock all layers other than backer. Export - selection - enter your desired pixel counts - and export to png. Your pixel count = your desired output size X the DPI you can print at.
Another option would be to create your trace - select it all - remember to activate all of your scaling commands, unlock all layers etc - activate transform tool - scale - x= 1/192 - y= 1/192 - note, values for both x & y will both be a small percent truncated at thousandths - then export. With this option nothing really changes from first option as pixels do not matter during asset creation in SVG.
First option offers less risk of error.
The drawing is already at 1/192 scale. When I imported the original blueprint, (which I have hidden as a layer), I mathed out it's scale to match my original grid setting above. The blueprint I have is the PNG output from a scan of a Xerox copy of a lithograph copy of a one of the copies of the master deck plans. In the various conversions of the picture it had been warped and distorted (Which is why I'm redrafting them). I realigned and un-warped the "original" blueprint in Gimp as best I could. Now I only have misalignments within a 32nd of an inch, that's perfectly fine as there is a rule in shipbuilding that there is no such thing as a 64th of an inch.
The hardest thing about tracing was reading the globs that was once text and figuring out what originally was written. Lucky for me, the navy standardizes everything. It also helps that I lived on that boat for a few years.
I wasn't planning on printing from Inkscape, but to export to PDF an have it printed professionally. (I did an export proof and the scale appeared spot on)
But I can see where you are going. I just did it backwards as my "backing" is the original blueprint scaled at the proper resolution for tracing. I was just worried that if I exported my drafting, I was going to lose 10% somewhere.
If you know how many inches you want your finished page to be - eg it is going to be a scaled Image on a legal page - and you know how many pixels per inch are doable - eg 600 DPI at Fedex office - math out your need and export for it. You can pull the ping into a publisher if you need to. You will not lose anything as long as you control the math.