single line fonts?

[balsaman]

Well, I have looked for hours for some cool looking single line fonts that I can explode in Acad for engraving. I can explode any font using express tools but they always end up as double lines. Anyone know of a source for single line fonts???

Desk engrave comes with a font called stick40.ttl whick works but looks just like the txt.ttl font that comes with acad (rather stiff looking)

I want single line ttf fonts, not dxf files of letters.

Eric

[CAMmando]

I cant help with the Autocad explode thing, but if you are running mastercam, the function Create/NextMenu/Letters creates engraveable letters. The fonts that say (drafting) are single line fonts. You also have the option of selecting any truetype fonts loaded on your system for this function, but those may not engrave well.

[Klox]

Eric,
BobCAD V18 can also vectorize text for engraving, but as far as i know no single line fonts. Jennifer should be able to tell you more.....

Klox

[tahlinc]

We use Letterease
http://www.webcom.com/cadware/products.html
Their product will create polylines using tangent arcs that runs much smother and faster than just exploding text with express tools.

[Jennifer]

Eric -

Yeah, BobCAD can vectorize text, but the only single line text it has available is the standard BobCAD font...very stick-like. What I've done before is take a font I like, vectorize it (you'll have double lines), and use an offset to get a line somewhere in the middle...kind of sloppy way around it, but it works in a pinch. Let me know what you find.

Jen

[wjbzone]

Eric,

Have you tried the .shx fonts that come with autocad.

I have been using the scripts.shx for something different. Just finished a sign using this font. will post picture later.

These .shx fonts are designed for pen strokes.

Bill.

[Rekd]

Not sure if you found what you're looking for, but Virtual Gibbs created a font for just this reason. It's called Moorpark. I've successfully used it with other software, with generally good results. Another option is to get a font editor and create/modify your own.

'Rekd teh better late then never

[balsaman]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have found the shx fonts with autocad to be perfect! I never even knew they existed.

Eric

[Laff Riot]

While not the easiest solution, if you get stuck having to use a normal font pack and have Corel V10 you can convert any font into single stroke.

The "to center" function key which appears on the same toolbar as the outline and inline functions will create a series of internal traces ending in a single stroke.

Useful when the customer shows up with an old english font and wants letters smaller than 1/8.

One day I will own a real CAD package and not have to come up with these workarounds....

[ropewrench]

I have used TXTEXP in cad 2004
It looks like it is going to work, but I haven't turned on my machine in a few days~ weeks

Exploding text or MText objects into lines

Published date: 1999-03-20
ID: TS18595

Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2000
Issue

You use the EXPLODE command to explode text objects, but AutoCAD displays the
following message:

nn were not able to be exploded


Where nn is the number of objects that AutoCAD could not explode.


When you explode MText it becomes text, but you cannot explode text. You might want to
explode text or MText into lines, because you can then assign a thickness or elevation to
the lines. For example, this is often a requirement when you use DWG or DXF files to
control CNC machines.
Solution

To explode text or MText into lines:

1. From the Express menu, choose Text > Explode Text.
2. Select the text or MText objects to explode. AutoCAD explodes the objects into polylines.
3. From the Modify menu, choose Explode. Select the same objects that you selected in the previous step. AutoCAD explodes the polylines into lines.

About TXTEXP
The procedure uses the command TXTEXP to explode the text or MText objects into polylines. TXTEXP is part of the AutoCAD Express Tools shipped with AutoCAD 2000. Consider these points when you use TXTEXP to explode text or MText:

* To get the best results when you explode text or MText, work with objects based on SHX fonts. Exploding text or MText based on TrueType fonts creates a much larger number of polylines, because the routine uses polylines to represent solid filled letters.
* The TXTEXP command does not support attributes.

----MARKER-->







AutoCAD

Creating text that aligns to an arc

Published date: 1999-03-19
ID: TS20864

Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2000
Issue

Standard text commands such as TEXT, DTEXT, and MTEXT create text in straight horizontal lines (or vertical lines, depending on the font used). Placing individual letters or words at different angles so that they align with arcs can be a tedious and time consuming task. Modifying text alignment can also be difficult if the arc changes.
Solution

Using the Express Tool, Arc Aligned Text, you can place text in your drawing that is aligned and grouped to an arc.

1. Select the Express menu > Text > Arc Aligned Text. (Or enter ATEXT or ARCTEXT on the command line.)
2. Select an arc to which to align the text.The ArcAlignedText Workshop - Create dialog displays.

Note: You must select an arc. The command will not work with any other object.
3. Enter the text you want in the Text box.
4. Select the buttons on the toolbar to adjust, such as the text placement in relation to the arc, text style, font, and text properties.
5. Choose OK to complete the command.




Creating 3D solids from text based on TrueType fonts

Published date: 1999-07-12
ID: TS26555

Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2000
Issue

You want to create three-dimensional (3D) solids from text based on TrueType fonts.
Solution

Although the solution is fairly involved, it is worth the effort if you need to create 3D text.

1. Create two layers with the following names.
text-outline
text-holesText-outline is for the text, and text-holes is for the holes in the text. Assign a different color to each layer.
2. Draw the text (using a TrueType font) on the layer called 'text-outline.'
3. From the Express menu, choose Text > Explode Text and select the text drawn in the previous step. Alternatively, you can enter TXTEXP on the command line.
4. Use the REGION command on the polylines produced by the text you exploded in the previous step (you can use a window selection to select the polylines).
5. Make the layer text-holes current.
6. Examine the text and zoom in on any enclosed areas. For example, the center of Os, the center of Ds or the double holes in a 'g'.
7. Try to pick the region that fills that enclosed area. If the selected region fills the hole but does not include one of the text facets, change it to the text-holes layer. If the region includes a facet that makes up part of the body of the character, use BPOLY to draw a polyline inside the holes in the text. Make sure the polyline does not include a text facet. Use the REGION command to change the polyline boundary into a region if necessary.
8. Make the layer text-outline current, and turn off the layer text-holes.
9. Use the UNION command; on each letter individually if you want them to be separate objects, or on all of the text if you want it grouped together as one string.
10. Delete all polylines that are left behind (these polylines run across the inside of the characters).
11. Turn on the layer text-holes.
12. Use the SUBTRACT command to subtract the holes from the outlines.
13. Use the EXTRUDE command to extrude the regions to create three-dimensional solid text.
14. Use DDVPOINT to view the text from a point in 3D space.







AutoCAD

Editing text aligned to an arc

Published date: 1999-03-19
ID: TS20865

Applies to:
AutoCAD® 2000
Issue

Text and its properties that are aligned to an arc can be modified. You can also edit the arc's properties and have the aligned text maintain its relationship to the arc.
Solution

Using the Express Tool, Arc Aligned Text, you can edit text in your drawing that has been aligned and grouped to an arc using the ATEXT or ARCTEXT commands. You can also edit the arc using standard property modifications or grips and the aligned text will maintain its association with the arc.

1. Select the Express menu > Text > Arc Aligned Text. (Or enter ATEXT or ARCTEXT on the command line.)
2. Select an ArcAlignedText to edit. The ArcAlignedText Workshop -Modify dialog displays.
3. Make the changes in the dialog box. In the ArcAlignedText Workshop dialog boxes, you can also adjust the text placement in relation to the arc, text style, font, and text properties.
4. Choose OK to complete the command.

[wjbzone]

If you use the ArcAlignedText, you have to explode it into regular text before you can use the ExpressTool->TextExplode to convert it into lines.

I like to make solids from the exploded text by extruding a circle along each line. Using this method, I have almost the entire alphabet converted into 3dpolylines that represent the center of a 1/4" ball end mill toolpath for the scripts.shx font.

I just insert the block for the letter in the position I want. Draw a polyline to mill out the area surrounds the text, and convert the paths to Gcode using Tahlcam.


Bill.

Heres an example path of the letter W. The path is drawn for a 2" high letter milled with a 1/4" ball end mill. If I scale it down to a 1" letter, I can cut it with a 1/8" ball end mill (or 3" high with a 3/8 etc) . It takes about 10 min. per letter moving at 15imp.

[balsaman]

Cool.

Great input guys.

Eric