Question Better way for making a template??

Yes smart pens do exist, you can hand draw it. Also why not use a pre-made template? Vehicle outlines exist, they should have them for ATV, dirt bikes, etc

 

Here are two:

https://store.google.com/us/product/google_pixelbook_pen

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod..._slate_smartpad_small.html/?c3ch=CSE&c3nid=98

 

If you have a scanner in the shop you can us it as well. I create my template piece, cut it out, sharpie the edges, create a criss cross pattern on it and scan it in a few pieces. Place it together in Illustrator and trace. No need to go to an outside place or spend extra time or money. Most scanners are 11x17 so you should be able to get most of the pieces in one go.

 

I think they were hoping for something like this but perhaps cheaper and simpler

https://www.faro.com

https://gomeasure3d.com/microscribe/

 

I lay it flat on my table and take a perfectly square picture of it with marks on my table that include measurements, From there I open it in illustrator scale to size and trace with the pen tool, done. Faster then driving to staples to scan it.... it literally takes a couple minutes to trace manually.

 

Perhaps this -- but expensive
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Logic-Trac...120867?hash=item485e065de3:g:eBsAAOxy4t1SoWev

 

This is generally problematic for most people as most people use their phones and they have a natural distortion to them. In order to do it correctly you would need to invest in a decent camera.

It's tough to get a straight on shot, and you have to use a camera not a phone due to the distortion of the lens.

In the past I printed out a grid onto banner material and put on a wall. Placed the template pieces onto the grid and used a camera with a tripod to get a straight on shot. You can than bring it into photoshop and tweak it to get it as perfect as you can using prospective tool. After that bring it into Illustrator, resize and trace. I found that between the two methods, the scanning was better. It might take a little longer at first but the pieces fit better so you spend less time tweaking them, so it saves time in the long run.

 

I'd also pitch in on when photographing something like that, rather than the rudimentary perspective tools in Photoshop that a good lens distortion tool be utilized. I know Photoshop has one but I've been using PTLens from ePaperpress for years. Works great and easy to use and very low cost. The guy that created it will also create new lens profiles if your camera is not listed if you take and send him the correct type of photos. PTLens does also have some smart phone lens profiles as well.

Still takes some additional tweaking but it gets you 90% of the way there quickly.

 

https://www.scantastik.com/large-format-scanner.htm Just a sample... but why not buy your own scanner? It's a couple grand, but if you're needing to scan so often that it's becoming an issue... it should be a drop in the bucket from all the wraps your doing.

We have one and its great. I'm sure grimco / other suppliers sell them for cheaper.