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Question Better way for making a template??

5

54warrior

New Member
Hey gang, I've seen other threads on here about making templates for ATV's and dirt bikes, but I was wondering if anyone has come up with a better way for digitizing these templates? What I mean is...

Once you have created the template and have it laid out as a 2D flat "pattern", how do YOU go about creating it -accurately - in electronic fashion?

For me, I've found that Staples can scan a 36" by XXX" long sheet. I have them scan them and email them to me. From there I re-trace all of them in Corel Draw. Quite time consuming, but has proven to be very accurate.

I've often thought "wouldn't it be cool if here was some kind of Smart Pen that i could draw around the pattern and it saves it as a vector path" maybe that exists out there????

Because I've been doing more Side By Sides (RZR's etc.), the pieces keep getting larger and larger.
 
ams

ams

New Member
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
 
5

54warrior

New Member
When there are new models that come out, it takes the "template stores" too long to get updated and I have people asking for stuff for new machines all the time. Plus mine are more accurate and fit better. The majority of pre-made template shops have sub-par templates with alignment issues and do not completely cover the plastic.

Do you have a link to the smart pens?
 
A

AKwrapguy

New Member
54warrior said:
Hey gang, I've seen other threads on here about making templates for ATV's and dirt bikes, but I was wondering if anyone has come up with a better way for digitizing these templates? What I mean is...

Once you have created the template and have it laid out as a 2D flat "pattern", how do YOU go about creating it -accurately - in electronic fashion?

For me, I've found that Staples can scan a 36" by XXX" long sheet. I have them scan them and email them to me. From there I re-trace all of them in Corel Draw. Quite time consuming, but has proven to be very accurate.

I've often thought "wouldn't it be cool if here was some kind of Smart Pen that i could draw around the pattern and it saves it as a vector path" maybe that exists out there????

Because I've been doing more Side By Sides (RZR's etc.), the pieces keep getting larger and larger.
Click to expand...

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.
 
J

Jb1983

New Member
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.
 
5

54warrior

New Member
The Vector Doctor said:
I think they were hoping for something like this but perhaps cheaper and simpler

https://www.faro.com

https://gomeasure3d.com/microscribe/
Click to expand...

looking for muuch cheaper, those faro arms are amazing aren't they???


Jb1983 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I've tried this but it never seems to be accurate enough and I get distortion. I've tried taping to the wall, with a scale, and standing way back and taking a picture. Still hasn't been exact.
 
A

AKwrapguy

New Member
Jb1983 said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.

54warrior said:
I've tried this but it never seems to be accurate enough and I get distortion. I've tried taping to the wall, with a scale, and standing way back and taking a picture. Still hasn't been exact.
Click to expand...

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.
 
SightLine

SightLine

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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.
 
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