Help with spacing objects for laser cutting template

[Milomade]

Hi All

I need to set up a template for a laser cutter and they specify that there has to be a 2mm gap between all parts. I have an oak leaf design and want to set up the file in such a way to minimise on waste. At the moment it looks like the attached. Is there a way to evenly distribute elements so that there is a 2mm gap around each object in Affinity? Or will I have to manually move stuff around - how do I check that there is a 2mm gap all the way around each element?

What's the easiest way to do this is what I'm asking.

Getting an error every time I try and add an image, so can't show you the template!

[NotMyFault]

1 hour ago, Milomade said:

Is there a way to evenly distribute elements so that there is a 2mm gap around each object in Affinity?

Unfortunately not.

you can only distribute objects over one dimension, but not over 2D

[Milomade]

Yeah - I can do the 2mm apart horizontally/vertically - but with an irregular object like an oak leaf it gets tricky.

I've discovered that if I type 2mm into the stroke field, Affinity converts this into points, so I'm able to add a 2mm stroke around the elements and do it that way - it's just a bit tedious.

[NotMyFault]

1 hour ago, Milomade said:

how do I check that there is a 2mm gap all the way around each element?

it depends if you use a transparent background, or white.

Assuming transparent background, and all objects are fully opaque:
You can add a one mm outline around objects, in black or white and 50% opacity. 

Then add a procedural texture adjustment which gives different colors depending on opacity:

0: gaps

50%: outline

75%: overlapping objects - needs correction

100%: could be overlap or ok

[Milomade]

2 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

You can add a one mm outline around objects, in black or white and 50% opacity. 

Then add a procedural texture adjustment which gives different colors depending on opacity:

0: gaps

50%: outline

75%: overlapping objects - needs correction

100%: could be overlap or ok

Is there an online tutorial on this? Will have a look into the settings and see if I can figure this out. Thanks

[NotMyFault]

Just now, Milomade said:

Is there an online tutorial on this? Will have a look into the settings and see if I can figure this out. Thanks

I can provide this for you. Can you please try again to upload an example file? 

[Milomade]

It's OK - I did a quick Google - looks terribly complicated. I can't upload images - get an error every time.

[NotMyFault]

Just try again later, maybe using a different browser, or pc, or clear browser cache. It works in general, but at certain times not.

[Milomade]

I think my image was too small previously and that's why I was getting an error - thanks for the tip @N.P.M.

Here's my template - as you can see the oak leaf is irregular in shape. I could space it 2mm apart according to the rectangular selection box around it - but that then would cause lots of offcut waste. So I'm trying to minimise the waste by arranging them like this.

I just wondered if there was a setting in Affinity to determine the distance between objects.

I've added a 2mm stroke around one oak leaf and then spaced manually.

[Milomade]

2 hours ago, N.P.M. said:

into vector object

It is a vector - I created it in Affinity Designer. Thanks for the link - that's something I need to learn and add to my skill set. Very handy indeed!

Not sure it's helpful in this respect though as it will only allow me to space things according to the boundary box of an object - but at least it will help with the horizontal alignment and speed up that process. I do a lot of templates for my jewellery in Affinity that I print off and stick to silver so that I can pierce them out with a jewellers saw, so this is super helpful. Thanks!

Off to have a go and try that out.

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, Milomade said:

Not sure it's helpful in this respect

It's a different workflow: Instead of creating the whole bunch of objects + distributing all of them afterwards you would position just 2 as wanted and then apply power duplicate. This will copy with the previously used offset. This way you could create one horizontal line of objects. Then duplicate + flip this line and move it as the second line. Then select this two lines … da capo al fine.

[v_kyr]

Further if you maybe have to alter the initial oak leaf itself in size/stroke etc., use in ADe symbols for the other oak leafs, so that they do all change accordingly in the same manner as the initial one then.