How do I fix duplicate lines on top of each other?

[Ed Lang]

I have a graphic that has many line segments on top of each other. All are the same color and are hairline. When I send this time to the engraver, of course it goes back and forth many times to "cut" each of the segments. I have been able to select one line and delete it, then repeat and repeat and repeat till I get them all but this will take forever!

There has got to be a simple way to boil this stack of lines down to a single one.


Question number 2, I want to make many small boxes. Say .25" X .5". I have no trouble drawing the box, using step and repeat to make a line of them and use no offset so they all are next to each other. Same as above, each box is cut. I want to only cut once between each box as the second pass is not needed. Simply put, I want a grid of lines that will make little spacers If I have the boxes already and want to use them and not redraw using lines can it be done?

Both questions seem to ask the same question, how to make overlapping lines turn into one.

I am using corel X3

Thanks folks.

Ed

[Shaddy Dedmore]

Simple answer... I'm not sure of an easy way.

Long answer... one thing I do when attempting something similar is welding the lined up boxes, this just makes one rectangle, BUT, it also leaves nodes where the edges were. So then you can use the line tool and using Snap make the intersecting lines fairly easily. Still time consuming, but goes fairly quickly.

Shaddy

[Joe Pelonio]

Ed,

On number 1, I get that at times too, if you want to vector cut the outside outline only then what I do is click it, edit, copy, then delete the rest and paste it back.

On number 2, I know of no way other than to do lines instead of boxes.
Say horizontal lines .25" apart, vertical lines .5" apart. As far as I know
with actual boxes you'd have to go in and delete the overlapping segments.

[Grant McFarland]

You could try making a box with just 3 sides, and then step and repeat as necessary with no offset.

[Mike Null]

This won't totally solve your problem but it might speed you up a bit.

In the polygon flyout there is a grid tool. You can make as many equal size boxes as you want. They do not overlap but they are adjoining so you will get two cuts in some places. You can eliminate some of them by breaking the curve apart and deleting the interior boxes but not all of them.

If you ungroup them you can separate them all slightly so that you're not cutting over lines but each box would be cut indivdually.

The other thing you could do is make a template-a large box with lines spaced as you want touching the sides of the box. Then you will get a single cutline all the way up and down as well as across. You could then resize it later as needed.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Ed,

I think Joe hit the nail on the head if I read your request correct. This is in regards to question #2.

Simply draw a vertical line 24" long align it to the top left of the page now use the position tool in the transformation fly-out and enter -.5 then apply to duplicate.

your horizontal line should duplicate down the page.

Now do the vertical by drawing a 12" vertical line aligning it to the upper left of the page and then duplicating it by .25

Remember to hold your CTRL key when drawing the lines to keep them straight and don't worry about drawing them exactly to size just make small lines and then size them.

I think this is what you are asking for.

We discovered a way to eliminate multiple lines that are on top of each other it is done with Corel X3 but this computer does not have corel on it so I will get the steps necessary tomorrow and post them here for you if someone has not already done it.

[Dave Jones]

For a series of boxes I would place one large box for the outside, and then place a single line on the inside to make the first division and duplicate it as needed (you set the offset and then a single keystroke duplicates it as often as you press the key). When lasered it will vector the single lines (which divide the boxes) and then cut the large outline and all the boxes fall out. For a grid of boxes I'd do the same thing but with single lines horizontal and vertical to make all the divisions and again one boz around the whole thing.

[Mike Null]

I think what Mike may be talking about is a feature called object manager.

If you select all the items them open up object manager it will show you exactly the makeup of the drawing and you can delete in the object manager flyout.

Object manager is in the tools drop down.

[Ed Lang]

Ed,

We discovered a way to eliminate multiple lines that are on top of each other it is done with Corel X3 but this computer does not have corel on it so I will get the steps necessary tomorrow and post them here for you if someone has not already done it.

Thanks Mike, I am looking forward to learning this new method.

ed

[Jerry Allen]

Mike,
I am not sure why you are getting multiple lines and there are a few reasons possible.
One is the importing of .dxf/.dwg files. In this case, check the Reduce Nodes box in the Import or open dialog box. This helps a lot, but you still need to check for ones that get missed.
The next possiblity being that you drew or moved lines on top of each other. In that case, Ungroup grouped lines (optional), and select lines in question using the Alt key. Clicking twice will toggle between overlaid lines. I recommend opening the Object browser and watching the changes. I always have my Object browser docked. (I frequently use it to sort so inner cuts are lower on the list so they cut before outer cuts).

I have done lots of box joint boxes and some time back tried to reduce the cuts by having a single line on the joints of adjacent parts. Seemed like a good idea, but I stopped doing it that way. I can't recall exactly why but I'm sure it was causing problems. Just off the top of my head, separation problems or the fit didn't seem as good as separate pieces. Can't really recall, but I went back to the original slower and wasteful way.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Ed,

attached is the pdf of how I fixed the file give it a try it works. Sometimes more complex drawings can be more of a challenge.

Well I have to e-mail to you because the file is to large! Well the only way I could get the file small enough was to scan it and then create a pdf I hope everyone can understand the process it works pretty good.

[Jerry Allen]

Mike,
Can't read anything in the .pdf.
I'm assuming the originals are .cdr files or pages. How about breaking it into separate files? Either .cdr or .pdf.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Jerry,

The problem is that they are screen captures and were a lot larger than I expected. I was disappointed because I think a lot of people would benefit from this.

If you send me an e-mail I will send you the original PDF it is about 2mb.

I did try to break them up into seperate pages still to big to post

[Mike Mackenzie]

To everyone who is interested.

The Pdf file that I made up to show Ed how to remove excess lines that are on top of each other was a 2MB file. Shaddy was good enough to create a link with the file for everyone who wishes to learn how it was done. Please keep in mind that this process was done using Corel X3!

Here is the link to the file

http://www.shaddysengraving.com/laser/snowflake.pdf

[Mike Shauer]

Thanks Mike! The file downloaded fine I will play with it later. Cheers!