Hey everyone… I’ve been working on fixing the Internal Path tool, and have also added some new features to it. You will now be able to set each IPath with it’s own individual color and line weight. Also I have added the option to extend the start and / or end point of a IPath to the Cutline. Such as with a dart.
3 different paths… each with a different color, type and weight, 1 with just start point, 1 with just end point, 1 with both points… to a straight cutline and to a curve cut line:
AND I will now try adding the use of the “Cutouts” path pen if you select the “Cut on fabric” checkbox. i.e. cutouts - that is the internal path is to be cutout, which in most cases the pen would likely match the Cutline pen.
Ok… Pen attributes will change and use the Cutout pen if the “Cut on fabric” is checked. Only thing is - which I don’t see a big problem right now - is if you uncheck the box, the pen reverts back to the default Internal pen… removing any pen changes you may have made.
Another issue that’s bugged me for a long time, is I want to have the default Path name to be unique. Right now it’s always “Unnamed path”, and if you don’t rename them you end up with this:
Along with a few other kinks I had to work out - like forgetting to update the code so the ipath pen changes are reflected in a layout I did add this:
I kept the default “Unamed path” as
The Internal path tool currently also acts as the CSA tool, and a custom seam allowance path is not an “Internal path”
Don’t have to update the translations for that source.
So when you select a Piece for the path it will check if the name “Unamed path” exists, if so append _1. and so on.
That being said… while testing the updates I’m reminded that the Internal path point names are not visible when displayed in Piece mode. So maybe for future enhancements what are users thoughts on these additions:
Display the point names of Internal paths.
An option to toggle the visibility of all of a path’s (Main, Internal, or CSA) point names.
This is a bit of a fuzzy area… I’d like the point names displayed that are not already displayed in the main path. I don’t want 2 identical point names in the same place, so I think option 2 would be the better option.
It’s very nice to have these Options available, but is there not (perhaps) a better way to do them?
If one selects a pattern piece, couldn’t these options be listed in the unused Property editor space in Piece mode with check boxes or eyes that one can just click?
The dart point name does not show here because Internal paths do not show point names. I would like to know what the dart point is if I have to go back to draft mode. On the other hand you may not always want the names cluttering up the Pattern piece display… thus my idea to be able to toggle off all the point names in a path. And yes… I’ve thought of not wanting to display names twice - we can handle that. Since Intenal Paths are just another graphics item like points, curves, grainline, labels… we can attach a Context menu to it - so just like with points, we could have a Show point names item for IPaths… as well as whatever other options we want to edit without having to open the pattern piece dialog.
That being said… I discovered something rather neat. I was using the Steampunk trousers pattern, which had the dart done as part of the seam line, for which I added an Internal path extended to the cutline - as shown above. But if I enable the dart point again in the Main path I got this… without the line between A38 and A39:
If we select a pattern piece from the list on the right, then the pattern piece gets selected on the drawing board. At the same time, the Show/Hide items can be listed in the space of the Property Editor (in my case) above the Pattern Piece box/widget with an eye next to each. Then we can just click on the eye to toggle the show/hide.
This way, instead of having to find the pattern piece on the drawing board, right-clicking on the piece and then selecting from the menu, we can just select it from the list and click on the eye.
You’re still missing my point… Background: Each pattern piece is comprised of a parent PatternPiece class, which has child NodePoint classes (an instance for each point), NodeSpline classes (an instance for each curve), and InternalPaths (an instance for each IPath or CSA). Each class can have it’s own context menu.
What I want to be able to do is 1) Make InternalPaths selectable graphic objects 2) Add visibilty to the IPath point names 3) Add a context menu to be able to show / hide single point names, as well as show / hide all of a paths point names. This would have nothing to do with a PatternPiece class or the Pieces Dock., it would happen inside the InternalPath class file. Realatively speaking - it’s easy to do.
On the other hand implementing a Pattern Piece Properties Editor would require new classes and a whole bunch of code to connect between the PatternPiece, Piece Dock, and Piece Property Editor. All of which doesn’t address my point of showing Internal Path point names. That is, selecting a piece in the Piece Dock is not going to allow selection of any individual Internal Path.
The purpose of the eye in the Piece dock is simply to select which pices are included or visible in the layout. Which BTW IMO is another quirk in the workflow… seems to me the piece selection should also be available in the LAYOUT screen. You should be able to select which pieces you want in a layout, generate a layout… and change which pieces you want in a new layout WITHOUT having to go back to PIECE mode.
, Thank you very much. Excellent your initiatives, as always.
It’s a good idea 
It’s looking amazing! Thank you very much,