Difference between revisions of "Reorder Paths for Speed"

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[[Preset hatch for fills|<<< Preset hatch for fills]] || Reorder Paths for Speed || [[Strip Eggbot Data|Strip Eggbot Data >>>]]
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[[Preset hatch for fills|<<< Preset hatch for fills]] || Reorder Paths for Speed || [[Stretch|Stretch >>>]]
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{{sized-external-image|396px|https://cdn.evilmadscientist.com/wiki/eggbot/extensiontut/ext12_reorder.jpg}}
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In normal use, and by default, elements within a document are plotted in the same order in which they appear in the file. This order is generally the order in which the objects were created; it might also be referred to as “bottom to top.” For example, suppose that you draw a circle and then a rectangle. Then, when you plot the file, the EggBot will plot the two objects in the order that you created them: The circle will plot before the rectangle.  The rectangle in this example can also be described as being “above” the circle— a description that makes sense if you imagine painting one object and then painting the other on top of it. You can use the tools in the Object menu to rearrange the order of objects, for example with the Object > Raise and Object > Lower menu commands. If you raise our example circle above the rectangle, then the rectangle will plot before the circle.
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This extension can re-order the objects in your plot so as to reduce the travel time spent with the pen up.  Experimentation has shown that it can often reduce plotting time by 30% or more.
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Using this extension does impact your Inkscape drawing.  This extension changes the order in which pieces of your drawing are drawn. For the Eggbot, this should produce no visual change in the finished plot. 
  
http://evilmadscience.s3.amazonaws.com/wiki/eggbot/extensiontut/extensions-optimize-01.png
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The first option, '''Reorder within groups''' will re-order objects and groups within each layer of your document. Grouped objects will remain grouped. But, objects (and other groups) within any given group will be re-ordered.
  
Wouldn't it be nice to speed up our plots?  Sure thing, but how?  If we draw too fast the quality and precision will suffer.  But what about the time spent moving the pen around while it is lifted?  Well, we need to do that... sort of.  What if we could re-order the objects in our plot so as to minimize the travel time spent with the pen up? This is exactly what the "Reorder Paths for Speed" extension does.  It examines your drawing and looks for pieces it can re-order in order to reduce pen-up travel distances.  While it does not find the optimal re-ordering -- that takes too much time -- it nonetheless does a pretty good job.  Experimentation has shown that it can reduce plotting time by 30% or more.
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The second option, '''Preserve groups''' will re-order elements and groups within any given layer of your document, but the order of elements with groups will not be altered.
  
Using this extension does impact your Inkscape drawing.  This extension changes the order in which pieces of your drawing are drawn. For the Eggbot, this should produce no visual change in the finished plot.  However, on bitmap display devices such as your computer screen, you may see visual changes.  For example if your drawing contains two overlapping figures.  The figure drawn first will be occluded on your screen by the figure drawn second.  If this extension changes the order in which those figures are drawn, then you will see a difference on your screen. But not on the Eggbot which ignores Inkscape fills while plotting.  For this reason, be careful in your use of this extension.  Save your drawing before applying this extension.
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The third option, '''Break apart groups''' will ungroup all elements within each layer of your document and then re-order them for speed. This option removes the groups from your file.
  
The two check box options of this extension are not yet implemented. You can ignore them at present.  (Or, if you think that you know how to do it well, you might notice that it's one of the things called out on our [[Help wanted]] page.
 
  
  
 
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[[Preset hatch for fills|<<< Preset hatch for fills]] || Reorder Paths for Speed || [[Strip Eggbot Data|Strip Eggbot Data >>>]]
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[[Preset hatch for fills|<<< Preset hatch for fills]] || Reorder Paths for Speed || [[Stretch|Stretch >>>]]

Latest revision as of 14:10, 21 June 2019

eggbottiny.jpg This wiki page is part of the documentation for The Original Egg-Bot. Click here to return to the Egg-Bot overview.
The specifics of this portion assume that you have version 2.8.1 or higher of the Eggbot extensions installed.
Click here if you need help determining which version you have installed.


<<< Preset hatch for fills || Reorder Paths for Speed || Stretch >>>



ext12_reorder.jpg

In normal use, and by default, elements within a document are plotted in the same order in which they appear in the file. This order is generally the order in which the objects were created; it might also be referred to as “bottom to top.” For example, suppose that you draw a circle and then a rectangle. Then, when you plot the file, the EggBot will plot the two objects in the order that you created them: The circle will plot before the rectangle. The rectangle in this example can also be described as being “above” the circle— a description that makes sense if you imagine painting one object and then painting the other on top of it. You can use the tools in the Object menu to rearrange the order of objects, for example with the Object > Raise and Object > Lower menu commands. If you raise our example circle above the rectangle, then the rectangle will plot before the circle.

This extension can re-order the objects in your plot so as to reduce the travel time spent with the pen up. Experimentation has shown that it can often reduce plotting time by 30% or more.

Using this extension does impact your Inkscape drawing. This extension changes the order in which pieces of your drawing are drawn. For the Eggbot, this should produce no visual change in the finished plot.

The first option, Reorder within groups will re-order objects and groups within each layer of your document. Grouped objects will remain grouped. But, objects (and other groups) within any given group will be re-ordered.

The second option, Preserve groups will re-order elements and groups within any given layer of your document, but the order of elements with groups will not be altered.

The third option, Break apart groups will ungroup all elements within each layer of your document and then re-order them for speed. This option removes the groups from your file.



<<< Preset hatch for fills || Reorder Paths for Speed || Stretch >>>