The 3D Printing Revolution

The book I read to research this post was The 3d Printing Revolution by Anton Smithers which is a very good book that I bought from kindle. I think this book is a good introduction to 3d printing although it is somewhat short. The first 3d printer was built in 1984 and was a very basic and expensive one. It allows you to either design something in a CAD program and then build it in typically thousands of tiny layers or use one of the many designs available on the internet. It isn’t mentioned but there is a kind of 3d printer for around £100 that is like a pen that draws plastic rods and is set to revolutionize 3d printing. Typically a 3d printer is quite big because it has to be big enough to construct the object with in it. If you have seen programmes like Star Trek Voyager & Deep Space 9 you will be familiar with the replicator that can construct anything at an atomic level. That is science fiction and they don’t exist yet but the 3d printer is similar and of course another companion item is the 3d scanner that scans objects dimensionally so you can construct them with in a 3d printer. One drawback is although you can make 2 moving parts separately and join them together the 3d printer doesn’t like having to make in one go moving objects that are interlinked. There is also controversy over some of the applications of this technology like making gun parts for illegal fire arms which are plentiful on the internet in the form of plans. You can build objects with a subtractive process where you create a whole part and part of it is composed of a subtractive agent that you can wash away with water leaving the useful part. This can be used in things like creating body parts where you can build something with body tissue and repair part of an organ. This book doesn’t go into how to use a 3d printer or scanner in detail which is a shame and I think if it had been a longer more detailed book they could have charged a fair bit of money for it. I did enjoy reading it and the information is quite relevant.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part J

This is the 10th and last installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC on this software. First we are starting off with publishing from Visio to a web page. You have the work open on your desktop and choose file/ export and choose change file type. You choose the web page option which converts it to HTML. You name the file and click publish. It can then be imported into web design software. You can also save a file as a PDF or a XPS files and there are various software viewers free on the internet for these. You go into file/ export/ pdf or xps and then choose whether you want pdf or xps and there are various options. If you go into review/ new comment you can make comments on a drawing, useful if there are co workers working on the same project. You can also add information to a drawing by using review/ ink which lets you add stuff freehand. This information comes up like a tool tip. You can also click the shape choose pen/ then type of pen ie ballpoint pen. This lets you add information freehand either with the mouse or a dedicated tablet and pen. It can be converted to text or a shape. Using a mouse to enter text is a bit unreliable. If you convert it to a shape which is also under the pens tab it is treated with in the program as a shape and you can apply quick styles or comments to it. To co author with in Visio you need either Skydrive or Sharepoint Server. Several of you can work on the same drawing at the same time but you give co workers permissions to only change what is necessary and protect the rest. There changes come up as updates on their co workers screens. The permissions are normally set by the administrators and the file they work on will often also be a template to protect certain aspects of it in addition. To search for a particular shape you click on the search tab and enter a word in the search box. Various stencils meeting that criteria appear and also their stencil family tab for each stencil displayed will appear. You can click on a particular stencil family or group to be taken there. You can drag a stencil shape to favorites which is empty by default or right or left click the shape bringing up the various menu commands. You can use the save as command to take a stencil shape and customize it and save it in a different folder. It’s worth noting Microsoft have various templates which have a vsd extension and stencils which have a vss extension on their website that are often free and quite specialized that you can add to Visio and if you have an earlier version they are frequently compatible with that too.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part I

This is the 9th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 which is based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC on this software. The types of stencils or shapes you put on your workspace often have options specific to them. When you right click the shape these are among the commands that come up. Find and Replace is under home/ editing and you will usually enter the text to find and whether or not to replace each instance before moving on the next instance. If you left click a diagram you can go into process/ diagram validation. There are various options to check a diagram and you either repair it and then re check it to make a warning go away or click ignore this issue. You can turn several shapes in a diagram showing several processes which might be in something like manufacture. You select the shapes and click process/ subprocess/ create from selection. The other processes shown will normally be relegated to subprocesses or a single process. You can use subprocess shapes but that is optional. In the file tab is the print dialog box. A dotted line diagram compares the workspace to the print paper. This is shown in page set up with the other various options. There is an edit header and footer option that can put it on either every page or alternate pages. You go into that dialog box and just delete the text to remove a header or footer or both. File/ info has the options for deleting personal information or metadata from a drawing. This might be information like the author’s name and address of work. The various information is displayed on the right and you can click on a field and edit it or select the remove personal information where you just select the options. If you use a template it prevents the initial drawing being modified which can happen if the person clicks save rather than save as. If you go into file/ save as in save as type choose visio template  and then to get it displayed in the templates folder you have to go into new/ options in file and select the various options to say what is locked in the template and name it. The next installment in this series will be the end and I’ll try and do that later tonight.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part H

This is the 8th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC about that software. In this post I am going to continue my look at containers. These are similar to groups in that both turn objects into a single item at a particular level. If you click on a container with objects inside it the format tab appears which is context sensitive. If you click format/ select container it selects the container and everything in it. You can drag objects out of a container which then become separate unlike groups. You can click format/ disband container which gets rid of the container but leaves the contents intact. There are also on the format ribbon various options for changing the heading. You can drag shapes into a container which then automatically become part of it unlike groups. You can select the container or its contents and apply quick styles to them. When you lock a container which is on the format ribbon you can’t disband it or drag shapes out of it but can delete it with the delete key.

You can apply a callout to a picture with the command insert/ callout. That is the best way as you can apply the callout to the picture it is attached to. There are other methods but they don’t apply it to the picture it’s attached to and you have to be carefull if you move it around. A callout is like a thought cloud or speech box which are both types of callout. There are other types too. Basically it’s a kind of text box. A hyperlink links text to information which can be a URL or other type of information. You can link a diagram or text including a local file with a hyperlink. The hyperlink command is insert/ hyperlink. You usually click browse in the dialog box to add the location automatically. You can enter a description which appears as a tool tip when someone’s mouse hovers over it. To delete a hyperlink go into the dialog box and select the hyperlink address and click delete and then ok. If you connect the subaddress to the hyperlink with the browse button specifically for that it lets you attach a part of the page or document to it. You can attach it to a drawing but must name it and put the exact name in the subaddress box. There is also a zoom feature and you will choose the width feature that only zooms to the width of that page. By using control+click you can bring up multiple hyperlinks where they are set up for a single bit of text. You then choose one from the pop up menu. To set up multiple hyperlinks merely use the add key and enter the hyperlinks into the box in the dialog box.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part G

This is the 7th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 which is based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC on this software. I am going to look at themes mostly in this post. If you press shift and left click on the corner of some shapes it works differently but only on certain shapes. With triangles for example it changes its constraining proportions and with a square it will let you change it to a rectangle. If you click on design/ themes there is a variants option next to it that changes according to what theme is selected. There is flyouts in both themes and variants with various selections. On themes is a setting called apply to new shapes which is selected by default but when unticked the theme has to be manually added to each shape you draw and doesn’t inherit anything you previously drew. There is effects, connectors and embellishments options in themes. Embellishments is normally best set to automatic. Effects does things like drop shadows and connectors changes the appearance of selected connectors between shapes. The theme you set up is automatically set up in themes flyouts for re use. There is a setting to apply it to all pages in a document. File/ paste just pastes a shape minus the formatting information. File/ paste special has various options for pasting the formatting settings for text and shapes. This includes themes. Home/ shape styles concentrates on settings for the shape. You can set things like fill color and a gradient if needed. You can cut, copy and paste with in this program using the shortcuts control+ x for cut, control + c for copy and control + v for paste like in most other programs. When you do some text somewhere and do some in another shape only the font color is stored and passed on by default. The command to copy formatting information is home/ paste/ format painter. You normally select what you want copied and have to select what you want copied and where you want it to go to. If you double click on the format painter it copies all the formatting information.  When you select shapes going onto something else you can put them in containers or groups. Home/ group does grouping and insert/ container is the container command. Groups using a default visual boundary around the group but containers let you choose a boundary from the options. In groups you can double click a shape and move it outside the boundary but if you move the group the shape will follow. In containers the shape can be selected by a single click and moved outside but then becomes separate and follow the boundary if moved. Also you can add text to containers in predefined titles specially for that purpose. In groups text is normally just put into the centre space in between the group.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part F

This is the 6th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 which is based on what I learn doing the video training course by VTC on this software. If you click on review/ shape reports it lets you configure reports to get them just right. There is an autocomplete feature to help you find preselected fields. Selecting and clicking add lets you add a field. Similarly using the remove button lets you delete it. Clicking finish takes you into the wizard where you can configure it. If you select view/ then tick dynamic grid and connection points it lets you see potential connection points on a shape that you can add. Home/ align,  aligns shapes. There are various options on the fly out like align left. If you have several shapes one will be designated an anchor shape with a slightly darker outline and the other shapes will align to it. Autoalign aligns shapes to a set amount and lets you choose another anchor shape. The position button also under home has various options and aligns and spaces out shapes. There is an option where you can specify figures for alignment and spacing and a position/ autoalign and space which uses default values. If you hover over the button with the mouse it gives you a preview. Home/ connection which is an x button lets you add a connection point. These are dynamic and adapt to you moving shapes around with the connection point remaining the same. If you right click on the connection point of a shape you can select whether you want it to be inward, outward or inward and outward. Using control and the scroll wheel zooms in and out. Using just the scroll wheel on the mouse lets you scroll up and down on the page. Pressing control, shift and w lets you zoom to the extents of the image or images. View/ task panes brings up a floating panel which you can drag around the screen. You can choose a region on the screen to go to by simply clicking and dragging towards it. The x icon closes the pane. Finally some shapes like a triangle have various handles where you can do things like drag the point to somewhere different. Not all shapes have this.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part E

This is the 5th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 which is based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC on this software. I am going to write about linking shapes to data. If you right click a shape in visio and select from the menu data/ define shape data it lets you specify data for that shape. If you drag a shape partly off a page it expands to accommodate that shape by default. File/ auto size sets whether this is default or not. File/size changes the page size either to a predefined size or a custom one. File/ orientation selects whether the page is in landscape or portrait mode. Properties are copied from what you have set up and what the last page you had, had for its properties to any new page you create although you can still change these properties. If you choose insert/ new page it creates a new page. You can have a watermark on a page which is useful for security or copyright reasons. You generally have to create the watermark although there are some predefined ones you can select. When you create a watermark it is automatically imported into the page set up dialog box. Design/ backgrounds brings up a background page normally on its own layer. You select a blank background in with the foreground page selected to get rid of a watermark. Data/ refresh all refreshes the shape properties and links connected to a shape. You will often specify a frequency for how often you wish it to be refreshed. Review/ shape reports lets you do a report on the properties of a shape. You normally select what fields you want displayed and the format ie excel workbook or visio shape for it to be displayed in. You can also link data to a excel workbook in either a single page which is done by default or by selecting various pages.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part D

This is the 4th installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 based on what I learn on the video training course by VTC on this software. I am mostly going to look at org charts. In org chart mode mostly there are either actually in the workspace or about to be displayed some org charts, there is an org chart tab which appears. You can apply any shape to the elements of the org chart and it is infinitely configurable. If you select one of the shapes and click  position you can select a predefined job title which is then applied. If you click the photo icon you can select a photo which is then applied to that person’s shape. You can apply photos en masse but it is essential they are labelled so they can automatically be applied. This won’t work with a digital camera where most photos are numbered rather than labelled. You also to do this use a multiple selection of the shapes. If you click on home/ layer/ assign to layer you can assign several selected shapes to the same layer. If you still click on layer but also click on layer properties on the same button, you can configure the properties for that layer. You can lock a layer in properties to preventing accidently selecting it. You can click on home/ select/ select by type and can select the constituent parts of a layer. When you delete a shape the properties for that shape remain and you can apply them to new shapes. Simply select active then draw shapes. You can select a layer with in select by type or select something with similar properties ie shapes. You can set properties for a shape although not all shapes have this type of data. One that does is flowcharts. This data isn’t generally displayed but is attributes. The command for this is data/ shape data and you can tab between the fields or left click them. The attributes can be things like currency, a serial number or boolean. The last is typically true or false values.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part C

This is the 3rd installment in my blog post series on Microsoft Visio 2013 based on what I learn doing the video training course by VTC on this software. I am going to be looking at dynamic connectors and flowcharts. Control + 3 is the shortcut for connector which does the dynamic connections. Alternatively you can use home/ connector. If you drag a connection to the outer part of a shape it will always be connected to that point even if you move it around. If you drag to the centre of the shape it will take the shortest route and the attachment point will move if the shape is moved. If you look in view/ autoconnect and tick the check box you will get the autoconnect feature and if the mouse cursor comes close to a shape arrows will appear to signify it can connect to that shape. You simply click on the arrow. The shape menu lets you click on a shape and if click home/ change shape it will change the shape but retain the properties like colour etc. Quick styles lets you change the properties to something pre defined and is also under home. If you click file/ new it takes you into the templates and predefined drawings including flow charts. Obviously there are more options for this in the professional version. You choose a predefined flow chart and then drag and drop the shapes on to the workspace. There is a design/ orientation command which can position the shape either landscape or portrait style. You usually click on a shape and then type to add text. Many of the flowcharts have their own tab when selected. The cross functional flowchart or swim lane flowchart on account of its similarity to swim lanes is a chart that shows who is responsible for what in addition to showing processes and each swim lane is labelled with the person’s name and the person’s tasks are placed in the relevant swim lane or column. In file/ new you can do a search for a particular flowchart in the search box. If you click on chart/ import the command is a wizard where you can either import data from something like a database or enter it manually. You locate the file and it tries to make sense of it automatically so if for example you do this with job titles it is important the titles aren’t changed as it will look for matches.

Microsoft Visio 2013 Part B

This is the 2nd installment in my blog post series on Visio 2013 based on what I learn from the video training course by VTC on this software. In this post we are going to look at shapes and text. You can align a shape with a certain position on the screen with the dynamic grid. You can also align a shape with another shape by dragging one of the points on the ruler to line up with the shape you are aligning to. By default when you align 2 shape a set distance from each other, the 3rd shape can be aligned the same distance from one of the shapes by a marker that appears when it is at the right distance. Right clicking a shape brings up a menu of common commands like cut and copy. Control + d duplicates a shape and does so without the need for the paste command. You simply drag and drop it. The pointer tool places connection points on the lines of a shape that can have a line connected to. If you glue the line to the point the line becomes dynamic moving with the shape. If you don’t the line becomes static staying in one place even if the shape is moved. You can add text to a shape by simply single clicking the shape and typing text. If you double click it, it does the same but enlarges the shape so you can see what you are righting. The insert/ text box command inserts a holder for the text in the shape you select. The escape key gets you out of text edit mode. Insert/ line changes the line colour of the selected line and insert/ fill changes the fill colour of the selected shape. The home/ connector command adds a connector to a point. You hit escape to return to normal mode. Otherwise it keeps adding connectors. The command home/ pointer can be used to reposition text. Under home are also paragraph and text editing options. They are similar to in programs like word. You can drag and adjust the size of a text block with the mouse. The command home/ group objects groups several selected objects so they become as one. If you click insert/ online pictures there is various clip art and photos etc. Photos once inserted can be formatted like shapes. Under format are the formatting options like brightness and line weight that can be applied to a shape. You can use insert/ screen tip to customize a screen tip which appears when you hover over something with the mouse. There are some screen tips that appear by default and if you go into the screen tip command and delete the text in the screen tip text box it will delete the screen tip. If you go into the settings under file you can also turn screen tips on and off.