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Author clock or dial faces
N_Peterson@adobeforums.com

2006-11-19, 9:14 pm

Struggling with an illustration of a dial caliper.....if you have never seen these, you could also imagine trying to draw the face of a clock with the graduation marks. I know I must be missing something very simple here. I came from AutoCAD and we would
have used Polar Array to build the circular pattern of the marks, but I am curious about some ways to approach this using ilustrator CS2...

regards:

Neil
Philip_Peterson@adobeforums.com

2006-11-19, 9:14 pm

Three ways, I suppose there are others.

Try a blend then replace the spine (with a circle)

Create a brush and apply it to the circle.

Make dashed line with large white spaces and small dashes.
James_Talmage@adobeforums.com

2006-11-19, 9:14 pm

1. Draw a horizontal tick mark.

2. AltShiftDrag it toward the right or left to make a copy of it.

3. Group the two.

4. Effect>Distort&Transform>Transform. Enter the number of copies desired. In the rotate field, enter the the total desired angular sweep, divided by the number of copies. If the total desire sweep is greater than 180 degrees, click the left center point
of the bounding box proxy.

5. Expand Appearance and delete the unwanted deadwood.

JET
Philip_Peterson@adobeforums.com

2006-11-19, 9:14 pm

You like that transform box, don't you jet?

Good one.
Don_McCahill@adobeforums.com

2006-11-19, 9:14 pm

I haven't tried these techniques before, but I have made clock dials with this one.

Make a tick. Position it near the edge of the circle. Select it. Take the rotate tool, and alt-click at the center of the circle. Make a copy of the tick either 1 or -1 degree. Press control-D repeatedly to repeat the transformation until you have all the
ticks.
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