How to you scale catalog items for different materials?

[ToGo]

Hi there ! So I signed up for the premium trial as well and wanted to cut out the design of the month.
It box is designed for proofgrade material. Living in Europe, I buy material locally in 3mm or 4 mm thickness. Is there a foolproof way to scale catalog items down to other material thicknesses ? I wanted to use the scale optiona and just reduce the whole design down to 91,12%, from 3,29mm proofgrade to 3mm of my material. I am not sure this will work with all designs from the catalogue.
I have noticed other designers on etsy that simply include their designs adjusted to different material thicknesses.
Has any of you guys any suggestions on how to best scale catalogue items to other materials ?

[rbtdanforth]

Just look at the total distance in the precision scale and distance button (bottom left) and do the math. If the percentage is locked (and is by default) you just need to type the new scale there, and it will size properly.

[ToGo]

Thanks for your reply ! I was primarily wondering whehter GF consideres a more “streamlined” change of desing for different types of materials. Also, some designs might not be easialy scalable, don’t you think ?

[rbtdanforth]

@ToGo

Also, some designs might not be easialy scalable, don’t you think ?

If you are making a ruler or to fit something else. Then some designs are improved by scaling like that snap-fit box that was much nicer when I scaled it up, to fit the oak plywood I made it out of. Quite a lot is already simple enough that you could make part of it, like everything that is a box you could use any of the autobox makers for that part. Or as I did on several occasions just use the idea to spin your own design,

Many things like the GOGM do not matter what you use.

[ToGo]

Very true- thank for your help

[evansd2]

So the problem with your question is that you’re asking for a simple solution to something that can be complicated. Sometimes there isn’t a magic shortcut… more efficient/more precise/quicker maybe, but in the end if you’re going for a precise result, you have to take careful steps.

With that in mind, there’s a mathematical approach to scaling that I have written up before. Here:

Scaling Project Plans: Simple Math for us Newbies

It might be worth mentioning that you can simplify the process a bit by inputting your dimensions as a formula. Take your example: I would do the following: Ensure that the aspect ratio is locked (padlock icon is locked in dimension bar) Control-a (select all) Click at the end of the W or H (doesn’t matter which one since you locked aspect ratio) and add “*.136/.125” Hit enter. All done! it’s a very small “improvement”, but once you start thinking like this, you can take advantage of th…

and here:

Classic 3D Butterfly Puzzle

What software do you have available? There’s an easy way to do it in inkscape, which can probably be done in illustrator etc. Basically you measure the width of one of the slots. Say it’s .125” and you want the slots to be 0.03” thinner. Now select all. Be sure the aspect ratio is locked (the padlock between the width and height) Now change the width (or height) of the selection: add “*0.122/0.125”. This will resize your model so that your slots will now be 0.122”. Make sense? Widths and…