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... topic: 1224 Anyone good at computer graphics? posted: 30 Aug 2010 03:38 from: Martin Wynne Dear all, My computer graphics skills are minimal. This is my best effort to represent a country goods shed with office extension, internal platform and awning over the loading doors. As you can see, it won't win any prizes: 2_292139_500000000.gif I saved it as a GIF image with transparent background. And this is what it looks like inserted on the sketchboard as a bitmap item. I rotated it into line with the track, stretched it to the correct size, and gave it a little transparency to show the internal track: 2_292139_510000001.png Now such objects can be drawn directly on the sketchboard with vector precision if desired. But it would be great to have a selection gallery of such clip-art items ready to just pick and place. Station buildings, engine sheds, signal boxes, water towers, cattle docks, coal drops, trees, etc. In a variety of sizes and attractive styles, perhaps some based on real locations ...
... topic: 1856 Transparency on Background Picture Shapes posted: 2 Mar 2012 20:45 from: Brian Nicholls Hi Martin, Apologies, but I have another query, regarding background shapes in Templot. I wanted to add some basic shapes into Templot, in order to layout some of the track side structures to verify clearances and the like. So started to draw some simple shapes and saved them in PNG format, using the transparency for the white background (of the shape that is). However, as an experiment, when I put the shape onto the workpad, I found that the white background of the shape, which should have been transparent, was in fact solid white. See image below. I have also attached the PNG shape file for your inspection. Now as you can see the shape, including the white part, is below the layer of the track templates, but because the white is solid, it covers more of the track plan background than required. Any ideas how I could do this on the workpad, without having ...
... the end of the paper. This is a great nuisance if you have fixed a roll paper holder on your printer! In such cases you can now get Templot to pause before printing the final page, so that you can cut the paper from the roll. Click OK on the message box which appears, to print the final page. Martin. posted: 11 Jun 2011 23:26 from: Martin Wynne# 3088 15-June-2011 image rectangle outline moved in front of background templates and background shapes. the transparent display option for a picture shape is now saved in the BGS file. Note that this setting affects only the way that Templot displays the image. There is no change to the original image file or the way the image will be displayed in other software. export a file -- new option fit all background shapes. approach track rails on a gaunt turnout -- fixed. To create gauntletted plain track, add some approach track (F3) to a gaunt turnout template, and then shorten it back to the switch ...
... topic: 3376 Screen colours when using background maps posted: 21 Jan 2019 16:42 from: richard_t I find the classic grey colour scheme the easiest to work with when using transparent maps as background shapes. As the railway lines are black on the map, but the rails in templot are a nice bright cyan. But, and I'm guessing here, as the colour scheme is only 8 bit, the background map isn't as "nice" as it is with a 16 bit colour scheme. I guess the "nice-ness" isn't that important, but I find it a little easier on the eye. posted: 21 Jan 2019 18:49 from: Martin Wynne richard_t wrote: I find the classic grey colour scheme the easiest to work with when using transparent maps as background shapes. As the railway lines are black on the map, but the rails in templot are a nice bright cyan. But, and I'm guessing here, as the colour scheme is only 8 bit, the background map isn't as "nice" as ...
... topic: 2073 Printing multiple backgrounds posted: 6 Oct 2012 13:33 from: Richard_Jones Hi, Is it possible to print multiple background shapes- ie superimpose a baseboard outline on top of the OS map and print these out together with the templates? (I also have a "room" shape in there as well!) I've been trying the "transparent" option on the background shapes but I haven't been able to print them out as they appear on the screen. Fully accepting this may be down to my ignorance.... best wishes Richard posted: 6 Oct 2012 13:49 from: Martin Wynne Hi Richard, The picture shapes are themselves background shapes, and all background shapes print on top of one another in the order listed on the background shapes dialog. In order to have all other shapes showing over the top of a picture shape, you need to move the picture shape to the top of the list, i.e. to the back of the stack. Select it in the list and then click the top ...
... I have to hit the reset button. This is repeatable and consistent. The sequence to make this happen is:- Open Templot using my preferences without loading any previous plan (so still T-55). Set 1ft grid spacings on trackpad Use the Num-minus key to give me a visible area of about 24ft by 10ft Ctrl-S to open shapes dialogue box. Click at around 0ft by 0ft and at around 16ft by 8ft. Picture, at clicked location, add shape and browse. Modify shape, transparent, and scale to 16ft wide by mouse action. Main, Program panel then Session, project box title, then enter a name. Session, gauge and scale, S4/P4, OK It's at this point that everything locks up. So far, all I've done is to add a background picture, then I attempted to change from T-55 to P4. There's obviously a few things to try, like not using the default preferences, but can you repeat this, and do you have any specific ideas ...
... if wanted) back into the positive quadrant on the grid if shifts or rotations have taken them out of it. All group rotations take place around the current position of the notch, which can be positioned beforehand for a convenient result. 5. The functions to rotate all background shapes have been upgraded with new options for the rotation centre: 2_111732_150000000.png And a picture shape can be twisted around its centre in addition to the other options: 2_111734_130000000.png 6. There is a new function in the background shapes to set all picture shapes transparent: 2_120215_240000000.png Previously it was necessary to select each picture shape in turn to make it transparent. This new function is especially useful with tiled maps, where you may have several dozen picture shapes, one for each tile. If such maps are rotated to angles other than 90 degrees or 180 degrees, rotation will cause each one to gain overlapping white corners. Making them all transparent allows the rotated map to be viewed properly: 2_120259_500000000.png 2_120300_120000000.png When working over transparent background maps, it is often convenient to change to the " ...
... day. Martin. posted: 23 Aug 2010 04:54 from: Martin Wynne For the last few days I have been trying to get to the bottom of the "won't start without a printer" issue. To that end I needed a computer which had never had a printer installed, so I have been trying Windows 7 for the first time. This is my first "new" Windows since XP -- I skipped Vista entirely. The "Aero" interface is attractive, but by requiring an alpha channel (transparency) it has clobbered all software compiled with older compiler versions. I'm very disappointed to see that this means Templot has reverted to the old common controls and looks very dated as a result. The XP themed controls are no longer supported. How come no-one mentioned this? I rely on members here to tell me about such things. I will see what can be done about this, but from a quick web check I fear the only answer is to upgrade to the latest version of the compiler which supports the ...
... But please read the? help notes first: print_picture_shapes.png Here's a typical result: 2_071742_370000000.png More info at: topic 227 regards, Martin. posted: 3 May 2011 13:05 from: Martin Wynne Rob Manchester wrote: On a Canon IX5000 inkjet I get an entirely black shape( therefore not being able to see the trackplan) where the background shape is when printing with the 'Print Pictures( Stretch)' option ticked- expensive on ink with A3! Hi Rob, Solid black usually means you are trying to print a transparent image on a device which does not support transparency. Have you got the transparent option ticked for this image in the background shapes? Half the battle seems to be that no two printers are the same. More about printing problems: topic 227 Bear in mind that I am printing with 'Advanced Printing Features' and 'Print Optimizations' both disabled for this printer. I seem to remember you muttering something about my system being shot to pieces if I needed to resort to disabling these options. I don't recall saying that, in ...
... one plan? I suspect there must be. Hi Roy, You can't actually "join" them in Templot. What you do is move them around until they line up with one another. Enter the second and third scans as picture shapes exactly as you did for the first one: 2_201008_470000000.png To line them up: 1. Click the one in the list which you want to move. The border around it will change to red. 2. It is easier to align the images if the one you are moving is transparent, so tick the transparent box. (When you have the image where you want it, you will probably prefer to untick the box to work over the image. Also, images which are transparent can't zoom in so far.) 3. Click the shift button to move it about as a mouse action, until it aligns with the previous one. 4. When all done, click the save all as... button to save a .bgs file containing the new dimensions. The advantage of the Templot mouse ...
... topic: 304 Transparent picture shapes posted: 9 Jan 2008 21:38 from: Roderic Cameron When using these as a base for trackplan design with Templot, as I have just been doing, the view can get very cluttered making transition markers for example difficult to see. Then (trying not to make this sound like a soap powder advert!) I discovered the transparent tick-box in the shape-files box. This makes it easier to match jigsaw parts of a large scanned plan together, and to see what you are doing better when working with the trackplan. Parts of Templot Club may not function unless you enable JavaScript (also called Active Scripting) in your browser. Templot Club> Forums> Templot talk> Transparent picture shapes about Templot Club Templot Companion- User Guide- A-Z Index Templot Explained for beginners Please click: important information for new members and first-time visitors. indexing link for search engines back to top of page Please read this important note about copyright: Unless stated otherwise, all the files submitted ...
... : http://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f =5 &t =5502 The NLS have a tile server, but only the historic 1"/mile map is available for free use. The largest scale available in tiled format for the whole of the UK is the old 6"/mile maps (1888-1913), for which the licence subscription is £199+ vat per year. They are useful, but not really large enough for detailed track planning. Here is Shrewsbury, drag the transparency slider to see the modern view: http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.7092&lon=-2.7457&layers=6 &b =2 When they have finished the 25" map project hopefully they will make that available in tiled format, in which case it could be well worth raiding the Templot donations fund for what is likely to be a hefty subscription fee. In the meantime we could have the fantastic 60"/mile maps of London 1893-1896 ...
... Martin Wynne PaulTownsend wrote: By adding the other shapes from file AFTER the picture they are now fully visible and colour changes behave as wanted. Hi Paul, The background shapes are drawn on the screen in the order they appear in the list. This means that those first in the list may be obscured by those later in the list. You can change the order by selecting a shape on the list and using the the brown arrow buttons to move it up or down: 2_181607_010000000.png In addition, picture shapes can be displayed transparently, so that they don't obscure any shapes behind them. Select the picture shape on the list, then on the modify shape tab, tick the show image transparent option box. Note that Templot does this for any image, it is not necessary to create it as a transparent image in your graphics program. regards, Martin. posted: 19 Mar 2016 13:48 from: PaulTownsend Templot just gets better every time I use it...I must be a slow learner! Thanks for those tips Martin, ...
... next TDV update. Many thanks for finding and reporting it. However, I'm not too clear why you are using a background picture shape for this signal box? The background picture shapes are mainly intended for scanned track plans, maps, etc. For what you want, why not add the image directly using the sketchboard? Then you get the auto-scaling function via the file name which we discussed at length a while ago. And you also get the option to easily rotate the image to any desired alignment and add transparency effects. And combine it with other items to create more complex items. Click the add item> bitmap image button at A to add the image. If you want it to show also on the workpad, tick the box at B to show items on workpad: 2_021324_540000000.png regards, Martin. posted: 2 Apr 2012 19:34 from: Brian Nicholls Hi Martin, Many thanks for the quick response. It looks as if for once I'm not the culprit of my own dilemma. Apologies for sending the wrong attached ...
... in Firefox you can use the Tools> Page Info> Media function to do Save As... on the map image. Note that there is a time limit for doing this after displaying the page -- the image url is created temporarily in the database. Or you could take screen captures, of course. Then use photo-stitch software from your digital camera to create a larger map for use as a Templot background picture shape. Or simply use multiple picture shapes -- use the shift shape mouse action with transparent images to align them. If you use these maps in Templot, please don't upload Templot screenshots here -- OS copyrights bite! regards, Martin. posted: 25 Aug 2007 13:50 from: Bernard C Hi Martin Impressive and fascinating. However, does 'Planning Portal' across the zoomed maps have to remain? Regards Bernard posted: 25 Aug 2007 16:53 from: Martin Wynne Bernard C wrote: However, does 'Planning Portal' across the zoomed maps have to remain? Hi Bernard, This is a ...
... scale it for you. Paste the URL (into upper box) and follow the dialogs. regards, Martin. posted: 26 Sep 2017 08:28 from: JFS Hi Martin, Many thanks for this of course the layout is not quite as interesting as that which existed pre-1910... But I must resist the temptation to get distracted from current modelling tasks! Best wishes, Howard posted: 26 Sep 2017 13:51 from: Martin Wynne Hi Howard, Here I have overlaid the 1951 version (transparent) over the 1890s version (white area): 2_260818_210000000.png Notice a couple of things. 1. Templot has got them both to the same scale for 4mm/ft. Which may not seem much of an achievement on the face of it, but in fact I'm very pleased that it has worked ok. The 1890s map has been resampled and georeferenced by the NLS for their "slippy" map on the web site, and the scaling maths is based on the latitude and zoom level using the known circumference of the ...
... approach would be perhaps to have a class called row_of_bricks, give it properties such as the number of bricks and the size of each, and a method to draw itself at a given location on the screen. That could mean drawing the brick outlines, or you could find a nice photo of a brick, and create a row of TImage components on the screen. Or use TShapes rectangles in varying shades of brick red. With a mortar-coloured border. You could make each brick clickable so that when clicked it becomes transparent, to gradually reveal a photograph behind. That might make a children's game to see how few bricks they can remove in order to discover what's behind the wall. Or make each brick play a tune... cheers, Martin. posted: 17 Feb 2020 17:15 from: DerekStuart As ever, your comments are appreciated. I think the brick wall exercise is a good one, especially for what I'd like to eventually learn to do. I've just found a couple of lines of code you've written: / ...
... be included in the print and PDF output by ticking the new tickbox. This is the PDF preview, the print view is similar: 2_142021_580000004.png This the resulting PDF file showing full size in the PDF viewer: 2_142021_560000002.png and the printed template page: 2_142021_570000003.png Before any of this will work, the sketchboard items must be included in the output element options: 2_150605_370000001.png 2_150605_380000002.png If you include both background shapes and sketchboard items you can control which overdraws which: 2_150605_380000003.png You can control the visibility of overdrawn items to some extent by using the transparency settings, but this will work only for small items. The Windows graphics systems won't zoom transparent items beyond a certain limit. If transparent items are missing from the output, try changing them back to solid. These new output options will allow the full-colour scenic layout to be included on the template pages and on wide-format roll prints (assuming you can afford the ink). In the next program update shortly. regards, Martin. posted: 15 Apr 2013 08:19 from: Jim Guthrie Martin ...
... in this clip: http://flashbackconnect.com/Default.aspx?id=gfzzOIbS7eMGzZPTOLRm1A2 You may also want to have the grid lines in front of the shapes, for which you can tick the box. (But where your baseboard outlines match the grid lines, they will then be obscured by the grid lines unless you increase the shapes line thickness.) To change the shapes colour and line thickness, click the font/colours options tab. 2_010833_550000000.png An alternative to changing the order of the shapes would be to display the map transparent over the other shapes -- tick the show transparent box. But note that this makes the screen response and zooming very much slower, and may restrict how far you can zoom in. (This is all Windows and system related, beyond Templot's control.) n.b. for show transparent, only the white option will work for the low-contrast function. cheers, Martin. posted: 1 Oct 2020 13:50 from: rynd2it Thank you Martin, I'll try all that out Parts of Templot Club may not ...
... 8 Mar 2010 16:42 from: Martin Wynne Donald MacLean wrote: Duplicating, mirroring and printing a group would appear to be one way to go, but I'd really like to retain the original x/y marginal co-ordinates (in the correct sense, if you know what I mean) for ease of positioning on the baseboard. Hi Donald, Templot doesn't have any functions to print the grid in reverse. Some printers include mirror or flip functions to reverse an entire page, for use in connection with OHP transparencies. If your printer doesn't do that, you might try the Snagit program: http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp This includes a virtual printer similar to the well-known PDF generators. It includes Mirror and Flip functions, after which the image can be saved in a wide range of formats including PDF for printing via Adobe or Foxit Reader: 2_081139_380000000.png regards, Martin. posted: 8 Mar 2010 17:11 from: Donald MacLean Thank you, gentlemen, for your rapid responses. I drilled down into ...
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