Best software for front panel layout design - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: crystallattice
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2018, 12:34:32 pm
content: Hi,As the title suggests, I'm looking for software to design front panel layouts for instruments. I want to be able to send the same design out for laser cutting and also silkscreen printing/vinyl cutting.I have tried various demos of software but they were all crap, luckily I can't remember them so can't drag their name through the dirt now!In short, none of them offered all the features I'm after or it was very poorly implemented.Some of the features I'm after:Layout must be based in mm/inch not pixelsMust have a linear/circular pattern toolMust have easy method of adding dimensionsAllow graphic designs to be addedhave useful library of ready made decals like volume knob signs etc.have library of most common cut-outs like panel meters, DB connectorsThis list is not complete but just some of the basics I can think of right now.I'm used to using SolidWorks and this is great for layout with all the tools you need to say put 20 buttons in a row equally spaced. This spacing /number can also be changed later without any hassle. Once done the design can be sent for laser cutting but now for the facia/vinyl that goes on top, it is not the best for graphic stuff. I admit I have not tried that hard, but obviously it was not really meant for that. This means you have to redo everything in another CAD package = double work.Is there not something purposely made for electronics front panel designs? Alternatively, which software packages will work well together to achieve my goal?

author: TassiloH
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 12, 2018, 01:52:38 pm
content: I don't know a program that does all you want. All have either limitations regarding the mechanical part, or very limited graphical capabilities. But for me the following work flow avoids drawing the same cutouts twice/redoing the same work:First design the mechanical part. For me that is either a program from the full-service (expensive but good looking and convenient) front panel manufacturer (Schaeffer AG,http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/) or my 3D CAD package in case I mill it myself or have it laser-cut cheaply.Next is to export the panel as a 2D drawing in good old DXF format (a few mouse clicks).I use an old version of Corel Draw for the graphics. There I create a new document with a custom page size exactly fitting the front panel. Next I import the DXF, group all the elements, and place the group centered on the page. Now all the cutouts and drill holes are visible and one can design the graphics around it. Once done, just delete the element group for the mechanical drawing. Now just the graphics that either goes into the panel manufactuer software or to the decal printer is left and can be exported to a suitable format (EPS or PDF).Sure the import/export steps take a few seconds (and have to be repeated if you change the mechanical design), but overall this is only a small overhead.

author: crystallattice
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2018, 06:13:09 am
content: I already do a similar trick within Solidworks: Import and scale a picture of an engine gasket, then trace all the holes and lines in CAD and then disable the picture to then laser cut the gasket using the CAD drawing.I have not used Corel in over a decade (or two)! Can it or are there better options for doing say a selector switch with multiple positions but with less than a full revolution? Solidworks has the option to do a circular pattern and then specify the "angle" that it spans. I suppose one could make reference points in Solidworks using this method and just overlay the text on these references with the method you described.Might have adobe photoshop laying around, your method is fairly universal so will give it a shot. Still, I would not mind some magical software designed for the purpose with nice libraries and decals ready to be used!

author: crystallattice
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2018, 08:59:25 am
content: Ok, so I did a quick test and I think I found a fairly nice solution:Make sketch of cutout in solidworks, with the outline set as construction lines. Then save it as a block file. This is like creating a library function of standard cutouts - just what I wanted!Then create new sketch of faceplate and insert previously created block. This block can be moved and spaced/aligned as a whole. So as an example I created a volt meter with the four mounting holes and the big hole in the middle, with construction lines used as the outline of the meter.Once done with layout, it is exported to DXF and imported into Inkscape and in the document properties, size is set to "drawing size". Now it is 1:1 with the faceplate it is intended for.Now you have the meter with all its holes and outline to work with. When done, the DXF part can be deleted and you are left with the graphics portion.Not sure if Inkscape has the layer option that I've used in photoshop before, that will be awesome.Yep, has layer function.Solidworks issues: Once the Solidworks sketch is converted to say a sheet metal part, you loose the construction lines, which means if you export to DXF, the meter outline will not be visible anymore, so you have to do ALL the design work in a sketch (then export DXF) and THEN convert to sheetmetal or convert the completed sketch to a block file and then "apply" it to the finished sheetmetal part. The block can also then be exported to DXF if needed.This enables you to modify the cutouts sketch without fiddling with the hierarchy stuff of solidworks.Maybe there is a workaround option for that, but this seems quite doable.I see Inkscape has a "insert symbol function" which should work for reusing custom decals. Unfortunately none of the standard symbols are really useful to me - maybe there are some ready made ones available on the net?Only one more thing to determine: which alignment/spacing options are available in Inkscape.Otherwise I think this combo can make a very usable solution.I have a project I'm going to try this design process on and see how it goes.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2018, 10:03:52 pm
content: I'd try Inkscape. It does not have a library of ready made decals like volume knob signs, though; but you could check ifopenclipart.orghas suitable decals you could use or modify.You can at any time change your measurement units inFile>Document Properties>Default units. When editing, I use grid and snap-to-grid heavily; Inkscape supports both regular rectangular grids, and axonometric grids (especially useful for hexagonal/triangular layouts). For snapping, you can choose which you snap to (grid, vertices, intersections, centers, and so on), separately.When you want to equally space items in a line, you can useObject>Align and Distribute, but you'll need to do it on either a horizontal or vertical axis, then rotate them as a group, if the line is not parallel to one of the axes.If you have a single object (or e.g. a cross mark that points to the center of an item), you can generate clones of it, either in a regular rectangular grid, or rotated, usingEdit>Clone>Create tiled clones. When rotating, note that selecting an object, and clicking it again, shows the objects rotation handles and the rotation center (+); you'll want to move that rotation center to the center of the arc, when you create clones in an arc. (Afterwards, you can detach individual clones, creating separate copies of the original object.)You can draw an arbitrary path, and put text on that path, for example for writing text around a round knob or display. In Linux, you can use theCharmaptool to investigate which Unicode glyphs are present in which fonts; and there are a lots of symbols. (I would have included examples like U+1F9C0, U+1F6B1, U+1D11E, U+2B57, U+2B6F, U+29EE, and U+23F0, but this forum does not allow showing them.) I'm sure there is a similar utility in Windows, I just don't know what it is called and where you can get it.After you have found a symbol sufficiently similar to what you like, you can flow them to a curve you like, and then convert the text to path, and you can modify the individual symbols as you like.Inkscape has layers, so you can put your artwork on one or more layers, and the measurements on another, and disable/enable some of them when saving copies. The curve/line tool has support for different line endings, so drawing measurement lines is pretty easy.I haven't saved to the DXF format (R12 or R14) from Inkscape, so I don't know how compatible it is.

author: markce
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2018, 11:03:07 pm
content: I use Abacom Frontdesigner 3. It is cheap, well supported and helps a lot with complex things like potmeter/rotary switch scales.