Translucent Parts Lists in LPub

Inspired by a preview instruction image posted by GreenLead, here is a guide to creating parts lists with translucent backgrounds in LPub.

Start by opening a model in LPub. I’m using this one.

Go to LPub’s Configuration menu and select Page Setup. Choose Picture as the Background type and select a file (thanks to Hubble for the nebula image in this example).

Now the page background is in place. Don’t forget that some images make better backgrounds than others. This example is a bit dark, making it hard to see the assembly details in some places.

Next, return to the Configuration menu and select Parts List Setup. Select Picture as the parts list Background type and choose your background image (here is the simple transparent white image I’m using).

In this case, it doesn’t matter whether you choose Stretch or Fill, but if your parts list background has some texture or text you may prefer one over another. However, I think there is a currently a bug in LPub that causes the parts list border to be stretched or cropped along with the background, so for now you’ll probably want to select Borderless as the Border type.

Now the page background is partly visible through the tinted parts list backgrounds. No post-export image editing necessary! Note that you can also modify individual parts lists backgrounds one at a time by right-clicking them.

I hope this gives you some ideas for new things to try with your custom instructions.

Posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010.

LDraw Files, Line Endings, and an Ecosystem Inventory

The general LDraw File Format specification is silent on the matter of line endings, but the File Format Restrictions for Official Parts requires DOS/Windows (“CRLF”) line endings. A recent discussion caused me to become curious whether there are really any contemporary compatibility reasons for this recommendation. So, I decided to take an inventory of LDraw programs to see which, if any, had trouble opening files formatted with Unix (“LF”) line endings.

Here is a simple sample model, Test.ldr. It was created with Bricksmith, which outputs files with DOS line endings per the official file format restrictions. I used a text editor to convert the line endings to Unix format.

What programs can read the test model?

Bricksmith 2.3.1 can do it.

LDView 4.1 can do it (with no warnings or errors).

LPub 4.0.0.4 can do it.

L3Lab 1.3 Beta can do it.

ldglite 1.0.18 can do it.

Mac Brick CAD 3.0b1 can do it.

BrickDraw3D 0.5b can do it.

LeoCAD 1.75 for Linux can do it.

LeoCAD 1.75 for Windows can do it.

LDraw Design Pad 1.5.7 can do it.

MLCad 3.2 can do it.

LD4DStudio 1.1 can do it.

LDLite 2.4 can do it.

SR 3D Builder 0.4.5.7 can do it.

LEGO Digital Designer is not strictly part of the LDraw system of tools, but LDD can import it, too.

Command-line tools like L3P 1.3, LDTrim 1.1, and LSynth 3.1 can do it (there’s nothing for LSynth to synthesize in this case, of course).

l3p Test.ldr → Test.pov → povray Test.pov → Test.png
ldtrim -in Test.ldr -out Test-trim.ldr
lsynthcp Test.ldr Test-synth.ldr

As a sample of Philo’s LDraw tools for part authors, I modified some of the example files included with Coverer to use Unix line endings.

coverer arc1.dat arc2.dat myarcoutput.dat

The program ran without any trouble.

James Jessiman’s original LDRAW and LEDIT programs (downloadable here) can’t do it – but they’re worth celebrating anyway, so here’s a screenshot of LEDIT looking at the DOS-formatted version of the test model:

I could not find a downloadable copy of LDAO (LDraw Add-On) to test. According to the discussion that inspired this inventory, it too is at least partly dependent on DOS line endings.

With the exception of the inimitable original, none of the many LDraw programs I could test had any trouble interpreting files formatted without DOS line endings.

My conclusion is that the official part file format recommends DOS line endings solely for backwards compatibility with the program that inspired the system. This is not bad, but it’s worth recognizing. As long as there is no inconvenience to other programs or their users, I see no reason to abandon this situation. We have a format that preserves compatibility with older components, and tools that are robust enough to understand reasonable exceptions to the format.

Anyway, here’s a hearty pat on the back for the folks who have made so many nifty ways to play with virtual bricks.

Posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010.

In which I present alternate model building aptitude as a marketable career skill

From the NYT article on Lego’s business recovery:

The changes [that optimized the company’s supply chain] also filtered down to the ranks of Lego’s toy designers, says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of Lego’s new-business group. The number of different bricks or elements that go into Lego toys has shrunk to less than 7,000 from roughly 13,000, and designers are encouraged to reuse parts, so that a piece of an X-wing fighter from the “Star Wars” series might end up in Indiana Jones’s jeep or a pirate ship.

There’s an emphasis on the creative reuse of limited parts in the design of current Lego sets. Someone who demonstrably makes that specific challenge the focus of their hobby would be an asset to the company.

Posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009.