Shape Exchange

[Karl DD]

I think it is an issue with Alchemy loading a large number of PDF's.
We don't check each one, so there is probably some pretty complex shapes, which when loaded in large numbers will quite easily chew up your memory or take a long time to load.

Download the debug version (I am assuming you are on Windows):
http://al.chemy.org/files/Alchemy-008-Debug.zip

This has a higher memory allowance and will show you any errors in a separate window.
If you can report back what the errors are that would be great.

The other approach is to remove some pdf files

[Thujon]

Thanks a lot...Ill it out and will report if there is some trouble..

[Thujon]

...ok..I found the culprit... it is like that:

If there is any PDF in any shapes folder, that hasnt been verctorised...the whole thing wont work..and leads to what I described in the thread earlier...

So some Pdf's that have been posted ar not yet vectors...

The camera shapes for example are not vectorised!

Hope this helps...

Thx a lot 4 the help!!

[Fey]

fireworks

[Count_Zero]

I have merged my previously posted bones pdf with the ones that come with Alchemy. In addition I scaled all the shapes to one size. Since the "Pull shapes Brush" already scales the shapes, there really isn't any point in having different sizes in your pdf, as that only leads to unpredictable shape explosions. I have created some new bones and deleted some shapes that didn't work for me (either because they are visually uninteresting or too busy/complex). By the way it would be great to hear some feedback; doing these shapes takes up quite some time and it would be great to hear what shapes work and don't work for other people.

Cheers,
Julian

[Count_Zero]

And here is another pdf merger of the techset that comes with Alchemy and shapes created by me. I added some new shapes, deleted a few that didn't work for me and scaled them all to approximately the same size. I noticed that having all shapes at roughly the same sizes creates much nicer results when using the pull shapes brush. I hope you'll enjoy them. Cheers!

[brynn]

Hi Friends,
I'm new to your forum today. I'm an avid user of Inkscape, and have had a blast playing with it's Spirograph render extension. (Also playing with the Star shape, and all its various morphs is fun too.) Having just found Alchemy, and played around with it some, it occurs to me that a collection of spirograms would make an excellent addition to the Pull Shapes inventory.

So I'm quite familiar with Inkscape, and have no trouble creating the spirogram shapes. But I'm not sure how to put them into a PDF file. It IS possible to save images made in Inkscape as PDFs. And I made a simple sample file with 2 simple (vector) paths, and Saved As PDF. Then when I opened the resulting file, it looks just like the files that contain the Shapes currently installed in Alchemy.

Now, I think all I need to do is move that new file, or actually the ones I will make with spirograms (and maybe star morphs), to the same folder the other Shape files are in. Is that all there is to it? Because if that's all there is to it, I'm about to bombard your forum!

And when I finish the files, I can upload the PDFs directly? Or will I need them in png, gif or jpg format to upload? And also, should I post them here in this topic, or start my own topic?

Thanks for your help. Alchemy promises me many hours of fun, which I hope to share via new Pull Shape files!
All best

[Karl DD]

Hi Friends,
Now, I think all I need to do is move that new file, or actually the ones I will make with spirograms (and maybe star morphs), to the same folder the other Shape files are in. Is that all there is to it? Because if that's all there is to it, I'm about to bombard your forum!

Yeah, you basically make a vector based PDF. And put it in the Alchemy/shapes folder.
You might want to make some 'Compound Paths' to group the shapes together (if they are not already grouped). In Illustrator this is done using: Object > Compound Path > Make.

And when I finish the files, I can upload the PDFs directly? Or will I need them in png, gif or jpg format to upload? And also, should I post them here in this topic, or start my own topic?

You can upload the PDF to this thread directly and a preview will be created.

[brynn]

Oh gosh!
I'm sorry if I asked questions that might have already been answered. I didn't notice the last seven pages of this thread. I thought I was making the last reply on the 1st page.

Ok, awesome, I can't wait to see all the stuff that's already been uploaded and shared! And I will still be sharing the spirograms.

Thanks for your help

[Edit] Ok, now I have seen the whole thread. Really great stuff, and I can't wait to add them to my Alchemy directory!

One thing did come to mind, as I saw where some people were having trouble with Inkscape. And since I know Inkscape pretty well, and figured out making the PDFs pretty easy -- I'd be glad to write up a tutorial, for using Inkscape to make PDFs for the Pull Shapes feature. I could NOT write one for any other vector-using programs, except maybe GIMP. But I could definitely offer one for Inksape! LMK. All best

[Karl DD]

One thing did come to mind, as I saw where some people were having trouble with Inkscape. And since I know Inkscape pretty well, and figured out making the PDFs pretty easy -- I'd be glad to write up a tutorial, for using Inkscape to make PDFs for the Pull Shapes feature. I could NOT write one for any other vector-using programs, except maybe GIMP. But I could definitely offer one for Inksape! LMK. All best

Yeah, a tutorial for Inkscape would be great.
We can add it to the website or something.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for how to handle sharing Pull Shapes PDF files I am open to suggestions. This thread is getting a bit long...