It wasn't the first time I badly missed that
"compute path length" function for irregular paths of any shape
which FreeHand still doesn't include . This time I needed the
length of an artificial stream from a waterfall to a garden pond. I
had drawn a first sketch for a project of one of my customers. Now
here's a suggestion for using TEXT which delivers quite good
results: Choose the text tool and type a point (.), then connect
that text container to the path you want to measure. Adjust the
text’s baseline so that the point lies exactly over the
middle of the path. Now keep the point key pressed and watch how
the growing string of points is running forward along your path.
Stop where the path ends. Now disconnect the text from the path and
enlarge the container to the right until all points make only one
single line. That's it! In the inspector window you'll now see the
horizontal dimension of the text container which comes very close
to the path’s actual length. Final hint: The smaller the font
size you choose for the points, the more exact the length will be.
It just takes longer to fill in all the necessary points. (P.S. The
point is the best character because it has the smallest horizontal
dimensions of all characaters. This means you'll get minimum length
loss for paths with many narrow curves.) It wasn't the first time I badly missed that
"compute path length" function for irregular paths of any shape
which FreeHand still doesn't include . This time I needed the
length of an artificial stream from a waterfall to a garden pond. I
had drawn a first sketch for a project of one of my customers. Now
here's a suggestion for using TEXT which delivers quite good
results: Choose the text tool and type a point (.), then connect
that text container to the path you want to measure. Adjust the
text’s baseline so that the point lies exactly over the
middle of the path. Now keep the point key pressed and watch how
the growing string of points is running forward along your path.
Stop where the path ends. Now disconnect the text from the path and
enlarge the container to the right until all points make only one
single line. That's it! In the inspector window you'll now see the
horizontal dimension of the text container which comes very close
to the path’s actual length. Final hint: The smaller the font
size you choose for the points, the more exact the length will be.
It just takes longer to fill in all the necessary points. (P.S. The
point is the best character because it has the smallest horizontal
dimensions of all characaters. This means you'll get minimum length
loss for paths with many narrow curves.)