TOP 5 Offset Tool Tips
In this quick tip, we take a look at my top 5 tips for effectively using the offset vector tools. This works in Vectric Aspire, VCarve, and Cut2D.
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Video Transcript:
Hello, everyone. In this lesson, I'm going to show you my top five tips for using the offset tool in various software. So my offset tip number one is to use layers to keep everything organized. So by default, up at the top, we just have layer one. So that's going to be what the vectors are currently on. And then I recommend adding a new layer and you can give it whatever name you like.
We can say offset and click enter to accept that and you want to make sure that layer is selected. And when you select out of there, you'll see the offset layer is now active. So now whatever we create will go on the offset layer. So if we were to select the vectors that we have in the middle and then open up the offset tool, and let's say we wanted an eight inch offset in the outwards direction, we're going to type in One-eighth of an inch and we're going to click offset.
Now we're going to click close and now you could see we have new vectors going around the original ones. But now those new vectors are nicely organized on a separate layer. So you can turn the visibility off for those as well as turn the visibility off for the original ones. And now you can separate them much easier. That also allows you to select the vectors easier.
If we were to turn everything back on and deselect and instead of trying to select each one of these little vectors manually by themselves, you can now go up to the layers and you can actually right click on the offset layer and click select layer vectors. And now that will automatically select everything on that layer. And that just makes your project much easier to work with when you're nice and organized with the layers.
And now my offset tip number two is deleting these small parts. So if we select these new vectors here and go to the offset tool, and let's say we wanted to offset outwards at an eighth of an inch, and if we click offset. And if we were to zoom in, you could see sometimes you're going to get these very small little parts in here.
And sometimes those can be difficult to find. And to delete them if you want it to. So I'm going to show you a trick on how you can delete those little parts much easier. So I'm going to go to edit undo to go back to the original state. And now what you want to do in order to select those new little parts is you want to make sure the option for Select New is checked on.
And now when we click Offset that's going to select all the new little parts there. But it's also going to select all of the bigger parts that we want to keep. So this is where the trick comes in. So first thing we're going to do is close down the offset tool, and you have to be very careful what you click right now because you don't want to deselect everything.
But for this example, what we do want is to select all of those little vectors and not select the outer vectors. So to do that with everything selected, we're going to hold the shift key and now we're going to deselect anything that we want to keep. So that's going to be all these outer shapes going around the vectors And if you hold shift and deselect all of those and make sure we get all of them there, we'll get that P there.
Now, the only thing that is selected is all the inside shapes. So you can still deselect some of those that you want to keep. But if you did not want any of those inside shapes. Now they're all selected by themselves. And now just click the delete key on your keyboard. And now they have all been removed. And that's a much easier process than trying to select all of those little shapes by themselves, because sometimes you'll miss a few.
And now we're going to look at my offset tip number three, and that is using the curve fit tool. So we're going to select these vectors here. We're going to use the offset tool, and we're going to go outwards again at one eighth of an inch. And to use this trick, I also make sure the Select New is turned on.
And now we're going to click Offset. And now you can see the vectors have been affected and all of the new vectors are selected. So now we're going to close down the offset tool. And if you were to zoom in on these and if you were to click the letter N on the keyboard, to go to Node editing, you can see whenever the offset tool is used on a curved surface, you're going to get a lot of nodes in place of the smooth curves.
So that's just something that happens when you offset a curved line. If you're offsetting a straight line or an arc, you don't have that issue. But if it's a smooth, curved line, it will make it into straight line segments instead of a curve. So we're going to convert those back to curves. And you could see over here we have a lot of nodes as well.
So we want to keep these vectors as clean as we can. That way they work better with the toolpathing so we can exit our node editing by clicking the letter. And now you can see our vectors are still selected. So now in the edit object section, we're going to go into the curve fit tool. And when you select that, you can see it's going to show you all the nodes on the screen.
And what we're going to do is switch these two busier curves and we're going to keep the sharp corners and we're going to replace the selected vectors. So what this is going to do is convert these into smooth curves and replace the lines. So we're going to click preview. And you can see right away we have nice clean vectors now with minimal nodes So now when you click okay and then click the letter N to go back to the nodes, you can see there's only a couple of smooth points here to create these nice smooth curves.
And now that has cleaned up all the vectors. And that will allow you to make toolbars that will machine a little bit quicker because it does not have so much data to process. Okay. Now my offset tip number four is what I call the big offset trick. So the first thing I'm going to do is show you what a regular offset looks like.
So we're going to select this and we're going to go to the offset tool. And let's say we wanted to go an eighth inch again. So I'm going to click Offset and now we're going to close this. And if we use the trick that we learned before, we're going to hold Shift and deselect all of the outer vectors, and I'm going to remove all the inner vectors by now clicking the delete key.
Okay. So this is what a regular offset looks like. And you can see it's going to follow the contours of all these shapes going inside here. So an especially areas like inside of the letter T and are here, you could see there's a small little channel there and then it opens back up and then comes back out. So if you wanted to create a profile to part on this line, you would have to find a very tiny bit to fit in between there and even areas like between the R and the eye here, you could see there's a very small little gap there.
So you can play around with the offset size to make it go outwards a little bit more. But I'm going to show you a trick where you can keep the offset that you want but also get rid of all of these little shapes much easier. So what we're going to do is hide these vectors that we just made.
And since we use that new layer, we can just turn the visibility off. And now I'm going to add a new layer and call it big offset and click enter. And now that's selected as our active layer. And now what we're going to do this time is select the vectors we're going to go back to the offset tool, except this time we're going to make a really big offset first.
So we're going to go outwards and let's say we went two inches. So we're going to type two. We want to make sure Select New is turned on and then click offset. And now if we zoom out, you could see we have a really big offset going out here. But you can see by making the offset so big.
Now the lines are nice and straight. So you don't have all those little tiny vectors that go in between the letters. And by having the select new feature turned on, that vector is now selected. So now what we can do is offset this vector back inwards and we can delete this vector because we don't need that big offset.
So if we wanted an eighth inch offset from the original vectors, what you can do here is in the distance we're going to take that two inches that we just made and we're going to click the minus key to subtract and we're going to subtract 0.125, which is the final offset distance we want from the original shapes and then click the equals sign.
And now that's going to give the number that we need to offset that back inwards and still be that eighth inch away from the original shapes And the only thing we have to change here is now we're going to go inwards. And we also want to delete the original that's going to delete that big offset line and it's going to offset that back inwards.
So now we're going to click the offset button. And now you can see that has gotten rid of all of those little shapes that went in between all of the letters. And now we just have a basic outline of the entire shapes. And you could play around with those offset distances because the further you offset from the original shapes, the less detail it's going to retain on those shapes.
And then the closer distances you offset, it's going to retain more of that detail. And you could still further edit these afterwards, let's say, if you wanted to get rid of that little dip right there. We can close down the offset tool, click the letter end to go to note editing, and then just right click on that point and click delete.
And now you can see that will get rid of that little dip. So that's just a great technique if you want it to profile a shape out like this. And you didn't want to go between all of those little shapes and my final offset tip number five is using the vector boundary tool instead of the offset tool. So if we select these new vectors here and if we go to a different tool called Boundary Create, this is going to be another tool that you can use to create offset boundaries.
Except this one works a little bit differently. So you can see if we check the offset boundary and create a distance. Let's go with the eighth inch that we're using before. And then if we click create you could see that's going to offset all of these letters like it did before, except this one. You don't have the option to create sharp corners.
And it will also not make the inside shapes. This one only offsets the outer shapes. But you can see these will also overlap all of the shapes. So you're going to have to do some further editing to weld those altogether. Okay. So that's the first option if we go to edit undo. There's also another option called Rubber Band Boundary If you turn that option on and click Create, that's going to create a boundary like we did before with the big offset technique.
Except this one will not go inwards in any of the areas. This one is just like if you took a rubber band and wrapped around the shapes, it's going to go straight across in these areas. Okay, so those are my top five tips for using the offset tools. If those helped you out, make sure you like and subscribe for more.
We can say offset and click enter to accept that and you want to make sure that layer is selected. And when you select out of there, you'll see the offset layer is now active. So now whatever we create will go on the offset layer. So if we were to select the vectors that we have in the middle and then open up the offset tool, and let's say we wanted an eight inch offset in the outwards direction, we're going to type in One-eighth of an inch and we're going to click offset.
Now we're going to click close and now you could see we have new vectors going around the original ones. But now those new vectors are nicely organized on a separate layer. So you can turn the visibility off for those as well as turn the visibility off for the original ones. And now you can separate them much easier. That also allows you to select the vectors easier.
If we were to turn everything back on and deselect and instead of trying to select each one of these little vectors manually by themselves, you can now go up to the layers and you can actually right click on the offset layer and click select layer vectors. And now that will automatically select everything on that layer. And that just makes your project much easier to work with when you're nice and organized with the layers.
And now my offset tip number two is deleting these small parts. So if we select these new vectors here and go to the offset tool, and let's say we wanted to offset outwards at an eighth of an inch, and if we click offset. And if we were to zoom in, you could see sometimes you're going to get these very small little parts in here.
And sometimes those can be difficult to find. And to delete them if you want it to. So I'm going to show you a trick on how you can delete those little parts much easier. So I'm going to go to edit undo to go back to the original state. And now what you want to do in order to select those new little parts is you want to make sure the option for Select New is checked on.
And now when we click Offset that's going to select all the new little parts there. But it's also going to select all of the bigger parts that we want to keep. So this is where the trick comes in. So first thing we're going to do is close down the offset tool, and you have to be very careful what you click right now because you don't want to deselect everything.
But for this example, what we do want is to select all of those little vectors and not select the outer vectors. So to do that with everything selected, we're going to hold the shift key and now we're going to deselect anything that we want to keep. So that's going to be all these outer shapes going around the vectors And if you hold shift and deselect all of those and make sure we get all of them there, we'll get that P there.
Now, the only thing that is selected is all the inside shapes. So you can still deselect some of those that you want to keep. But if you did not want any of those inside shapes. Now they're all selected by themselves. And now just click the delete key on your keyboard. And now they have all been removed. And that's a much easier process than trying to select all of those little shapes by themselves, because sometimes you'll miss a few.
And now we're going to look at my offset tip number three, and that is using the curve fit tool. So we're going to select these vectors here. We're going to use the offset tool, and we're going to go outwards again at one eighth of an inch. And to use this trick, I also make sure the Select New is turned on.
And now we're going to click Offset. And now you can see the vectors have been affected and all of the new vectors are selected. So now we're going to close down the offset tool. And if you were to zoom in on these and if you were to click the letter N on the keyboard, to go to Node editing, you can see whenever the offset tool is used on a curved surface, you're going to get a lot of nodes in place of the smooth curves.
So that's just something that happens when you offset a curved line. If you're offsetting a straight line or an arc, you don't have that issue. But if it's a smooth, curved line, it will make it into straight line segments instead of a curve. So we're going to convert those back to curves. And you could see over here we have a lot of nodes as well.
So we want to keep these vectors as clean as we can. That way they work better with the toolpathing so we can exit our node editing by clicking the letter. And now you can see our vectors are still selected. So now in the edit object section, we're going to go into the curve fit tool. And when you select that, you can see it's going to show you all the nodes on the screen.
And what we're going to do is switch these two busier curves and we're going to keep the sharp corners and we're going to replace the selected vectors. So what this is going to do is convert these into smooth curves and replace the lines. So we're going to click preview. And you can see right away we have nice clean vectors now with minimal nodes So now when you click okay and then click the letter N to go back to the nodes, you can see there's only a couple of smooth points here to create these nice smooth curves.
And now that has cleaned up all the vectors. And that will allow you to make toolbars that will machine a little bit quicker because it does not have so much data to process. Okay. Now my offset tip number four is what I call the big offset trick. So the first thing I'm going to do is show you what a regular offset looks like.
So we're going to select this and we're going to go to the offset tool. And let's say we wanted to go an eighth inch again. So I'm going to click Offset and now we're going to close this. And if we use the trick that we learned before, we're going to hold Shift and deselect all of the outer vectors, and I'm going to remove all the inner vectors by now clicking the delete key.
Okay. So this is what a regular offset looks like. And you can see it's going to follow the contours of all these shapes going inside here. So an especially areas like inside of the letter T and are here, you could see there's a small little channel there and then it opens back up and then comes back out. So if you wanted to create a profile to part on this line, you would have to find a very tiny bit to fit in between there and even areas like between the R and the eye here, you could see there's a very small little gap there.
So you can play around with the offset size to make it go outwards a little bit more. But I'm going to show you a trick where you can keep the offset that you want but also get rid of all of these little shapes much easier. So what we're going to do is hide these vectors that we just made.
And since we use that new layer, we can just turn the visibility off. And now I'm going to add a new layer and call it big offset and click enter. And now that's selected as our active layer. And now what we're going to do this time is select the vectors we're going to go back to the offset tool, except this time we're going to make a really big offset first.
So we're going to go outwards and let's say we went two inches. So we're going to type two. We want to make sure Select New is turned on and then click offset. And now if we zoom out, you could see we have a really big offset going out here. But you can see by making the offset so big.
Now the lines are nice and straight. So you don't have all those little tiny vectors that go in between the letters. And by having the select new feature turned on, that vector is now selected. So now what we can do is offset this vector back inwards and we can delete this vector because we don't need that big offset.
So if we wanted an eighth inch offset from the original vectors, what you can do here is in the distance we're going to take that two inches that we just made and we're going to click the minus key to subtract and we're going to subtract 0.125, which is the final offset distance we want from the original shapes and then click the equals sign.
And now that's going to give the number that we need to offset that back inwards and still be that eighth inch away from the original shapes And the only thing we have to change here is now we're going to go inwards. And we also want to delete the original that's going to delete that big offset line and it's going to offset that back inwards.
So now we're going to click the offset button. And now you can see that has gotten rid of all of those little shapes that went in between all of the letters. And now we just have a basic outline of the entire shapes. And you could play around with those offset distances because the further you offset from the original shapes, the less detail it's going to retain on those shapes.
And then the closer distances you offset, it's going to retain more of that detail. And you could still further edit these afterwards, let's say, if you wanted to get rid of that little dip right there. We can close down the offset tool, click the letter end to go to note editing, and then just right click on that point and click delete.
And now you can see that will get rid of that little dip. So that's just a great technique if you want it to profile a shape out like this. And you didn't want to go between all of those little shapes and my final offset tip number five is using the vector boundary tool instead of the offset tool. So if we select these new vectors here and if we go to a different tool called Boundary Create, this is going to be another tool that you can use to create offset boundaries.
Except this one works a little bit differently. So you can see if we check the offset boundary and create a distance. Let's go with the eighth inch that we're using before. And then if we click create you could see that's going to offset all of these letters like it did before, except this one. You don't have the option to create sharp corners.
And it will also not make the inside shapes. This one only offsets the outer shapes. But you can see these will also overlap all of the shapes. So you're going to have to do some further editing to weld those altogether. Okay. So that's the first option if we go to edit undo. There's also another option called Rubber Band Boundary If you turn that option on and click Create, that's going to create a boundary like we did before with the big offset technique.
Except this one will not go inwards in any of the areas. This one is just like if you took a rubber band and wrapped around the shapes, it's going to go straight across in these areas. Okay, so those are my top five tips for using the offset tools. If those helped you out, make sure you like and subscribe for more.
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