Text Program

What I got is a title block from an old plan done in the 1930's to which I am fixing and re-drawing the whole plan now. The characters in the title block were freehand drawn, possibly using some magazine text as example.

I would like to find a LISP routine that can change the hand drawn text into some SHP/SHX type that I can then use and reset the type such that it can be drawn using a pen plotter. I had heard of some conversion tools, but many lead me to some Truetype font, then to a conversion, and then to...

I would think this has been done before, but I just never heard about it. Where can I find the illusive LISP file, give the thing a try, and see it it works for me or not. I also need a couple of instructions as to how to prepare the scanned file I got right now.

Wm.

Could you "trace" over the freehand letter (scanned file) with a polyline and just "fake" it?

If I had it here I could just digitize the image into AutoCAD. And all you dedicated mouse users laugh at us die-hard digitizer users. Who's laughing now!

I also have a couple of Tablets here. But the text for certain places is pretty small, and any twitch means a new (wrong) point then. Right now, I would rather go with a "Found" system. In some sort of SHP or SHX format.

Wm.

That's why God invent photocopiers with enlarge/reduce capabilities. Jeez, it doesn't have to be perfect does it? When it is printed how big is this text going to be anyway? Think of the actual size of the end product. Are you giving this to someone with 20/10 vision or is the drawing going to be examined under a microscope? Sometimes we construct our own roadblocks.

Not to sound flippant, but your money may be better spent hiring a high school or college student to redraw the drawing.

better yet, a high schooler from the 1930's, who can translate all those 'thee's and 'thou's out of the title block ..

If you want a special font then forget tracing just jump straight to TTF true type fonts just google there are thousands of fonts out there and most you can download you just go to a site and they have examples of the font text pick the one you want.

I got a whole lot free in a magazine stuff like barbed wire, crayon (childs hand drawn) candles the freehand architectural search for arch.

magazine search for bookman.

"The characters in the title block were freehand drawn, possibly using some magazine text as example."

Trying to match the freehand drawn characters to a Truetype font would be an arduous task given there are probably hundreds (maybe more) out there. You've got the scan...now trace it. You've probably wasted more time here than it would have taken to just use what you have and make the best of it.

If the scanned image is good, why not clip it down to the title block area with MS Paint or other graphics editor, and attach the image?

BigAl

You mentioned the original situation. I once planned on doing the TTf2DXF conversion, but never could find the exact TT font. I was given a few suggestions a while ago. but then someone mentioned, why bother. Go direct to creating a font by using some software that I do not know the name of.

Which gets me back to earlier postings.

Wm.

I agree wit Bigal.

I had a problem with a title block that was made by a company that we were doing a job for a long time ago.

Years later I was try to match the font so we found GOUDY OLD STYLE BOLD ITALIC BT (true type) and brought it in to my font folder.

Then I had to go into settings contol panal fonts on my computer and click file istall new font.