On Screen Menus

[Joe Jones]

I created a file that you can IMPORT into any drawing. OR you can simply create a DEFAULT file for all PlasmaCam drawings, and open this file, and then draw on the table as usual. The file is OUTSIDE of the table cutting area, so it should not affect anything.

OPEN or IMPORT this file, and press F5 to view it. Press F7 to go back to the table view.

Let me know if this is helpful.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

I thought I attached the file to this post, but I don't know where the shared files are on Plasma Spider. Ahhh ... File Too Large.

Dang. How do I share a 30 MB .pcm file?

Joe

[djreiswig]

Zip it, maybe?

[Joe Jones]

It says there is a 1MB file size limit. this file is 30 MB.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

Hmmm ... I put it up on Google Drive. Try this link... Let me know if it works.

Joe

[AREA]

Downloaded the pcm from your Google Drive and it came in at just over 5mB, I zipped it and it was still over 3mB. Can't do anythign with a pcm since I don't have a Pcam machine but though.

[Joe Jones]

Okay, thanks. I could put up a DXF version, but sine the menus are ONLY for DesignEdge software, I didn't think it would be beneficial.

Joe

[AREA]

Okay, thanks. I could put up a DXF version, but sine the menus are ONLY for DesignEdge software, I didn't think it would be beneficial.

Joe

Oh ya Joe, I just downloaded it to give you the feedback, I don't need the file

[Joe Jones]

It is basically a help file for newbies, and people like ME, with no memory! Rather than search through the various drop down menus, a simple [F5] command displays all of the commands on the screen. [F4] returns to the previous view. I do have most of the commands memorized, because I force myself to use the software every day. but if I walk away from it for a couple of weeks, I find I have forgotten things, and that is beyond frustrating.

The MENU file is just a way to quickly reference ALL of the keyboard shortcuts at once. Most people will not need it, because they have already memorized the keyboard shortcuts.

Joe

[AREA]

Its a fantastic idea. I had a custom mouse pad printed with similar info related to my system, I can;t remember it all either. Nice work, I am sure it will help many.

[adbuch]

Its a fantastic idea. I had a custom mouse pad printed with similar info related to my system, I can;t remember it all either. Nice work, I am sure it will help many.

https://www.490creations.com/products/d ... -mouse-pad

[Joe Jones]

I thought about going the printed route back around the same time Robert was putting those mousepads out, but PlasmaCam HAS changed some of their commands, and the location of other commands over the past 18 versions of DesigEdge.

The on-screen file can be changed to suit the needs of the user, by changing the position, as well as scaling the various windows to one's desire. Also, as commands ARE memorized, they can be DELETED from the display, so that only those which are not yet committed to memory remain on the screen.

I even looked into buying a bunch of generic black keyboards and having a company laser etch the various keys and the keyboard body with custom labels that would help DesignEdge users, but I concluded that it would be difficult to keep it clean enough to be useful for more than a month or two, and they weren't cheap unless I bought 10,000 of them!

I even found a company in China that would make me custom backlit keyboards with custom markings on the keys and the body, but I concluded that very few PlasmaCam owners would be willing to pay $700.00+ for a custom backlit DesignEdge keyboard.

I did find a left-hand keyboard! It is similar to the ones you use, except that the numeric keyboard is on the LEFT side, and all of the other keys ... Home, End, Delete, Page Up, Page Down, etc, etc. and the cursor arrow keys are also on the LEFT! I got one, and it worked great for a while, but it was so cheaply made that it failed within a year or so.

Now I have found this one. It is more expensive, but it LOOKS like it would hold up. At $131.00, it is roughly 25 TIMES the cost of a standard keyboard. I may order ONE, just to have it.

https://www.alimed.com/left-handed-keyb ... gKs2vD_BwE

Alas, I am a "southpaw" living in a right-hand world.

Joe

[djreiswig]

Could get a separate number pad. If you turn off NumLock you have arrows and home, end, pgup, pgdn, ins, del.

[Joe Jones]

True. But then the keyboard / mousepad / external number keypad makes for an even w-i-d-e-r layout.

Actually, I have become accustomed to using the standard keyboard. Since many functions of DesignEdge require BOTH the manipulation of the mouse AND the selection of the keys on the right side of the keyboard, I have learned to use my right hand to hit the HOME, INS, END keys and others just fine. I suppose it is a problem for you right-handed folks, who have BOTH your mouse and those keys on the RIGHT side. Maybe I am better off leaving things as they are. When I think about it, the keyboard in the photo above would probably work out BETTER for RIGHT-handed people using DesignEdge!

Joe

[djreiswig]

Get a keyboard without the number pad. I believe they're out there.

[Joe Jones]

I have those keyboards. I have become accustomed to using the standard right-hand oriented keyboard now. In fact, the way DesignEdge works, by the user needing to BOTH move the mouse and use the keys on the right side of the keyboard, it actually works better than this left hand keyboard would for DesignEdge.

When doing taxes, or working with spreadsheets, the left-handed keyboard would be great for me, because I would not need to reach across to the right side to enter numbers.

I have to wonder if the left-hand keyboard seen in the photo above would not work BETTER for right handed DesignEdge users, because their mouse would be in the right hand while the directional keys would be on the left side.

Anyway, the fun continues ....

Joe

[AREA]

Its a fantastic idea. I had a custom mouse pad printed with similar info related to my system, I can;t remember it all either. Nice work, I am sure it will help many.

https://www.490creations.com/products/d ... -mouse-pad
Learn-PC-MousePad.jpg

Yep, just like that