what is this?

[Erik Heyninck]

try this, very simple:
for an ornament I need two 90°arcs centered.

draw a circle
fill in the exact number of pixels you want it to be, I chose 150. press return. result: 150
select it, and see the size change to 150,6!!!
take back the ellips tool and it's once again 150.
quite mysterious.
then draw a second circle of 175 (selected 175,7)
choose snap to objects and center both circles.
select them both and change to editable shapes.
the horizontal and vertical "black boxes" have moved to some other places???
then with the shape editor click a "black box" on one circle, break and delete until you have a 90°arc. do the same with the other circle. THE TWO ARCHES DO NOT FOLLOW THE SAME DIAGONALS!!! (see jpg)

I know that pixels are virtual rectangles with no dimensions.
I also know that there will probably once again be ways around the problem. (draw square, snap to objects, move with corner to centre and subract)but it should work like this too methinks AND keep my exact values.

Another detail: does anyone know how to change that irritating black fill when you start?
I tried options, both in utilities and fill, even current attributes and give new options new attributes. But when I restart, I get black. And, sorry Rolling Stones, but I do not want to paint it black.

[Erik Heyninck]

try this, very simple:
for an ornament I need two 90°arcs centered.

draw a circle
fill in the exact number of pixels you want it to be, I chose 150. press return. result: 150
select it, and see the size change to 150,6!!!
take back the ellips tool and it's once again 150.
quite mysterious.
then draw a second circle of 175 (selected 175,7)
choose snap to objects and center both circles.
select them both and change to editable shapes.
the horizontal and vertical "black boxes" have moved to some other places???
then with the shape editor click a "black box" on one circle, break and delete until you have a 90°arc. do the same with the other circle. THE TWO ARCHES DO NOT FOLLOW THE SAME DIAGONALS!!! (see jpg)

I know that pixels are virtual rectangles with no dimensions.
I also know that there will probably once again be ways around the problem. (draw square, snap to objects, move with corner to centre and subract)but it should work like this too methinks AND keep my exact values.

Another detail: does anyone know how to change that irritating black fill when you start?
I tried options, both in utilities and fill, even current attributes and give new options new attributes. But when I restart, I get black. And, sorry Rolling Stones, but I do not want to paint it black.

[Jackie]

It happens if you set the ellipse size with the ellipse tool - done that way, 150 refers to the fill diameter (i.e. it measures from the inside edge of the line). When you select the ellipse, it adds in the line width. With the ellipse selected, you can watch the size change as you change the line width. If you select the ellipse before setting the size, it will give you the size from the outside edge of the line - then if you switch to the ellipse tool, the size will appear to shrink.

So both methods are accurate - it just depends on what you want to measure.

I couldn't reproduce your other observation, though.

Jacki

[Erik Heyninck]

I should have known this or at least tried this out. Shame on me, and Hail to thee.

There will also be an explanation for the other issue, but I can't find it. Still, I tried it again sveral times and I always get the handles not any longer on horizontal and vertical lines, and different on the two circles as shown in the jpg.