Handy DIYLC tips

[EL34]

Creating wires and bent component leads

Click on hookup wires in the left menu
Click on your workspace to paste the wire
Grab the two end dots and place them where each one goes
Grab the two middle green dots to shape curves into the wire

To make curved component wires:
Shrink the original leads up close to the component body
Add a wire and shape it as I described up above


If you want the wires to stick to the attachment points
Go to the config menu
Click on sticky points
The wires will stay stuck to the components if you move the component

[EL34]

I noticed there were no Switchcraft jacks in the schematics folder, so I created them

Here's how:
I drew the jacks using rectangles, lines and circles and I added some text
Select the whole shape
Right click and group them all together as one unit
Right click and save as Building block
The new parts then show up under the left menu Building block folder

Now you can click on those parts and paste them into your file


I added the 11 and 12A jacks file to the library Template folder here
https://el34world.com/charts/DiyLayoutCreatorFiles.htm

[EL34]

I created a file with a bunch of electrolytic caps and the proper size dimensions
These were all the electrolytic caps that I currently stock

I uploaded that file to the .diy library template folder here
https://el34world.com/charts/DiyLayoutCreatorFiles.htm

Here's a cool tip on how to save all these caps as a variant of the original Electrolytic axial capacitor in the left menu
Then all you have to do is call up that variant to use it again

Right click on one of the caps
Chose save as variant
Name the variant

Now that cap is available in the left menu as a variant in the left menu


You can also apply a variant to a cap you have already pasted
Say you pasted a 25uf/25v cap but want to change it to a 22uf/50v cap
Right click on the cap
Apply Variant
Choose a variant from the list

[EL34]

I was able to print a 100% to scale image in a printing test
make sure the DIYLC project settings work area is set to your paper size
Edit menu - project settings
I set mine to 11 inches wide and 8.5 inches tall and then print in landscape mode
I used the windows print dialog to set up my printer this way

File menu in DIYLC - Print
The windows print dialog box pops up
Chose properties
The properties dialog box pops up
Page setup tab
Landscape
Scaled printing
Print at 100%

The test board in my screen shot is 3 inches high x 8 inches long
It printed correctly, I checked it with a ruler

If your drawing is longer or taller than a regular 8.5 x 11 inches sheet of paper, you can't print it to scale on that sized paper

[EL34]

Some printers do not give you full control of printing
Another way to be able to print at 100% scale is to Export to pdf in the File menu
Once you have saved your file as a pdf, you can open it in Adobe and print it at 100% scale
Notice in my screen shot the More Options drop down menu
Checking Current View moved my drawing to the center of the page
Images print better in the center of the page because margins will cut off the edges sometimes

[EL34]

If you are having problems printing at 100% scale, make sure your DIYLC workspace is not larger than your paper size
The work space is the white area where you see the grid lines
If you are using 8.5 x 11 inch paper, you can't print a workspace at 100% that is 18 inches wide x 12 inches tall

Reduce your workspace width and height so that the whole drawing will fit on the paper size you are using

Edit-Project Settings-Set the width and height in inches or mm

[EL34]

There is a new feature in DIYLC.
I hired Bancika, the author of DIYLC to create a new custom line called a cut line.
The line is used to indicate where you want a custom board cut.
My on line analyzer program recognizes the line and will give you prices for your custom board with the boards cuts.


So for example, you had a board that was about 5 inches wide and you also wanted a small separate filter cap board.
But the two boards by themselves are too short.
I have a minimum length of 6 inches and a max of 18 inches that I will make custom boards.


If you put the two boards end to end in DIYLC and use a cut line, I will make your custom boards and cut them apart at the line.
Or you could have multiple lines and have several boards end to end.
Bancika just uploaded a new version of DIYLC with the new cut line.
The new version is 3.41.0.
You can download it at the link below.
https://github.com/bancika/diy-layout-creator/releases/tag/v3.41.0


Here's some screen shots of the new cut line in the connectivity menu and my on line analyzer program after it has analyzed the DIYLC file

[EL34]

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ
For those wanting to label their resistors using the ohm-omega symbol Ω in Windows but can't find the character map program.
Click the Start button.
Type charmap in the box.
charmap.exe should show in the search list.
Click on the .exe file to open the character map.
You can right click on the .exe file and create a shortcut to get to it faster next time.
To find the omega character, type omega in the search for: box and click search.
On my windows 7 pro machine it was the 2nd one in the row from the left.
Click on the omega symbol and click the select button.
Then click the copy button.
Now it is on the windows clipboard and you can paste it wherever you like.
In my screen shot below, I made the resistor name 1Ω so it displays on the resistor

[EL34]

I have a bunch of components in the library that you can download
No need to create all those from scratch
Go to the Templates files section in the library here
https://el34world.com/charts/DiyLayoutCreatorFiles.htm

Download the .xml files you want
In DIYLC
File -Integration - Import variants
Import the xml files into DIYLC

[EL34]

This is just a heads up for anyone that has an issue where DIYLC bogs down and becomes really slow.

I had accidentally checked Hardware Acceleration in the Config menu.
DIYLC came to a crawl.
I unchecked Hardware Acceleration and DIYLC came back to life again.

This also happens to me when Hardware Acceleration is checked.
Sliding DIYLC over to my second monitor results in a black screen.
Un-checking hardware acceleration results in DIYLC displaying on my 2nd screen.