• Adobe Illustrator

  Create a manometer scale in Ai

  Posted by Emmett Brown on June 16, 2016 at 9:56 am

  Hi,
  I’m trying to create manometer with scale, like on this pic
  https://thumb1.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/730630/291970634/stock-vector-manometer-for-car-compressor-vector-illustration-isolated-on-white-background-291970634.jpg

  So I will have scale with bigger and smaller strokes. Reasonable way is to use dashed line, but I failed in this. Setting bigger scales is rather easy (still, my settings are dash 3pt, gap 31,55px) but I can’t set smaller ones properly. Everything is shifting and I can’t achieve one bigger stroke, four smaller and one bigger with even spacing.
  Any tips/plugins how to do this properly? Or how to calculate this? I tried to search solution, but it is impossibly to find it on “scale”….

  Thanks for any help,
  Cheers

  Kalleheikki Kannisto replied 9 years, 11 months ago 2 Members · 1 Reply
• 1 Reply

• 

  Kalleheikki Kannisto

  June 16, 2016 at 2:58 pm

  I would do this with some math and duplicating rotation. The rotation center is in the center point of the circle. You can drag two guides there.

  For instance, the outer scale has 12 thicker lines along 3/4 or a circle. A circle is 360 degrees, and 3/4 of that is 270. So you need a rotation of 270/12 degrees = 22.5 degrees.

  There are ten times as many thinner lines, so they would be rotated 2.25 degrees from each other.

  So, you draw one thick line, have it selected and Alt-click at the center of the circle to set the rotation point and call up the rotate dialog. (BTW, it is easiest to start at the 12 noon position — as the first line needs to be pointed directly to the center — and rotate the whole thing into position in the end.) Then type in the rotation value (22.5) and press “copy” now you have two lines. Then you press ctrl+D 10 times and you will have a neat 3/4 circle of thick lines like in the manometer.

  And the same with a thinner line and 2.25 degree rotation.

  For the inner red scale you have 17 thick lines along slightly less than 3/4 or a circle. Considering four thin black lines are 4*2.25 = 9 degrees, it would be 261 degrees. 261/17 = 15.35 degrees. And for the thinner red lines 15.35/5 = 3.07 degrees each.

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