Support Forum

I don't know why this is happening. It shouldn't because we didn't make any changes related to corner radii. Also, 1.5mm anodized is still available.

Can you please send us both fpd files to info@frontpanelexpress.com, the old and the new file? I would like to have a look and find out what went wrong. Do you run Front Panel Designer on Windows? If not please let me know what exe file you downloaded. This should narrow it down for me.

I am sorry for the inconvenience and will get back to you as soon as I can have a look at the files.

Thank you,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jul 30, 2012 04:46PM

I was able to duplicate this problem. What happens to me is I can select the value that is in the box, and then type in a new value such as .25, but when I leave this box and select something else it reverts back to whatever value was in there originally. there are two different work-arounds for this problem. First one is to type 0.25 instead of just .25. The other is to place the cursor at the far right decimal place and back space over what is there and enter a new value. Both fixes seem to work fine.

this problem seems to be consistently present in pretty much all the places you can change a value (i.e.; X and Y position, ect.)

I am running the Linux version of Front Panel Designer, so I don't know if this is the same in either the Windows or Mac versions.

Posted By: Michael St. Pierre on Jul 31, 2012 12:38AM

Thank you for your detailed error report. I was able to duplicate the problem with the Windows version.

The reason is the missing zero when you type .25. The code of Front Panel Designer comes from Europe and it is not common over there to skip the zero, it is always 0.25. I already reported this to our IT department and it should be fixed with the next version.

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Aug 02, 2012 09:46PM

I'm glad that this will get addressed. I remember it really gave me problems when I was first using the program. But now I've gotten pretty used to it (I'll just have unlearn what I do automatically now). It will of course be good to have this work correctly for any new users of the program, and it will speed things up for me as well.

Thanks for listening.

Edit: BTW, the bug is more then just leaving out the zero preceding the decimal point. Here's something to try...

Posted By: Michael St. Pierre on Aug 09, 2012 07:32AM

Hmm, I was not able to duplicate the "mouse-highlight issue" on Windows. I will add it to my bug report and let our IT people try it on Linux.

Thank you again for pointing this out.

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Aug 11, 2012 01:14AM

Hi Simon,

We can certainly help you with the design. Please email the .dwg to info@frontpanelexpress.com to my attention.

Thank you,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jul 17, 2012 03:05AM

Hi Diane - thank you. e-mail sent!

Kind regards

Simon

Posted By: Simon Hedditch on Jul 18, 2012 09:03PM

Hi Diane - thank you. e-mail sent!

Kind regards

Simon

Posted By: Simon Hedditch on Jul 18, 2012 09:14PM

Hi Diane - any news?

Thanks

S

Posted By: Simon Hedditch on Jul 23, 2012 04:47PM

Hi Adam,

It certainly is possible to engrave powder-coated panels. The design process in Front Panel Designer is the same.

Here is an example of a powder-coated panel with several different infill colors.

Best regards,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jun 25, 2012 09:10PM

Hi Adam,

It certainly is possible to engrave powder-coated panels. The design process in Front Panel Designer is the same.

Here is an example of a powder-coated panel with several different infill colors.

Best regards,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jun 25, 2012 09:24PM

Hi Diane,

Thanks for your reply. That panel looks very nice!

EDIT: Sorry, it looks like my questions were already answered here: www.frontpanelexpress.com/support/forum/index.html

I have started the design of a panel which I will probably order with powder-coat. I am curious about this remark in the help file: "Please also note that the resulting powder coating is not of uniform thickness, but systematically increases right at the edges and corners." I am wondering how thick the coating actually is, and whether I have to be concerned about it filling in small engravings and/or holes. For instance, I need holes with a diameter of 0.102" for LED light pipes. Should I increase the diameter of these holes to allow for the thickness of the coating? What about engraving small text?

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,

--Adam

Posted By: Adam Schabtach on Jul 16, 2012 09:09PM

Hi Adam,

The powder-coated layer is about 0.07mm (0.0028") thick.

You can have holes with tight tolerances machined after the powder-coating process, also the engravings. Just design your front panel to your specifications and leave us a note in the "remarks for production" box. You can have some cutouts machined prior to powder-coating and others after powder-coating. We charge $15.50 for the second machine setup. Future versions of FPD will allow you to make such selections in the software yourself.

Since this process still needs improvement on our side, we call all customers with orders that include powder-coated parts in the meantime. Our customer service representatives will be happy to go with you over your design and help you to make your project a success.

Best regards,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jul 17, 2012 03:33AM

Hi Bob,

Are you looking for text engravings or do you want to have cutouts machined?

Front Panel Designer offers an import of hpgl files (extension plt) for engraving and an import of dxf files for cutouts.

We have some "how to" tutorials on youtube:

Let me know what you are looking for or send me the file you have trouble with to info@frontpanelexpress.com

Best regards,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on Jun 15, 2012 02:26AM

Hello,

That works but a dxf import (insert free contour) is cleaner and less expensive.

Check out our tutorial for more details

I exported your design as a dxf file, imported it into a CAD program, cleaned up the contour, and imported it back into Front Panel Designer.

Here is your revised AMS Plate.

Best regards,

Diane

Posted By: Diane Haensel on May 30, 2012 05:25AM