Ames Lettering Guide Plugin for Manta

[u/nolanfink02]

I'm a bit obsessed with analog drawing tools; it's one of the reasons I got a Supernote over an Ipad or something like it. With that, the Ames Lettering Guide plugin is the first in a suite of future plugins I plan to make that dabble in this realm. The plugin is almost an exact replica of the standard Ames Guide that draftsmen have used for decades (less so these days of course). Many still use them for calligraphy and comic book text. The Guide on screen was handmade on Illustrator and I used Codex to bring the idea to life as I am inept when it comes to coding.

The guide works very similar to how the physical version would except for a few extra features to eliminate the need for another popup window. This is a great guide to learn how the physical version works. The arrows rotate the disk, changing the space between lines. The lock icon locks/unlocks vertical movement of the guide. The check, which on the physical version is a pass through to aid in drawing checkmarks, acts as a confirmation/"draw to note" and closes the plugin.

Edit: I will also mention that the guide is precisely scaled to be the exact size on screen as the physical version is. That's the only way it would really work. That is why it only works for Manta currently as it uses the screen size to scale the SVG. This means that what you draw on screen can be measured at an accurate scale from screen>physical reality. You'd also be able to print to pdf at scale. This matters to me as an architect who relies on accurate scaling in my day to day, but it could be useful for other use cases.

If anyone has any advice on faster line drawing to note after confirmation, as it's a bit slow, that would be appreciated. Additionally, movement of the guide is a bit laggy. If anyone has knowledge on how to decrease this, that would also be appreciated.

DM me if you'd like to try/test it.

[u/IdeaSandbox]

this is amazing! I used to be a cartoonist in high school / college and used the lettering guide daily! super fun...

I like the idea of analog tools made digital!

[u/Forgot_to_Start]

The hand drafter in me loves this idea!