Difference between revisions of "FAQ"

Revision as of 17:41, 15 June 2015

The basics

How do I get started with Protocase Designer?

For a description of Protocase Designer, who uses it, how it works, and how you can get started, see Learn More
For a guide to installing Designer and a walk-through of its main features, see Quick Start.

Display questions

How do I zoom in the 3D View?

If your pointing device has a wheel, rotate it to zoom. If your pointing device does not have a wheel, open the Face Editor and use the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons on the toolbar or the Zoom commands in the View menu. See Zooming.

Why is nothing displayed when I launch Designer?

Upon launching Designer, if nothing is displayed in the window and there are random drawing errors when you move the window, upgrade your graphics card drivers (from the vendor's website).

Origin and measurement questions

Does the origin of an enclosure refer to its outside, inside, or somewhere in between?

For all our current enclosure designs, the origin is on the bottom front left outside corner of the enclosure base.

How do I change the origin of a cutout?

When you create a cutout, by default its origin is the lower left corner, and this cannot be changed if you create the cutout directly in the Face Editor. However, you can specify a different origin if you create the cutout in the Cutout Library. Note: Specifying the center as the origin makes it easier to place; you will not need a grid because you can center objects on the origin.

How do I reference the inner wall of a face?

Measure from the origin the amount you wish, plus the thickness of the face material. For example, to have a component stick 1" up on the inside of an enclosure, you would place it 1", plus the thickness of the material, from the origin. When you click on a face of any of our current enclosure designs, it shows you the outside of the enclosure.

On what side do I place self-clinching fasteners (PEMs)?

Place them on the side of the panel or enclosure that you want them to stick up out of. For example, when placing PEMs that are to be on the inside of an enclosure, first select the Inside button in the Face Editor toolbar, then place the PEM. If you accidentally place it on the outside, you can edit the face, select the PEM, then clear the On This Side checkbox in the Extended Properties panel.
Notes:

• The Face Editor toolbar is context-sensitive. If you are placing items on a panel, the buttons are labeled Front and Back. The buttons are labeled Inside and Outside for all enclosures except for the front panel of a rackmount enclosure.
• If the PEM is a nut, usually nuts stick out a bit from the back of where you want to screw them in, so if you are screwing them in from the outside or front of the enclosure, you would place them on the inside or back. This is not required, but allows a flush connection. For details, see Selecting height of self-clinching fasteners based on material thickness in our Tutorials.

If a PEM is specified as 0.5” long, is this referenced to the outside or inside of the enclosure in which the PEM is placed?

All PEMs except concealed head fasteners and nuts are fully inserted into the hole, so if it is placed on the inside or back of the case, its size is referenced to the outside or front of the case. For example, if a PEM is .5" long, it will stick out .5" minus the thickness of the material.

If the position of standoff holes (cutouts) must be exactly at the level of the Y axis, do I need to factor the enclosure thickness into the Y axis of the cutouts?

Yes. If you are using a standard connector, use the cutout dimensions given in the original drawing or product specifications you are referencing, but also take the thickness of the metal into account when considering the standoff distance between board and enclosure. For example, a 0.375" standoff mounted in a 14-gauge (0.075") enclosure wall will provide only 0.300" clearance to the surface of the board, and less if the metal is thicker.
Note: If it is a unique cutout and the enclosure will have powder coating, we also recommend adding 0.010" on every side to accommodate the powder coat. For example, a 1"x2" connector should have cutout dimensions of 1.020"x2.020".
See Also: Designing Enclosures for Motherboard-Based Systems.

When placing rectangles, are the corners a sharp 90 degrees? This will help me understand how connectors will fit into the rectangular cutouts.

The inner radius is determined by the radius of the laser beam of the cutter. The diameter is set to 0.008"-0.009" depending on the material, so the inner radius would be 0.004"-0.0045".

Design questions

I need to have bare metal-to-metal contact along the mating seams where two U-sections bolt together. How can I specify that the mating area (which is not visible when the two halves are bolted together) is to be paint-free?

If you want a bare metal-to-metal contact, first create a Masking rectangle on the area where you want the bare metal. Then with the rectangle highlighted, add a Note that you also want bare metal on the adjoining flange.

If I make a custom cutout in the Face Editor, can I save it?

Yes. See Saving a custom cutout from the Face Editor.

Is there an easy way to switch the faces for cutouts? I want to move the cutouts from the front to the back face and vice versa.

1. On each of the faces that you want to switch, group the items, add the group as a single cutout to your cutout library, then delete the items.
2. Add each grouped cutout from the Cutout Library to the desired face, then use the Measure tool to adjust the placement. Once the placement is correct, you can ungroup the items so they are easier to work with.

For detailed instructions, see:

• Adding cutouts
• Measuring distances

I'm now using digital printing instead of silkscreening. How do I make digital my default method?

1. In the 3D View window, choose Preferences from the Edit eferences menu.
2. In Graphics Type, click the down-arrow and select DIRECT_PRINTING from the list.
3. Click OK to save your changes.

Note that you cannot apply both silkscreening and digital printing to the same face. To change existing silkscreening to digital printing for a face, edit any silkscreened item on the face, then choose Convert to Direct Digital Printing from the Silkscreen menu. For details, please see Adding silkscreening or direct digital printing

Help questions

How do I view and edit this wiki?

For help in viewing and editing the Protocase Designer Documentation wiki, see Wiki Editing Help.

Where else do I look for the answer to my question?

For questions about Designer that you can't find the answers to in on this site, please email [Designer]. For all other questions, please email [Protocase].