Logos (adding vector logos to the title block)

In the BikeCAD title block, you've always been able to display your own logo in the form of a BMP, JPG, PNG or GIF file. But what's inelegant about this is all these files are raster type images, which are simply stored as a grid of pixels. If we zoom in on this image we will see that with sufficient magnification the edges of the logo will appear pixelated. This image is only 800 pixels wide, so if we used a higher resolution image like maybe one that's 2000 pixels wide, we could print this drawing and the logo would appear perfectly clean and smooth.

However, since BikeCAD is a CAD program that values precision it might be preferable to display logos as vector images where shapes are stored as lines, arcs and curves instead of as a grid of pixels. These vector images are infinitely scalable. In BikeCAD version 18, we now have the option to display title block logos as vector images. In the customize dialog box we can select our logo from the built-in collection of fonts that we also use for displaying logos on the frame. In this example, I'll type a lowercase "a" into the Vector logo field and select CyclingBrands10 to get the Acoustic Cycles logo. The question mark icon will take you to a web page cataloging all the available logos. Contact me by email if you'd like yours added too.

Besides these built in logos, you'll also find every font installed on your operating system. You can select one of those and display your brand name in whatever font you choose.

Ultimately, the vector logo is displayed by checking the Vector logo box in the title block tab of the Notes and Title block dialog box. You can display both a raster image and a vector image at once but in this example, we'll uncheck the Logo checkbox to remove the redundant raster type image. You can also edit the amount of space occupied by the vector logo by entering a width and height in the adjacent text fields. The percentage text field indicates how much of that available space will be occupied by the logo.

The color of the vector logo can be changed in the paint dialog box. It will be listed as the Title block logo.