Overview of changes to the pattern making software Valentina 0.7

Overview of changes to the pattern making software Valentina 0.7

For anyone interested in knowing what changes have taken place since the release of the latest stable version, we’ve prepared this article. It summarizes all the significant changes that have taken place in the test branch of Valentine 0.7. The article is incomplete and will be updated as new versions are released.

As a reminder, the project has recently changed the version schema. From now on all odd numbers correspond to test versions. Therefore, the next stable version will be number 0.8.

We want to specially thank all who give their suggestions.

The list of major changes includes:

Bug fixes. If you have encountered a critical error in the stable version, we suggest you upgrade to the test branch. A patch release for the stable branch is being delayed.

When you hover your mouse over a detail node, its name will be shown. This adds convenience when the label has been hidden and allows you to not make it visible again to find out the label of the point.

You can now disable or enable a notch directly from the context menu of a detail node. This allows you to avoid wasting time calling up the settings dialog.

Improved contour checking. Added check for repeating a curve more than once in a row.

Interface improvements. The list of available placeholders can now be scrolled through. Previously, the list was very large and took up several columns.

Added new option to create a layout according to grainline orientation.

Added option to control the sheet orientation when exporting a layout via a command line call with the --landscapeOrientation key.

In addition to the normal filter, the Tape application has added the ability to search for measurements using regular expressions. To do this, simply add /r/ in front and write the regular expression.

Prefix language information is now added to the pattern file itself. The prefix language is responsible for automatic generation of point labels. Saving this setting in the pattern file makes the file more portable and not dependent on program settings.

A special type of increments was added. With separator it is possible to organize the groups of increments more conveniently.

Optimized the Add to layout function. This function allows you to control the list of details to be transferred for nesting. When the number of details was large, it slows down the process.

Added a second type of V like notch. This version places the V so that its top part lies on the seam allowance. This is the opposite of how the first version works.

Improved list of predefined paper formats for export layout. Tabloid format added.

Czech alphabet added to the list of label languages.

Improved layout generation. Introduced timed generation, optimized handling of rotation option.

Added option to control notch length. The option allows to control the length of an individual notch and change it independently from the seam allowance settings.

Added new marker type - circle.

Added two new notch types: U and Box.

If you change the scale, the distance to the label remains the same.

New feature that allows you to change the font size of the notches.

The Tool Options and Groups menu items have been moved to the Window menu.

The minimum curve approximation factor is now 0.2. Recall that the approximation factor allows you to set the number of points used in the curve calculation. The higher the value, the more points and therefore the smoother the curve.

The text labels of the detail now have a transparent background.

Added new command line key --nestQuantity. Indicates to follow the detail setup and add the appropriate number of identical details when creating a layout.

Added pattern recipe generation option. That is what we use to generate our pattern instructions which you will find in the corresponding section on our website.

Improved groups. Added Hide All / Show All options. The functions become useful if the list of groups gets large.

New option for pattern - Hide main piece path. It is not always necessary to work with a seam line. Sometimes the seam allowance is enough. This function allows you to hide a path that you don’t need.

New option for pattern - Priority. Allows you to tell the nesting algorithm in which order the patterns should be selected for nesting.

Removed scissors at the bottom of the last line when exporting tiles in PDF format.

All contour intersections are now counted as loops. Before this change, a tangential intersection was not counted as a loop.

Notch angle and type can now be controlled from the context menu.

Improved display of list of recent files. Duplicate names will now be shown along with the unique part of the file path.

Added new command line key --cropWidth. Crop unused sheet width before exporting when running from command line.

New function Pattern Message. A special log showing a warning message about problems in the calculation.

Added special variable “CurrentLength” for “Arc Segment”, “Curve Segment” and “Spline Path Segment” tools. With this variable you can quickly enter the value of the selected curve and avoid wasting time looking up its name in the curve list.

A ruler markup has been added to control scale accuracy when tile printing in PDF.

Added add watermark when exporting tiles to PDF.

Optimized tool dialogs. Pressing “Ok” after “Apply” will not re-calculate if no changes have been made in between.

The behaviour for the Drawings > Show Main Path menu item has been changed. It now also affects the export.

Added the option to invoke Detail Settings and Delete Detail from the context menu of the details list.

Changed the default value for the length of the grainline and the size of the pattern label. It is now 10 cm.

The segment tool now accepts negative length.

Added support for exporting to DXF-ASTM format.

[#18] Added ability to automatically create visibility groups for group operations.

Added the ability to set the scaling factor when exporting and printing. This function can be used if you want to create a reduced copy of the product, or to correct an incorrect scale when printing.

Added new option to the layout generator - give preference to solutions on a single sheet. Allows you not to stop searching for a solution even if the specified efficiency factor is reached.

[#15] Added ability to organize visibility groups using categories.

Improved displaying of object properties. Added showing the full name of the arc.

[#45] Optimized toolbar position to support larger resolution screens.

Fixed incorrect arc name in modeling section.

Added new warning. Error in calculation of curve segment.

Improved measurements file lookup. Added a case with spaces replaced with underscores. Often, when the pattern file is moved together with the measurements, the path to the measurement file becomes wrong. The program will search for a pattern file that has the same name, if it is in the same directory as the pattern file.

Improved handling of the multisize measurements.

Changes since v.0.7.37

[#73] Added tool note field.

Added alias to objects. Some objects such as arcs have awkward automatic names because they include an index. With the help of aliases, objects can be assigned their own names and can then be used by them.

Changed behavior for uninitialized local variables. They will now be assigned the value NAN (not a number) instead of 0. This will allow to quickly detect if there is an error in a formula.

Added ability to set colour and pen type for group operation objects.

Changes since v.0.7.40

A new Warning function has been added. Which allows a warning text to be output to the log.

[#80] The Insert Node tool has been improved. Added the ability to select multiple objects at once.

Changes since version 0.7.41

Added option to restore the default position of the point label.

Changes since v.0.7.42

New warning. Warning about missing dimension data of the multidimensional table for placeholders.

New option “Do not use native file dialogs”.

Improved handling of multi-dimensional tables. Allowed a fractional step of 0.5.

Improvements to the Restrict Dimension dialog. Unavailable combinations will now be displayed disabled.

Improved handling of multi-dimensional tables. Added ability to exclude combinations within min/max range.

New warning. The grainline has an incorrect position.

[#87] Added TIFF export option.

[#88] Improvements to the Insert Node tool. Added possibility to determine the number of copies of the object to be inserted.

[#85] Added the possibility to enter the values of the final measurements in the detail labels through special placeholders.

Changes since version 0.7.46

[#109] Added special placeholders for outputting measurement labels.

Changes since v.0.7.47

[#119] Improved curve intersection tool. Added saving of information about the segments formed by the intersection point.

[#122] Expanded the space in which the pattern marker can be moved by a bounding rectangle around the seam allowance if the pattern has one.

The program will now remember the last export format you selected.

The program will now report a failure when saving a file in dxf format.

Improved tooltip. Added display of names and aliases.

The curve and axis intersection point and curve intersection point tools now have alias support.

[#124] Added the ability to set a global value for notch length.

Changes since version 0.7.48

[#83] Added possibility to export the Drawing mode.

Changes since version 0.7.50

A new warning has been added. When cutting a curve a warning will be displayed if one of the segments is less than 1mm long.

Added “Don’t show again” option to the “Stale layout” dialog.

Added special language selection dialog to avoid situations where the default language does not match the user’s expectations.

Added option to disable automatic check for program updates.

[#153] Added search field for History dialog.

[#43] New feature “Background image”.

A new type of measure has been added - separator.

Added ability to give measurements custom names.

Changes since version 0.7.51

Improved handling of patterns in manual layout. Added option to control the depth of pattern placement on the scene. Using this feature, you can change the depth of placement of a part by moving it up or down. Details on higher levels will overlap details on lower levels.

The operation of the file converter has been optimized. This will speed up the process of converting files.

Changes since version 0.7.52

The ru locale is declared as incompatible. If this locale is specified in the system locale settings, the application will crash.

Tape application. The “Export from existing…” menu item now also supports export from multidimensional tables.

When adding a function in the formula wizard, brackets and a separator sign for arguments will be added, if needed, along with the name.

Added an option to specify the unit type for the increment value.

A record of the last selected dimension values in the multidimensional table is now stored in the pattern file. This allows them to be selected the next time the pattern is opened.

Elliptic arc object now supports curve approximation parameter.

The size of the spline path tool dialog can now be resized.

Improved “Show in file manager” function for Linux system. Not only the directory with the file is now opened, but the file itself is highlighted.

To be continued …