Question about "Preserve Model Scale" when exporting as .ai (Illustrator)

Rhino Rhino for Mac
1

Hi all!

Long story short, I have a 3D model on Rhino and am planning to use Clipping Plane and Make2D to get section plans of my model to then open them on Illustrator to further edit them. I’m thinking of compiling a set of plans, diagrams edited on Illustrator to InDesign to make a A1 booklet.

However, I am very confused about scale when exporting, especially as I cannot seem to find documentation for it explaining the differences. Can anyone explain what “snapshot of current view” and “Preserve model scale” mean?

I understand that “Preserve model scale” is likely related to the scale at which I want to get it on Illustrator? (eg. 1/200, 1/500 etc).

  • If I want my plans to be at 1/200, does it mean I need to input “200mm = 1mm”?
  • Does this also mean that once opening the .ai file that way, I should never scale it down or up so to keep the scale?

Sorry for the multiple questions but I am extremely confused by this…

Screenshot 2023-01-20 at 23.00.40

Thanks!

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Hi Tsukasa - yeah, if you preserve the scale, the objects should be the ‘right’ size in AI - for instance, if your file is in mm, and you export with 25.4 mm = 1 inch, then in AI if yoyu sset the units to inches, it should measure correctly.

-Pascal

1 Like
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Hi @pascal, thanks a lot for your reply - I really appreciate it!

Does this mean that if I let’s say export for 1/200 (ie. 200mm = 1mm), then scale up by two on Illustrator, my plan will be in 1/100 scale? If that’s right, are there any disadvantages/advantages in scaling up/down on Illustrator, instead of exporting from Rhino for each desired scale?

Thanks!