This is actually pretty cool. I work with a designer that often starts his process on paper, and I imagine he would be quite intrigued by something like this!
Edit: At the time I posted this comment, the title of the thread was a "Show HN", now it is no longer a "Show HN". The comments below were made specifically in response to a "Show HN" as helpful advice for the creator.
There's a payment box at the bottom left of the page that says "Test - No Grid" -- maybe this wasn't supposed to be there?
The wording next to the first two options "(Not to scale)" concerns me. Is there a reason you can't draw it to scale?
Or are you just trying to say that it is a scaled down representation?
Usually "not to scale" indicates that a drawing or other representation is a different size than the real object AND individual portions of the representation are not shown with correct proportions. In the case of a design tool, it seems very important that the stamp have proper proportions.
If it is just scaled down but has correct proportions, you would say "to scale" and/or indicate the scale as a fraction of the original size. If it is the exact same size as the actual object, you could indicate that as well.
If it is actually not to scale, what is the point? Any drawing you make in it won't fit in the actual product the same way.
Not the OP and unsure of exact market - but I'm going to hazard a guess that "not to scale" is because of the needs of the design industry.
I suspect that this is the sort of thing that they print and put on walls so that the designers and developers can go wild with their designs and redesigns of wireframes for the product.
So if its on a wall, you really want it to be much much larger than actual size so you can see it from 5 or 10 feet away.
This is my guess anyway based on how I've seen product design teams work. Would be good for the OP to clarify as well.
It can be much larger or smaller than actual size and still be "to scale" -- the term indicates that all proportions within the image are correct, not that it is the same size as the original.
At a glance, it looks like the product actually is to scale so saying "not to scale" is a disadvantage and will scare away potential customers.
If it really is not to scale, it's almost worthless.
It looks like some people interpret it as "not exact size" as well. For some reason, that's the context I got from this phrase. I can't remember where I first heard it though.
Having said that, if I step back and have a look, "not to scale" does seem to imply not exact proportion, which isn't right either.
Yeah, sorry about the context switch. The line for Show HN can be hard to draw sometimes. Is this a "sharing something you've made that other people can try out" post? Or just an ad? The latter would count as spam on HN?
In this case there looks to be a real product people can buy; that's good. On the other hand there's little substance to the post beyond its adness. It might have been helpful if the submitter posted a comment explaining the project and engaging discussion about it. That's usually a good thing for Show HNs.
Doesn't mean the product is bad or anything but thrown off by this: "We make ..." "... drop us an email ..." yet when you click through to the parent website (shapes.io): "Portfolio of Chi Wai Li" "My Recent Work"
Or you could simple print out a bunch of outlines on sheets of paper and grab them when you want to draw on them.
I don't see how that is any worse than stamping a sheet of paper and then draw. And for this you might very well have the tool already on hand (a printer).
I guess we're too electronic here in Estonia, with all the e-signatures and all. I always struggle to find a friend to print something, need that once in a few months. Same with many other companies here.
What exactly would we need a printer for? What should we print out? Just curious.
Specification/Requirements in a different language (not Dutch/English) at my company (in the Netherlands). I need to make copious inline notes to make sure others can follow my thinking/interpretation.
Sounds like where you are printers are like fax machines are here in the US. Which I find both fascinating and kind of great.
In the US we often have printers in every home and often big ones in offices that are made for printing thousands of sheets a day.
In fact, I have an office quality laser jet printer in my home office which I had to use the other day to print + sign + scan a 20 page contract. Your way sounds way better.
Generally speaking most of the time when a document needs to get signed it gets printed out in the US. and it is quite common to print out paper copies of slides to hand to everyone prior to a meeting. Going into a board meeting to approve a sale for instance and often everyone at the table will get a printed out version of the agreement.
This is a brilliant idea for those of us who like to keep all our brainstorms in a single notebook! Currently, I print things out and tape them into my notebook...
I would prefer my stamps to be a little different though, so I'll probably buy a custom stamp from a site somewhere.
27 comments
[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 75.5 ms ] threadThere's a payment box at the bottom left of the page that says "Test - No Grid" -- maybe this wasn't supposed to be there?
The wording next to the first two options "(Not to scale)" concerns me. Is there a reason you can't draw it to scale?
Or are you just trying to say that it is a scaled down representation?
Usually "not to scale" indicates that a drawing or other representation is a different size than the real object AND individual portions of the representation are not shown with correct proportions. In the case of a design tool, it seems very important that the stamp have proper proportions.
If it is just scaled down but has correct proportions, you would say "to scale" and/or indicate the scale as a fraction of the original size. If it is the exact same size as the actual object, you could indicate that as well.
If it is actually not to scale, what is the point? Any drawing you make in it won't fit in the actual product the same way.
I suspect that this is the sort of thing that they print and put on walls so that the designers and developers can go wild with their designs and redesigns of wireframes for the product.
So if its on a wall, you really want it to be much much larger than actual size so you can see it from 5 or 10 feet away.
This is my guess anyway based on how I've seen product design teams work. Would be good for the OP to clarify as well.
At a glance, it looks like the product actually is to scale so saying "not to scale" is a disadvantage and will scare away potential customers.
If it really is not to scale, it's almost worthless.
It looks like some people interpret it as "not exact size" as well. For some reason, that's the context I got from this phrase. I can't remember where I first heard it though.
Having said that, if I step back and have a look, "not to scale" does seem to imply not exact proportion, which isn't right either.
In this case there looks to be a real product people can buy; that's good. On the other hand there's little substance to the post beyond its adness. It might have been helpful if the submitter posted a comment explaining the project and engaging discussion about it. That's usually a good thing for Show HNs.
What exactly would we need a printer for? What should we print out? Just curious.
In the US we often have printers in every home and often big ones in offices that are made for printing thousands of sheets a day.
In fact, I have an office quality laser jet printer in my home office which I had to use the other day to print + sign + scan a 20 page contract. Your way sounds way better.
Generally speaking most of the time when a document needs to get signed it gets printed out in the US. and it is quite common to print out paper copies of slides to hand to everyone prior to a meeting. Going into a board meeting to approve a sale for instance and often everyone at the table will get a printed out version of the agreement.
I would prefer my stamps to be a little different though, so I'll probably buy a custom stamp from a site somewhere.