How to transfer CP dimensions to CP Artwork

[greyhound35]

Hi All,

Hoping to get some advice on my CP and CPO design.  I have been messing around with MS Visio to get the dimensions and control locations of my CP in the layout that works for me.  I've found Visio is great in that it allows me to position controls using 1:1 measurements.

I'm now at the stage at which id like to design the art work for the CP, i have both photoshop and illustrator (although a newbie at both) and suspect i will be using one or the other for the artwork design.

Is there a way that i can import my Visio diagram in to either artwork app, so that i have the dimensions there as a starter on which i can base my artwork design?

Am i trying to use the wrong method?  is there another method that would be better?

Thanks in advance.

P.S  I was hoping to develop artwork  based on an image which would feature "halos" around the controls

[Twin-X]

yes you can save your visio as an eps. This eps file can be read by Illustrator.

I forgot the name of the animation in your avatar. What was it called again i grew up with it.

[waveryder]

I forgot the name of the animation in your avatar. What was it called again i grew up with it.

"Battle of the Planets" 
Make sure that the exported eps has retained the print size info from visio. Did this on my CP from visio and found that once exported the measurements were a bit out. I now design CP layouts directly in PShop, That way everything lines up. Best thing to do is do the artwork before drilling your panel. You cant go far wrong that way.

[Jdurg]

If you do happen to do all the drilling and cutting before designing the artwork (Like I did), then you just need to take a bunch of measurements and work on a 1:1 scale in Photoshop to create the art.  This will require quite a bit of RAM as the file can get huge, but when you think you have it right you can go to Staples and have them print out a B&W version.  That should only cost about $5 and will let you see where you need to make adjustments.  Just make sure that they print it out without scaling the image at all.  (You may need to have them print it landscape wise so that you don't have to worry about it being squished).

[greyhound35]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Twin-X; as Waveryder says, it's Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman in Japan), one of the greatest cartoons ever!

Waveryder;  are there any steps to making sure that Visio exports with exact dimensions to eps?  Alternatively you mentioned that you are now designing CPs in Photoshop, i take it then that you can enter dimensions of objects into photoshop i.e. diameters of holes, distance between objects etc?

[waveryder]

Waveryder;  are there any steps to making sure that Visio exports with exact dimensions to eps? 

I had no luck with it, once in illustrator I had to resize the eps to fit the panel dimesions. Everything became "a little bit out"

As I design a lot of panels, I have a bunch of 300dpi Control Panel elements that I work from. Buttons , sticks, spinners etc all exactly sized with markings for drill holes and spacing. Once layed out I make a new layer and start the artwork over the top. By doing it this way you get perfect spacing and layout making things like halos and button label positions exact. I found this to be the only sure fire method of doing it, I know there are other methods but I personally found them to be hit and miss. I recently used this on a Metal Slug CP I designed for Vash. Once I created the layout in Pshop I was able to put the halos etc in the exact position and then just remove the layout when finished.