ProtocaseDesigner.com

I'm not seeing any patterns for rack mount case vent slots or airflow for the front panels of the rack mounts. Am I missing something easy here?

There are many different styles of vent slots, do you have anything in specific in mind? Using the custom cutout tool you can make just about any vent cutout you would like and can use the grid to place many of them quickly.

If you had something specific in mind we could offer you more assistance.

Oh, I don't know, some repeating pattern slots maybe? Vents on the front of a rack case can be just as much decorative as functional. I'll try to find some examples and post here.

I'm new to the designer software, so I'm still trying to figure out how to do things. In particular I want to try and get better at designing cutouts for the library.

I'll give you a basic howto.

1. open face editor by selecting front cover
2. open cutout library
3. select new item
   1. choose width=1" and height= .1"
   2. select a name such as "vent slot"
   3. choose the center dot in the origin selector
4. select the grid button on the top toolbar
5. select the size button on the top toolbar
   1. select x size = .1 and y sizes=.05"
6. select the path tool on the left toolbar
7. draw the slot cutout horizontally
   1. click on the location at -.4, -.05
   2. click on the location at +.4,-.05
   3. click on the arc button on the right context toolbar
   4. click on the location +.4, +.05
   5. click on the location +.4, +.0
   6. click on the line tool on the right context toolbar
   7. click on the location -.4, +.05
   8. click on the arc tool on the right context toolbar
   9. click on the location -.4, -.05
   10. click on the location -.4, 0
8. press the green checkbox on the upper left corner
9. select vent slot and check place item
10. click on your enclosure anywhere
11. change the rotation on the right context tool to 45 degrees
12. press the cutout icon on the top toolbar (scissors)
13. press the grid button on the top toolbar
14. press the size button
    1. set the x size to .2"
    2. set the y size to .2"
15. start placing your cutout on one side of the enclosure at equal intervals that look nice
16. do the same with a -45 degree angle on the other side of the enclosure

We've created a tutorial that guides you through the process of
creating and duplicating cutouts to create a vent. See "Creating
Custom Vents" on
http://www.protocasedesigner.com/wiki/i ... /Tutorials for the link
to this and other useful guides.