How to create a series of objects (such as lines) within an area where space increase between lines

[Jber505]

Hello everyone.

It's been awhile. I need to recreate the yellow hash marks on this tach. Note, the hash marks equal 77 and stay the same throughout, what changes is the space between the hash marks (which are the yellow lines) I'm using a .50 stroke weight.  I have no idea how to get the spaces between the hash to increase in size without increasing the area or any of the hash marks.  I've looked quite a lot on youtube for an answer and I'm not able to find one, although I came close.

I've included a jpeg.  The hash need to fit inside the arched rectangle.  I hope that I've explained this problem well enough.

Thank you.

[Jacob Bugge · Accepted solution]

Nice to see you again, Jber.

The space increase in your image seems improbable, especially at the beginning.

Depending on the way you wish/need the increase, you can, Smart Guides and the Line Segment Tool being your friends:

0) Create a midline for the set with the right length, angle span, and position, and a Stroke Weight of 1pt;

1) Create a horizontal set of vertical lines with the desired number, Stroke Weight and length, and increasing distance, in the most convenient way, which may be the Effect>Distort&Transform>Transform Effect with a suitable low Horizontal Scale and a suitable Horizontal Move and the deired number of tick marks that is expanded afterwards;

2) Object>Expand Appearance;

3) Turn 2) into a new Art Brush in the Brush palette;

4) Select the midline from 0) and apply the new Art Brush.

You can go back and forth, trying out different values and go back and forth between the steps; keeping backups of different versions of the artwork and Undo are also your friends.

If you wish to have the area shown as a frame, you need to add a horizontal line at top and bottom to the final version of the expanded horizontal set in 2), as follows:

1+) Ungroup the set twice, and Group the set again, then Join the first and last lines (you can deselect and then Direct Select the top Anchor Points and Ctrl/Cmd+J and do the same for the bottom ones, to turn those lines into a rectangle; it is safest to set the Cap to Butt (for the whole Group).

Below is shown a sample made as follows, just to give an impression

In 0) the midline is shown in red (at the very bottom), made as 45 degrees of a circle (originally with W=H=720pt, and rotated to start at 30 degrees from vertical corresponding to 40, going anticlockwise).

In 1) everything starts with a 30pt vertical line (Stroke Weight 1pt, Butt Cap), then Effect>Distort&Transform>Transform with a Horizontal Scale of 101% and a Horizontal Move of 5 pt (to start with, which will then increase) and 60 Copies (random number); the rate of increase increases with the Scale; you can try out different combinations till you hopefully get it right. You can already get a basic impression by this.

In 2)/3), The set is shown without and with the horizontal lines (possibly) added in 1+.

In 4) the final result is shown without and with the horizontal lines

Click to get closer, Click again to get closer still

[Jacob Bugge]

This has been edited a few times since yesterday evening, latest at about 1PM, GMT.

[Jber505]

Hi there Jacob.  Glad to see that you're still around.  Your tutorials have always been so helpful.  I would have been completely lost without this community and all the people that have helped me in the past.  The gage sets we have worked on in the past have been completed, installed in their respective antique autos and some have even won awards, so once again, thank you and everyone here.

I'm going to give this a try and yes, I agree, the starting area is very difficult.  I used a .45 stroke as 1 is too big and drew it as a complete beginner would lol... one line at a time.  I would very much like to complete as your showing me here.

I will let you know how I do.

[Jacob Bugge]

Each and every one of your gauge sets is a pleasant challenge, Jber.

Remember that whichever Stroke Weight you choose for the has marks, the midline in 0) has to be 1pt because the width of the Art Brush = the length of the hash marks grows/shrinks if it is more/less.

I look forward to your findings.

[Jber505]

Hi there.

Thank you.

I believe I figured it out and when I submitted it to my boss she said that
no matter how hard she would try on her end, there was'nt enough space
between the tick marks. She decided to go with equal spacing and reducing
the ticks from 77 to 61. Here is a picture of the finished dial.
[image: Tach.png]

[Jacob Bugge]

Jber,

I am afraid there is only this in plain text, no screenshot or image: [image: Tach.png] 

Hopefully you can get it to work, preferably with the usual use of the Insert Images button which makes it show in the post, just as in the OP. It works just as well with PNG as with JPEG.

I have wondered what determined the choice of (increasing) spacing in the first place since it was quite different to the existing coarse equal spacing one unit each.

I should love to see the spacing you arrived at, if possible, also to know whether the suggestion could be improved.