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About size of flattened sticker and formed sticker - Printable Version

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About size of flattened sticker and formed sticker - Massimo Maso - 2025-12-16

Hello,
do the dimensions of the flattendd stickers and formed stickers have to be the same?

Until a few weeks ago this seemed like a useless question especially for cylindrical stickers, but lately this is no longer the case!

in the regulation to create the stickers there is talk of measuring them in LDU, but it is not required that they are exactly the dimensions indicated in the description.
And this has been interpreted as such by me, by the auditors and by the administrators until recently.

For a few weeks I have seen that they are trying to make the stickers the exact size shown in the description.
They say: the difference is minimal, a few hundredths of a millimeter, you can't see it.
Agreed, perhaps, but the opposite is also true.
It depends on how you deal with the problem of creating a new set of stickers and how you want to act on the ones already made.

When I have to create a new set of stickers I do this: I check which pieces should be attached, I check if there are already any stickers with the same shape (the stickers help in this), I make the flat version in various subparts and then the formed one is born accordingly. This means that reviewers have until 6 or12 subparts to check for a single sticker, but once the subparts are OK you know that the two mainparts are perfect and you don't have to check that they match. The explanation that has been given, however, is not to reduce the number of subparts.

With what is being done now, however, it becomes practically mandatory to look for a flattened stickerback that is compatible and the formed one. Then you have to create the flattened and formed version which are not exactly the same, so the game of subparts cannot be done. Drawing the sticker formed in this way will cause a lot of imperfections due to rounding that will require additional condlines. Or do you decide not to consider them a priori?

The way you are trying to edit the official stickers is somewhat questionable. Add slices of a few tenths of LDU to the ends of the flattened version, leaving the formed sticker unchanged, when it would be enough to change once and for all the stickerback formed and the two subparts at the ends to have everything consistent as it has been done so far.
It's a lot of work that we didn't feel the need for until a couple of weeks ago, but if you really want to do it, do it well.
Also because otherwise a new sticker how should I do it? If I do it as I have done so far, you will surely tell me that those slices are too thin and do not fit.

So I repeat the questions.
Do flattened and formed stickers have to be the same length?
For me: Yes
Do you need to round the stickerbacks to the nominal size of the description?
For me: No

Rather, if you think that the flattened version can have reusable dimensions from a flat only sticker with nominal size, then let's create a second version (a, b, c...) in which in the description we say what to use that stickerback for stickerback020x038a.

Massimo


RE: About size of flattened sticker and formed sticker - Orion Pobursky - 2025-12-16

(10 hours ago)Massimo Maso Wrote: Do flattened and formed stickers have to be the same length?

Yes but exceptions can be made

(10 hours ago)Massimo Maso Wrote: Do you need to round the stickerbacks to the nominal size of the description?

As an author, I would expect the actual sticker back dimensions to be exactly same as in the description. For normal parts, 3 digit precision is plenty with very few exceptions. So, to answer your question: yes, without exception.

I think the spec is clear on both these points but I'm willing to clarify if needed.


RE: About size of flattened sticker and formed sticker - Philippe Hurbain - 2025-12-16

Question is "exactly"... imho, should simply be "the same" within (to be defined) a few %
- should sticker size be defined as the sum of chords of facetized surface, or the sized of the smooth arc?
- because of sticher thickness, length of top is different from length of bottom
...and human eye is unable to see a length difference of a few %!