[Aurora_Janus]

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[neopundit]

Aurora_Janus wrote:

First, what graphic program can I make triangles with? If I want to make a scalene triangle with
sides of 185, 165 and 145, what program would be good? Photoshop and Illustrator don't seem to be set up to make shapes of any size. (They're great for right rectangles.... ) Is there a program
where I can deal with shapes and easily set their properties at will?

Can't think of anything...

Aurora_Janus wrote:

Second, is there any way for me to map these things without converting this all to an xy coordinate system of some kind? I have the relative distances between points, and if I had one triangle, I could map a fourth point based on making a new triangle using one side of the old triangle and the new point. ---I could do that with pen and paper anyway. it seems everything I've found in a digital setting wants me to conveert all my data into an xy coordinate system.

If you use your method, and choose an arbitrary 4th point, how can you know the distance of P4 from the other two points without the coordinates? Do you mean by physically measuring the distance with a ruler?

[Aurora_Janus]

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[neopundit]

Aurora_Janus wrote:

Right. As I said, I already have all the distances measured between any one point and its neighbors.
But not xy coordinates, just straight line distances.

Let's say it's 50 trees in a field. I have the distances between each tree and the ones near it. I should be able to plot this somehow.

If you just want to plot this stuff, this program might work. I suppose it depends on how much time you have to learn it. I've never used it much, so I won't be much help, but you could give it a try.

[Aurora_Janus]

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[Aurora_Janus]

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[PluggyRug]

Aurora_Janus wrote:

Aurora_Janus wrote:

Let's say it's 50 trees in a field. I have the distances between each tree and the ones near it. I should be able to plot this somehow.

Please help! Otherwise I'm going to end up having to make a spreadsheet the size of God's backyard....

Would there possibly be a way to use a 3D modelling program and use the "Z" axis as your third point? Just a thought.

[Zipperfish]

AutoCAD does this, but that's not going to help you, because you need to know how to use it. It's not elementary. But this page seems to have links to some free CAD programs.

Free Mechanical Engineering

[Aurora_Janus]

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[Aurora_Janus]

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[PluggyRug]

Zipperfish wrote:

AutoCAD does this, but that's not going to help you, because you need to know how to use it. It's not elementary.

Took me a year to get to grips with 2 dimensional Autocad. Went to simpler programs for my plasma cutting table.

[Blue_Nose]

Still working on this?

A more user-friendly option is to obtain Microsoft Visio - it's a vector-based Office program like AutoCAD that has many features that'd allow you to construct these triangles. The version I have has an Extras package that includes easy drag-and-drop dimensioning tools as well, if you're interested in angles or lengths. I use it to make up quick drawings instead of AutoCAD because it's a ton easier.

That being said, are a series of connected triangles what you're looking for, or is this what you've come up with to solve the real problem?