Letting pieces turn usually saves material: tapered shapes pair up head to toe, and long shapes lie along the sheet. Artwork with a direction, or stock with a grain, may only turn so far. A piece is placed only at an angle you allowed.
The rotation presets#
Imposition uses these presets for a job's Default rotation and for each artwork's Rotation:
| Preset | Angles | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Job default | – | Use the job's rotation setting (artworks only). |
| No rotation | 0° | Keep the artwork upright. |
| 0° / 180° | 0°, 180° | Upright or upside down. |
| 0° / 90° | 0°, 90° | Upright or turned a quarter. |
| 90° steps | 0°, 90°, 180°, 270° | Any quarter turn. |
| Any angle | any | Each piece may turn to fit the sheet. |
| Custom | – | A list of angles you type (artworks only). |
- The job's default applies to every artwork set to Job default.
- Custom is set per artwork: type the angles, comma-separated (for example
0, 45, 90). - Estimates offer Any angle, 90° steps and No rotation for each material group.
Angles are measured counter-clockwise.
Any angle#
Any angle lets each piece turn to fit the sheet. 90° steps allows only quarter turns: 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°. No rotation keeps parts as drawn.
Grain can narrow these further. See Grain.
Custom angles#
Custom is a list you type for one artwork, comma-separated, such as 0, 45, 90. Pieces stay at those angles,
unless grain narrows them. See Grain.
Grain#
Paper and board have a grain, and some items must run with it (folding cartons, anything that curls or folds). In imposition you set the Media grain on the job and a Grain on each artwork that cares:
| Grain | Meaning |
|---|---|
| None | No grain requirement. The rotation setting alone decides. |
| Horizontal | The grain runs left to right on the sheet or the artwork. |
| Vertical | The grain runs bottom to top on the sheet or the artwork. |
When both the artwork and the media have a grain:
- the same grain: the artwork keeps only its upright and upside-down angles (0° and 180°);
- different grains: it keeps only the quarter-turned angles (90° and 270°).
This narrows the artwork's rotation setting. If the setting leaves no angle that matches the grain (for example No rotation on crossed grain), the grain wins: the artwork is placed at the angle the grain needs, and the run warns you.
Estimates have no grain setting: choose the rotation directly. In the nesting API, a part's rotation can carry a
grain of along (keeps 0° and 180°) or across (keeps 90° and 270°); when that leaves no allowed angle, the piece
is placed at 0° or 90° respectively.
N-up turns by quarter turns only#
N-up packs rectangles for a guillotine, so its pieces can only be upright or quarter-turned. It takes the quarter turns your rotation allows and ignores other angles. If an artwork allows no quarter turn at all, it's placed upright and the run warns you.