User:Rune.welsh/Structures

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This is a mini-tutorial on how to set up ChemDraw in order to draw chemical structures like those shown on the right. This whole thing is based on User:Cacycle's settings.

[edit] 1. Structure creation

1. Open ChemDraw. Go to File -> Document settings...
2. On the Layout tab set up a large document size just to allow a larger drawing space.
3. On the Drawing tab change the following settings:

   Chain angle: 120 degrees

   Bond spacing: 15

   Fixed length: 2.566 cm

   Bold width: 0.3 cm

   Line width: 0.107 cm

   Margin width: 0.15 cm

   Hash spacing: 0.1 cm

4. On the Atom labels tab choose the Arial font, size 45.
5. Once the structure has been created save it as a black and white TIFF.

[edit] 2. Structure editing

Use an image manipulation software such as Adobe Photoshop or Irfanview to make the following changes to the TIFF image created in the previous step:

• Add a canvas of 75 pixels around all four sides of the structure.
• Save as a black and white PNG file. I use compression 4.

[edit] 3. Upload

Upload to Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, as you prefer. (I have chosen not to upload to Commons for personal reasons). I use the following template when uploading:

==Summary== 
* Description: Chemical structure of [[compound]].
* Author, date of creation: selfmade by [[User:XYZ]], [[February AB]], 2006
* Source: - 
* Copyright: Released to the Public Domain 
* Comments: high-resolution b/w PNG; ChemDraw / Irfanview. 
==Licensing== 
{{PD-self}}

Releasing the images to the public domain makes a lot of sense, considering that once you get used to the process and become more proficient at drawing structures it drawing a structure can take you less than a minute. Thus a lot of good is done with little effort, however you may choose to license the structures under the {{GFDL}} instead.

[edit] 4. Some things to consider

• You may save your ChemDraw drawing preferences in a template to avoid changing them every time you load the program. To do this, set up your drawing references a described above, then go to Save as and select CD Style Sheet. Save it in a location you can remember and every time you open ChemDraw you can choose you style sheet in File -> Apply document settings from...
• Use the Convert Name to Structure feature to your advantage and speed up the drawing process.
• You may want to show all carbon and hydrogen atoms in very short chains or small molecules, as shown in the example above.

-- Rune Welsh | ταλκ 19:21, 22 February 2006 (UTC)