# OPTION_C_MVT-ICONtest_modified_mounting_template copy.ai — the layer record

Received from Aristide 2026-08-09 with the instruction: "open this file, look in the
layers, and document — all this time you looked, but never documented, nor created rules
around it." This page is that documentation. Measured with PyMuPDF 1.23.7 by forcing each
OCG visible in turn; renders in this directory are those measurements, not re-drawings.

File: `OPTION_C_source.ai` (this directory). PDF-1.6 under the hood (Illustrator
PDF-compatible save), one page, ArtBox 196.8 x 13.5 to 375.2 x 288.5 pt.
Four OCG layers; **only one is visible when the file is opened normally** — the other
three are switched OFF in the file and carry the actual engineering.

| # | Layer name (verbatim) | State | Items | Fill colors (measured) | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | `Nested C Option Setup` | ON | 902 | 899 orange, 1 blue, 1 black, 1 green | The CUT NEST for option C: blue cloud plate (chart line + nodes as holes in one compound path), the orange ring+triangle and every chaser dot as individual rings, the black never-seen-metal piece, the green template cloud — parts laid out for cutting. |
| 2 | `Layer C setup` | OFF | 7 | 5 orange, 1 black, 1 green | The MOUNTING DESIGN, assembled in place: green cloud outline = the wall template/jig; black = the never-seen metal regions (where fixings may live); dashed lines across the black = strap/slot marks; the long black bar at the bottom = the wall cleat with its slot line. |
| 3 | `Washers` | OFF | 159 | 159 orange | The CHASER MAP: every orange dot is one cut ring ("the colored rings are the chasers we cut" — Aristide, 2026-08-09), positioned in register over the assembly — grids at the chart nodes plus the two free-floating grids (above the cloud, inside the ring). |
| 4 | `Option B` | OFF | 3 | 2 orange, 1 blue | The ASSEMBLED COLOR REFERENCE: blue cloud, orange ring, orange triangle — the two-plate raised build (orange plate on pins and chaser stacks, aided by magnets, per Jordan's 2026-08-06 mounting rulings). |

Layers 2–4 occupy the SAME rectangle (215.5–393.4 x 330.0–462.1 pt) — they are overlays
of one assembly position, back to front: template + hidden metal, then the chaser map,
then the color reference. Layer 1 sits below them on the page (503.5–778.5 pt, top-left
coords) as the nest. `layers_all_setup_region.png` shows the sandwich with everything on.

Renders: `layer_nest.png`, `layer_c-setup.png`, `layer_washers.png`, `layer_option-b.png`,
`layers_all_setup_region.png`.

## The stud-slot fields (measured 2026-08-09)

Decomposed subpath-by-subpath from the black compound path on `Layer C setup`
(scale: the 29.98" positioning template ↔ 177.9 pt → 0.1686 in/pt). Two fields of
slot marks, both in never-seen metal: **35 on the bottom wall cleat** (spanning 23.7")
and **16 on the mid never-seen bar**. The marks are dashed depictions 1.08" long ×
0.11" drawn height — the cut slot height is the ruled 5/16".

Each field is **two rows** 0.60" apart (the vertical bolt couple), **pitch 1.33"**,
in-row gap 0.26", second row **staggered 0.73"**. The math this encodes:

- **Pitch 1.33" < the 1.5" stud face** → each row ALONE puts ≥1.07" of slot over
  every stud, at any lateral offset. No stud can ever be missed, and every stud takes
  a bolt in BOTH rows — the two-bolt vertical couple exists at every offset.
- **The stagger closes each row's 0.26" gaps** with 0.35" margin either side → the
  union coverage is CONTINUOUS: no x-position on the cleat where a lag bolt faces
  solid metal in both rows.

The mechanism generalizes: pitch under the stud face width; stagger the second row so
its slots cover the first row's gaps.

## The green template and the zip-tie holes (measured 2026-08-09)

Aristide: "the green is a template we create, so it is easier to hang the sign for the
customer" — an installer deliverable, cut with the job. Measured, it is not a plain
outline: it is the **silhouette-following band** of the mount-architecture ruling —
outer cloud 30.0" × 22.3", inner cloud 28.6" × 21.3", a perimeter strip following the
art's shape.

It carries **4 small zip-tie holes**, and each has a **twin in the black never-seen
metal ~0.17" away center-to-center**, straddling the green/black boundary — the
opposed-pair fastener rule drawn in the wild: one hole each side of the shared line so
the tie pulls square across the joint. Four orange 0.49" × 0.34" lozenges mark the tie
points on the layer.

The holes are drawn 0.075" — locators, not cut sizes (under both the 0.110" strap
diagonal and the 0.125" pierce floor); at cut time they take the ruled 1/8", the same
convention as the slot dashes drawn 0.11" tall but cut at 5/16".

**Four pairs total, plus one orphaned mark:** the lone 0.108" orange dot on the band's
left-middle edge (246.6, 399.8 pt) was meant as zip-tie holes (Aristide, 2026-08-09),
but verified: no holes exist there and no black metal reaches it — nearest black
geometry is 2.77" away. The intent was never drawn into geometry. Realizing it needs
the black extended to the band there (or a strap), or the dot dropped — open, Aristide's
call. See `fifth_dot.png`: thin circles = the 4 real pairs, thick ring = the orphan.

## What this file teaches (the rules it produced)

1. **Layers are the file's manifest** — the default-visible rendering is NOT the file.
   Intake must enumerate every layer (name, ON/OFF, content) and document it before any
   geometry decision. This file was handled repeatedly with three of its four layers
   never opened; the generic pin `layers-are-the-manifest` now forbids that.
2. **The colored rings are chasers** — halftone dot blocks in the art are not texture:
   each dot is a physical ring cut from the job's own waste, mapped on its own layer,
   used both as visible design elements and stacked on pins as standoffs.
3. **Hidden layers carry the shop's answer** — template, never-seen metal, fixing zones,
   assembly reference. A customer/teaching file may contain its own mounting solution;
   reading only the art forfeits it.