Adobe Illustrator to VisualMill

Can someone direct me to a proper walkthrough while creating a file in Illustrator to be exported as a .dxf to VisualMill.

Do strokes need to be expanded?


I have a logo I'm trying as a test and it seems once it's imported to VisualMill it drops all of the interior bits, like the inside of an "e" or "o" etc.

Also what would suggest saving the file as? dxf or dwg? What export setting do you use?

Can someone help a newb out? I'm trying to learn VisualMill before our Sabre gets here and I've never touched machining in my life.

We are a small sign shop and my background is in graphic design.

Thanks!

From what I've heard, the .dxf output from Illustrator is not very good.

One option might be to export in a format you can open in Inkscape, and export a .dxf from there.

Note, however, that Inkscape's .dxf export isn't very good either. (Neither is Corel's, for that matter), so you'll need a different .dxf exporter. This one is supposed to be pretty good.
Big Blue Saw - Big Blue Saw's DXF Export For Inkscape

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ger21

From what I've heard, the .dxf output from Illustrator is not very good.

One option might be to export in a format you can open in Inkscape, and export a .dxf from there.

Note, however, that Inkscape's .dxf export isn't very good either. (Neither is Corel's, for that matter), so you'll need a different .dxf exporter. This one is supposed to be pretty good.
Big Blue Saw - Big Blue Saw's DXF Export For Inkscape

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Wow, this is the first forum I've been on where the newest reply is posted first. Kind of annoying.

Anyway, I'm downloading both Inkscape and BigBlue saw. Do you have any suggestions in regards to exporting options?

Also someone said you have to find something that converts the "splines" to "polymetric" or something along these lines. Ever hear of this?

Thanks for the help!

You can change the order the posts are displayed. Go to User CP.

Sorry, I don't use any of the things I mentioned to you. :)

Gotcha changed that.

I tried Inkspace and found it way to buggy and slow. If I'm going to be doing this on a daily basis I can't wait for a program to take 5mins to load itself or open a file.

Being new with this whole thing can someone suggest a good walkthrough for cnc'ing.

We're a sign company, we use mostly mac, but newer ones so I can install Windows.

What are you people all using?

Maybe I should post this in a different thread? Maybe one of the mods can move it.

Thanks!

Vectric's V-Carve Pro or Aspire can read eps, which you should be able to export from Illustrator. Both would be far better for sign work than Visual Mill.

Vectric - CNC Software Solutions - Wood Carving - Engraving - Signmaking - Routing - Machining

I'll speak with the boss about vectric.

I've been looking into their software as I saw an ad in Sign Craft mag.

Thanks for the help!

Download the demo's and start playing with them. You can import your files and see how it handles them, you just can't create g-code, except for the included sample files.

Awesome, I'm watching the tutorials now.

One thing I noticed thats different is you create a post file for each toolpath, whereas in VisualMill it's one complete file. I guess thats not a huge issue.

I'm assuming my ShopSabre will come with a post processor to handle these files?

You can save one file with all the toolpaths, or individually, or any combination. You just select the ones you want to output.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ger21

From what I've heard, the .dxf output from Illustrator is not very good.

One option might be to export in a format you can open in Inkscape, and export a .dxf from there.

Note, however, that Inkscape's .dxf export isn't very good either. (Neither is Corel's, for that matter), so you'll need a different .dxf exporter. This one is supposed to be pretty good.
Big Blue Saw - Big Blue Saw's DXF Export For Inkscape

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To export dxf quality corel visualmill to simply select the version of AutoCAD R2.5

I solved this problem with dxf files.
But I have problem with the machine letters visualmill ............. would like to exchange an idea with someone here in the forum.

I'm a graphic designer that got into cnc. I ended up going with Enroute Pro. It would be an easier workspace to relate to for an adobe user than visual mill, although it has inherent issues like most of the software available. You can see some of the work I've produced with it on my website, Nicholson Design - The Fine Art of Computer Carving. I still perform all of my vector editing in illustrator, and import it directly into the software.

I was looking at VectorMagic. Anyone using or heard of this program? supposed to be good vectoring and .dfx exporting program.

Hello gmesheau

I know your original post was in 2011, but I am also a Mac user and have found a very good program for emulating windows and running Windows programs without rebooting into Windows and back again. I will be buying Vectrics V-Carve software soon having tried out the demo version very successfully on my Macbook Pro laptop.

The program is Crossover from Codeweavers - https://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover-mac

Regards