[Switcher]

Beer mug

[Weldtutor]

For Octoberfest a Beer Stein might be in order!
:cheers:

.

[mlind]

Nice Vette,

I did a 57 chevy a while back I'll see if I can find it.

I've got a nice dxf of a 58 vette...let me know

[mlind]

No doubt about it,

Inkscape is the best.

What's the best program out there to convert a Picture into a DXF .

[mlind]

Switcher,

Very nice totally AWESOME.....

The first thing I did was try & get a larger image than what you posted. The way I did that was zoom in on your image with my browser, then took a screenshot, Saved the screenshot in MS-Paint as a .png image.

1) Open Inkscape, drag the image into Inkscape & trace the image with the Autotrace (image#0).

2) Center the traced image inside the project page

3) Crop the image (image#1, red & green square), so that I only have a 1/4 of the traced image, delete everything else (image#2).

4) Make the remaining 1/4 image transparent (about 75%), so I can see thru the traced image & tweak the Nodes (image#3), compare to the .png image I dragged into Inkscape from the desktop (keep the .png at the lowest Z-level so I can use it as a template to tweak Nodes).

5) After I get the 1/4 image like I want it to look, I duplicate & flip/mirror, & Union to create a 1/2 image, then do the same thing again, to create a whole image.

6) I created the inside ovals by hand, then subtract those from each other, to create rings.

7) Union everything, then save as a r12-dxf.

Note:
This is really just the basics, tracing the image then simplify will get you a basic project/starting point. I did a lot of Node edits, but only spent less than 20 min. total on the entire project.

I plan on doing a another video tutorial, that will cover most of this stuff. I just need to find time.

When I first started Inkscape, I was like, this blows, way to many tools to work with, where do I start. Now that I've learned a few things, I think it's the best free program I've ever downloaded. It just takes a while to learn, & is hard to find anything related to cnc & Inkscape on the net, which is a shame because Inkscape is a really good program, that fills a cnc niche, both plasma & router.

.

[mlind]

Here is a 57 chevy I made a while back. I think someone posted the dxf and I edited it to make it cutable. Unfortunately Ican't find the .dxf file...my files are so well organized....LOL .

[ironhorse]

Hi, still trying to get a bite on some lizard and snake dxf files, please contact.

[Weldtutor]

Post #3375 has the 57 Chevy DXF.

[Switcher]

Hi, still trying to get a bite on some lizard and snake dxf files, please contact.

Here you go.

(snake dxf)


.

[Switcher]

Snake#2

[Switcher]

Snake#3

[Switcher]

Lizard#1

[Switcher]

Lizard#2

[ironhorse]

Switcher, your the best, those really help me out, thank you so much.

[Switcher]

Switcher, your the best, those really help me out, thank you so much.

Your welcome.

[Fatboy]

I sat and read this thread for several hours about 2 weeks ago and I'm really impressed with the amount of work displayed and the number of posts.
Somewhere in this is IIRC, mention of a paint mask paper available in roll form. I went to the website and decided I would buy some as my current project progressed. Unfortunately I didn't bookmark the site and a search here is a daunting task considering that this thread alone is over 384 pages with 4600+ posts.

Does anyone have the link for this site?

Included is some Vcarve images of my project, mostly a cad drawing I did of the maltese cross and then importing the graphics for my s-i-l. My daughter e-mailed me the original design that she put together in MS Paint, it was pretty ragged and had some evidence of a water mark. I'll also upload a the Cut2d image of the final version.

Switcher, It was a post here about Inkscape tracing and saving to R12 dxf that started me on this track. I own you a big thanks and also to all the others who have contributed information, so much in fact that I can't keep up.
The added DXF is the maltese cross w/hook/ladder and hydrant. I removed the top, bottom, and center graphics so that imported graphics are easier to add. The current design is 8" and I have cut several test pieces.

Now if I could just find the link to the paint mask I'd be set to go.

Thanks
Fatboy (actually, I lost some)

[mlind]

I knew it was posted here previously

Post #3375 has the 57 Chevy DXF.

[yohudi]

What's the best program out there to convert a Picture into a DXF .

Hi there,

In my experience there is no 'best' solution from a single application. Of the available free options I would suggest that GIMP, HyCaD, InkScape and WinTopo offer the best all round solution by a combination of their abilities.

Inkscape: An excellent tool, but it does encounter problems when there are a large number of nodes in the resultant vector. I've linked a recent example post illustrating this problem below... For complex content Inkscape is not the best option.. For simple uncomplicated sources it can be very fast. There are issues related to scaling that cannot be addressed in InkScape. Additionaly, conversion to .DXF is based on Python scripts. This does not always work consistently from machine to machine. All the available .DXF 'plugins' are affected by this issue. If you are affected by problems running python scripts then finding a solution can be problematic.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpo...postcount=4479

GIMP: Creates excellent vectors very quickly and can produce a better result when colour or greyscale values within bitmaps are very close together. GIMP has the ability to re-scale bitmaps without producing 'Jaggies'. This can be of much assistance to the vectorization process. The downside is that this is not a simple 'point-and-click' operation. Again there is an example below..

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showpo...postcount=4542

HyCad: Has very similar capabilities to InkScape... It's not subject to difficulties associated with high node counts and can accurately scale the resultant vector. It produces joined polyline content by default and is very fast at joining broken polylines from other applications (like WinTopo). As HyCAD is a 'True' 2D CAD application it can be a better enviroment for editing vectors for CNC purposes. None of the other applications are related to CAD in any way ,shape or form. The only downside to HyCad is that, it does tend to create vectors with a higher node count, which results in a greater number of lines in code based on the vector than may be necessary. This is not an issue when editing or joining vectors from other applications.

WinTopo: Without doubt the most efficient vectorization engine. It can create scaled centerline or edge based vectors in short order. Node or vertex counts in Wintopo vectorization will be less than any other application in 99.9% of cases. Vectors do tend to be composed of many individual polylines.. left uncorrected, this can mean many more plunge and retract moves in the toolpath generated from the vector.

It's clear that, regardles of opinions to the contrary, there is no single 'best' solution. More thorough investigation reveals issues with all of the various FREE options. Furthermore such issues are not restricted to FREE software. Many commercial applications suffer from similar drawbacks.

I would suggest that to get the 'best' result you need

1. A thorough understanding of the principles applied in the task.

2. A degree of proficiency in a bitmap based editing application (like GIMP), allowing appropriate preparation of bitmap sources.

3. A knowledge of how each of the various vectorization engines will then process the prepared content. You can then choose the best option for the particular task in hand.

hope this helps

Danny

[tpankratz]

Does anyone have a dxf file of a rifle, preferebly with a scope?
Thanks

[Weldtutor]

dxf file of a rifle,

Welcome to CNC Zone. :wave:

Rifle with scope. (flame2)