[cncuser1]

Is it possible to use a greyscale image ( jped, bmp etc) and generate a raised image?

Something like the darker the pixel the deeper the cut and vice versa?

[erase42]

yes, there are several programs that will do this, deskcnc is one, vcarves also i believe and bobcads bobart if im not mistaken,

[ger21]

www.meshcam.com

[dertsap]

http://www2.fwi.com/~kimble/scispec/scispec.htm
http://www.brusselsprout.org/CAMBAM/

both freeware

[Tony Mac]

Hello cncuser1,

PhotoVCarve will do what you want and will work with both grayscale and colour images. The software includes options for making either dark or light pixels in an image to be the highest or lowest regions to machine.

The software also includes the option to mask an area of a specific colour to create a machining boundary. Plus estimated machining times and a 3D simulation preview that shows exactly what the finished job will look like when machined.

PhotoVCarve also provides toolpath strategies for cutting Lithophanes that are essentially grayscale machining but need to be lit from behind.

I hope this helps,

Tony

[cncuser1]

Thanks for the tips
I should communicated better
I am interested in generatinng xyz points, not gcode.
I want to try and manipulate it in a cad program, So points in *.DXF format or *.XYZ or meshes are what i am looking for, not an NC program.

[ger21]

MeshCAM can import a .bmp, and export is as an .stl

[erase42]

send me a file and ill run it thru bobart and send you back a dxf if you want to try a sample.
send me a PM

[cncuser1]

Thanks but even if it works, Bobcad is not an option.

[sparkgirl]

Does anyone know how to create my own gradiants to "color" in a drawing to generate my own 3D designs. I'm not sure I even know how to word this correctly. I have two of the software pkgs that will produce the 3d from greyscale, but most pictures aren't colored so that the light/dark areas are in the places they would need to be for a true 3D image. I want to learn how to "shade in" my own designs so the lightest areas of drawing would be in the areas to be the most raised of 3D image, with the darker areas shaded to be the least raised. My struggle to word this properly will hopefully still make sense to someone who has done a 3d image where something like dark eyebrows, or the black nose tip of a dog would be recessed instead of more pronounced. I'm wondering if some kind of gradiant with a blurring may work?
I am not current with all the photo/picture editing software out there, but am willing to learn.

[dertsap]

Does anyone know how to create my own gradiants to "color" in a drawing to generate my own 3D designs. I'm not sure I even know how to word this correctly. I have two of the software pkgs that will produce the 3d from greyscale, but most pictures aren't colored so that the light/dark areas are in the places they would need to be for a true 3D image. I want to learn how to "shade in" my own designs so the lightest areas of drawing would be in the areas to be the most raised of 3D image, with the darker areas shaded to be the least raised. My struggle to word this properly will hopefully still make sense to someone who has done a 3d image where something like dark eyebrows, or the black nose tip of a dog would be recessed instead of more pronounced. I'm wondering if some kind of gradiant with a blurring may work?
I am not current with all the photo/picture editing software out there, but am willing to learn.

if i understand you correctly ,photoshop would do this

[dertsap]

Thanks for the tips
I should communicated better
I am interested in generatinng xyz points, not gcode.
I want to try and manipulate it in a cad program, So points in *.DXF format or *.XYZ or meshes are what i am looking for, not an NC program.

http://inkscape.org/download/ , try inkscape , you can create dxf from a bitmap

once again ,freeware

[erase42]

yes in either photoshop or even paintshop pro you can selecet areas of similar shading or color, right down to the pixel, and then give it a new color. you can also tell it how big of a color spread to select, for example you can select "anything blue" in the whole photo, or narrrow it down to just a certain intensity of blue. once its selected you can recolor it anything you want.

[rweatherly]

cncuser1:

You can take a .bmp file and extract the greyscale data one pixel at a time. Each pixel will be represented by a number from 0 to 255. They are in order just like you look at the image, starting at the upper left, and going to the end of the row, then the next row, etc. The "normal" .bmp file will have a header, followed by the data you are looking for. What you see when you open a .bmp or a .raw file are ascii characters that represent the value of the pixel.

There are several bmp2raw programs on the web, all free, which will extract just the pixel information, and write it to a ".raw" file.

I do this all of the time, because I write (almost) all of my own software. If you need some help let me know.

Richard

[rweatherly]

sparkgirl-

Are you trying to do 3D machining from a greyscale image?

[greybeard]

cncuser1:

You can take a .bmp file and extract the greyscale data one pixel at a time. Each pixel will be represented by a number from 0 to 255. They are in order just like you look at the image, starting at the upper left, and going to the end of the row, then the next row, etc. The "normal" .bmp file will have a header of 54 to 56 characters, followed by the data you are looking for.

Richard

Richard, are there any characters at the end of each line - like "carriage return/line feed", or does the output data run continuously from the header, right to the end ?
Many thanks
John

[cncuser1]

http://inkscape.org/download/ , try inkscape , you can create dxf from a bitmap

I only found save as dxf for a desktop cutter, not what I was interested in

[cncuser1]

http://www2.fwi.com/~kimble/scispec/scispec.htm

this one only saves as Gcode

http://www.brusselsprout.org/CAMBAM/[/url]

This one only saves as lines, close but i'd like points. The author invited me to write the code to make the program do what I want.

[rweatherly]

greybeard-

No CR or LF. Just characters. You can open the .bmp files in a text editor, and it will be a long string.

So what you have to do is to know the size, and in a .bmp file know the starting point, and if it is 1000 wide x 750 high, then the first 1000 characters are the greyscale values for the top line, etc.

Richard

[rweatherly]

cncuser1:

If you want to write the code, I can help, but if you just want the points, I have a routine in Excel that does that. Do you have Excel?

Richard