Hello,

I am just completing the build of a CNC router table, so I am a real newbie. I am no stranger to software, but new to CAM. I have purchased Mach 3 and Cambam on a recommendation.

I have a need to take a piece of cardboard or paper that is the exact cutout of a part, scan it into the computer, and have it cut out a 2D part following that outline. Material is like 1/4 inch plywood, etc. I have a lot of these to do, so the process needs to be as simple as possible.

I have tried 1. cleaning the scan up in Photoshop, 2. rasterizing it with Illustrator and exporting it to dxf, 3. then importing it into Cambam, and 4. converting everything to polylines.

This seems clumsy, error prone and problematic because I have to take it to a friend who has the Photoshop suite as I do not have it. I've tried Lazycam (came with Cambam) but I can't seem to get it to do anything useful.

Can someone recommend a better, simpler way to do this? If suggesting new software, could you describe the steps, and the cost of the software? (Price is important here.)

TIA,