[sajurcaju]

Sorry, I said sub-step length but meant V-carve finish pass.

Steve

[scorch]

Scorch, first I continue to be amazed at how nice a job your software does. Thanks very much.

I'm having some issues saving g-code. Here are a couple of scenarios:
Load image, load existing g-code file. Change sub-step length in V-carve settings. Recalculate v-carve. Try to save--no save happens.
Load image 1, load existing g-code file. Now load a different image that you want to use the same settings on. Try to save--no save happens.

Is there a way to specify default directory for images and g-code?

Thanks again,
Steve

Are there error messages showing up in the console window when you try to save? (i.e. the black background window that opens when you run under Windows.)


Sorry, there is not currently a way to set the default folders. I know this would be a nice feature in the future.

[sajurcaju]

The window I never look at...I'm running 1.53 by the way.

(Psyco loaded: You have the fastest F-Engrave.)
Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "Tkinter.pyc", line 1414, in __call__
File "f-engrave-153.py", line 4880, in menu_File_Save_G_Code_File
File "f-engrave-153.py", line 2675, in WriteGCode
File "Tkinter.pyc", line 324, in get
TclError: F-Engrave
expected boolean value but got ")"

The workaround I'm using is to rename the old file, then I can save a new file. For example, if my art is file.bmp and the g-code file.ngc:
change g-code.ngc to g-code_old.ngc
save works fine now.

So it looks like the software is complaining that the file already exists and somehow that causes an error?

Steve

[scorch]

The window I never look at...I'm running 1.53 by the way.

(Psyco loaded: You have the fastest F-Engrave.)
Exception in Tkinter callback
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "Tkinter.pyc", line 1414, in __call__
File "f-engrave-153.py", line 4880, in menu_File_Save_G_Code_File
File "f-engrave-153.py", line 2675, in WriteGCode
File "Tkinter.pyc", line 324, in get
TclError: F-Engrave
expected boolean value but got ")"

The workaround I'm using is to rename the old file, then I can save a new file. For example, if my art is file.bmp and the g-code file.ngc:
change g-code.ngc to g-code_old.ngc
save works fine now.

So it looks like the software is complaining that the file already exists and somehow that causes an error?

Steve

Look in your original g-code file. There is a line (around line 14) that looks like this:
"(fengrave_set outer 1)"
there should be a 0 or 1 where the 1 is in the line that I typed above. If that line was edited to delete the 1 or 0 you will get that error the next time you try to save after loading that file.

[sajurcaju]

I have not edited the gcode file. I just tried again to make sure it hadn't gone away here is the line in the gcode file:
(fengrave_set outer 1 )

Looks like it is something else. I can send the gcode file if that is useful.

Having spent most of the day running Cmas presents on my machine (only one trip to the hardware store!), I think what I find most impressive and pleasing is how well F-engrave does with pixelated images. Mostly artifact free, ignoring the rough edges.

Steve

[scorch]

Steve, Yes please send the g-code file if you don't mind. My e-mail address is in the F-Engrave help menu (Help - About).

I can't take credit for how well F-Engrave traces images. F-Engrave is just calling another program called Potrace which does all of the tracing. Potrace just happens to give perfect output for F-Engrave to use.

Thanks!

[scorch]

Thanks Steve for sending the file to my e-mail. I figured out what is happening. The path to your imported image included this text ".../Desktop/CNC router/..."
F-Engrave is finding the "outer" in the text (".../Desktop/CNC router/...") and trying to read the text after it as a variable. It looks like this would be a problem for anyone with an F-Engrave variable name in their path text.

Thanks for bringing this bug to my attention. This should be pretty easy to fix and will prevent some frustration for people in the future.

[sajurcaju]

Thanks for being so diligent. A strange bug.

[scorch]

I uploaded a new version of F-Engrave. below are the changes.

F-Engrave will now use the folder last saved to or opened from for the default g-code file and image file locations respectively. The default locations are saved when a configuration file is written from the General settings window.

I also fixed the bug related to saving files we have been discussing.

Download F-Engrave here

Changes in Version 1.54

- Fixed bug that resulted in errors if the path to a file contained the text of an F-Engrave setting variable*
- Reduced time to open existing g-code files by eliminating unnecessary recalculation calls.*
- Added configuration variable to remember the last. Folder location used when a configuration file is saved.*
- Added support for most jpg, gif, tif and png files (it is still best to use Bitmaps)*
- After saving a new configuration file the settings menu will now pop back to the top (sometimes it would get buried under other windows)*
- Now searches current folder and home folder for image files when opening existing g-code files. previously the image file needed to be in the exact path location as when the file was saved

[sajurcaju]

Scorch this is great. Thanks for the update!

Steve

[scorch]

A while ago I heard of people using a program to get good text kerning then exporting to DXF (or SVG) before bringing the design (text) into F-Engrave. Was that discussion here? or does anyone use such a program?

Personally I would start with Inkscape but I seem to remember people talking about something specific for this task.

Thanks.

[voltsandbolts]

I think of Inkscape first but I'm very interested in what others do

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[Vogavt]

StickFont v1.1 does that and it's free. It's called Character Spacing instead of kerning in that particular software.

StickFont v2.5 isn't free but it does offer a few additional options if you need them.

[sajurcaju]

How about exporting as jpeg from a word processor? Here's Libre Office.

[WillAdams]

I think that was me, either Twitter or the Shapeoko forums or maybe Inventables or Cabide3D's forums.

Word processors may or may not support kerning.

A pixel image such as JPEG removes all curve information from the type.

The best way to bring in detailed text w/ formatting I've found is to:

- set the text using a tool such as Macromedia Freehand which allows total control over type size, font, format, placement, style, spacing, &c.
- export the text as either a .pdf or .svg
- import the vector file into Fontforge (or some other font editor) to make a custom character in a pi font
- set the job as a single character in F-Engrave (complex jobs may require breaking up the design into multiple characters which fit together)

This is how I did the engraving for the dial on the locking register calipers (modeled after a pair in the Studley tool cabinet):

Project Shapeoko

[sajurcaju]

I think my example above disagrees with what you said. The first two fonts are clearly kerned, the third a non-kerned font. The image is a jpg as exported from LO.
At least it works in LO.

Steve

[WillAdams]

How does that disagree w/ "May or may not" --- it is a nuisance trying to keep track of the (in)abilities of word processors for typesetting. (Word for Windows 2.0a supported kerning, 2.0c didn't or some such)

Word processors are for writing. Attempting to use them for graphic design or typesetting often becomes a frustration if one wants fine control --- in particular, most limit spacing adjustment to TWIPs (twentieths of a point).

[sajurcaju]

Well, I provided an example of a word processor that does kern, and a jpg that clearly retains the font shape, if that was what you meant by "removes all curve information". If you just meant it is pixelated, F-engrave until recently only worked with bmp images

I just thought your post would lead people to think it didn't work. I'd be surprised to find any current word processor that does not support kerning. 30 years ago, much more likely.

Steve

[WillAdams]

Your idea of what's involved in kerning and the control needed for it, and mine seem to be a bit different.

F-Engrave has pretty much always supported using fonts directly --- the technique I suggested allows one to avoid the need to render a pixel image, then have F-engrave attempt to recreate curves from that.

[scorch]

Thanks for the input guys. I am happy to get a range of opinions. I can understand the desire to avoid converting to a raster image then back to a vector format but I have done it in the past (with good results) to resolve issues within an image.

There is no doubt that some of the text in the image that Steve posted was much better than the fixed spacing produced by F-Engrave.

I am surprised how many times manual kerning comes up when look around the Web on the topic. Seems like I could do more bad than good by manually mucking around with character spacing. What I think looks good does not always translate to other people.

Will, Is there a reason you use Fontforge to make a custom character rather than just converting the SVG to DXF in Inkscape?