[bcnc]

Can Someone Convert A Pdf File To Gcode For Me Or Point Me In The Direction For A Program That Can? The File Is Pdf It Is A Solid Part .thanks Brian

[MrZack]

A PDF file??? You will have to explane more. What is in the PDF file...text, graphics??

[Phyrexii]

Do you mean an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file? If so, you should be able to simply cut and paste the text into a seperate, standard text file (notepad), save it as a .txt file, and you're done.

[jamesgw]

Hi,

I can provide you with gcode for your machine. I do this type of work on a freelance basis.

Email me your phone number and I will call you to discuss.

Regards,

James Walsh
[email protected]

[gazza]

The problem with PDF files is they can contain both bitmaps and vector files, so you may be able to import/convert a vector file but if it is a bitmap you need to vectorize it first. hope this helps

thanks
Gazza

[FranH]

Some how you need to get a software that will recognize this format. Check into Mastercam, Espirit etc. Those programs have 'post processors' that can produce toolpaths to make the part.

If the part is lines, points and arcs rather than 'surfaces', other cad/cam programs are available for much less. They also have post processors. A post processor is what manulipates the part toolpaths into the language the specific machine tool understands.

[petrus_muc]

Hi Brian,

if I understand correctly you have the "picture2 of a solid model as a *.pdf-file and want to create G-Code from it.
I don't think it will be easy if possible at all, as the "Solid" is no Solid any more but a plain picture. Never mind if vector or bitmap, f you extract this from the pdf you will have a *.bmp file (or the like) which contains only the flat picture, no axis information. I have no idea if any of the available CAD/CAM programs will be able to convert a dot matrix (or vector) picture back to a solid model. Some programs can convert bmp-pictures to 3-D engraving data (taking the grey-value as Z-information) but I doubt very much this will give you anything like the desired result in your case.

But I'm eager to learn if anything is out there which can do this.

Peter

[Ottmar-Petry]

Hello.

Can you please send me the PDF-file, so I can see whats inside.
Text, graphics, a cnc-prgram ?
Maybe that I have an idea then.

Regards
Ottmar

email: [email protected]

[RBrandes]

Yeah, post this pdf file. If it is just a profile you have half a chance, but if it is a real shape and the pdf is showing an iso view then you need to model it or get the model from the pdf author.
Regards, Ray in FLA

[Jeff Sauck]

If the file is a .pdf (Adobe .pdf) file containing 2d views of a solid then there are raster to vector conversion programs that will convert pdf files to DXF. Just Google "pdf to dxf" and you will get a bunch of hits. I've tried a few of them and they seem to work well. You may even get lucky and not have to clean up the DXF file and just open it directly in your CAM software.

On the other hand if you have one of the new 3D pdfs (U3D format) then you should be able to click "export data" when you are in interactive mode in the Acrobat 3D file. There are options for saving the file to IGES or STEP. Go to the Adobe website for info on Acrobat 3D files:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat3d/

Regards,

Jeff

[bcnc]

Dont know if this worked but here is the file. http://www.freefileupload.net/file.p...0113-026-A.pdf

[bcnc]

I really only need the contoured part, the rest I can do. Thanks Brian

[dcomte]

What software do you have?
What machine do you have?

[sgiirixmaya]

CNC Routing From PDF
Definition of a tap file, and whether or not PDFs provide precision. August 17, 2004

Question
A local sign shop has a CNC machine that works off of tap drawing files. I'd like to hire him to make patterns for stair parts based on my dwg CAD files. I've not been able to find any reference to a file converter to tap. I've found nothing on this tap thing at all.

His machine will, however, work with a PDF file. I'm skeptical that this will be accurate. The printing of CAD drawings I've converted to PDFs has not scaled accurately at all. I'm using Paperport to do the pdf'ing

Anyone know anything about this?

Forum Responses
(CNC Forum)
From contributor R:
So this shop has a CNC machine, and it won't convert .dwg or .dxf files? That's just wacky. These two formats are the most prevalent formats used in the CAD world. If this guy can't work with them, I suggest you find a new CNC facility. Using PDF files will never yield satisfactory results - not precise enough.

I did a search for the file type ".tap" and all I could find was some references to an embroidery program.

The most common usage for a .tap file that I've seen is the g-code file. A number of CAM programs will output the tool path for the CNC router in what will look like a simple text file, but using the .tap file extension.

*.tap is the file extension that was previously used to refer to NC Tape Code files.

*.tap is just some kind of ASCII G-Code variant.

A CAM program is necessary to generate toolpaths from a CAD drawing.

PDF files are not vector drawings and generating NC code from them in a CAM system is a foolish idea and a worthless feature because it can only work for the most basic of drawings.

Tell your vendor to get a CAM system and do it the right way.

He might be referring to Adobe illustrator files, not Acrobat. Mastercam can bring in Adobe illustrator files and generate g-code from them.

You can open a PDF file in Illustrator and extract the vectors for use in generating toolpaths, but only if it was vector art before pdf'ing, and it's not very precise...

Sometimes I really feel stuck in the past. I read these threads a couple of times a day and find many people doing amazing things with their software. My hat is off to them.

Unfortunately, many of these people are taught to run this software proficiently but have ignored what the software is doing. It’s simply creating g-Code. Making straight line and arcs. That’s it. Maybe plotting points and drawing arcs on a sheet of paper and then writing your own g-code (as an exercise) would give enough insight to enough people that it would solve 70% of the “programming problems” discussed in this forum. TAP is simply short for Tape. A tape was the paper or card with thousands of little holes in it used to transfer data to your CNC machine from your computer. Today’s TAP extension is a carryover from that. These files can be simply written and edited in a word processor.

I can imagine how the “new school” software could perform with a little “old school” prerequisite. Relying on the software’s ability seems to be a common thread discussed here. Remember that the “A” in both CAD and CAM stand for “aided”. It’s there to help you, not to do your work for you.

I think it’s scary to find out that someone would want to produce stair parts from a PDF. A sign shop is probably not the best place to produce architectural products.

I echo the above assessment. It's nice to know there are still dinosaurs like me out there that have actually output code to tape. It may have been slower and prone to typos, but I recall having more fun back then. Hmm...

From the original questioner:
Silly me. Found a shop with a Busselato just down the road. I'm heading over there tomorrow to do a sample run. Thanks for the responses, and yeah, I found the PDF thing pretty scary, too.

The .tap extension is definitely the file ext. for the coded program. It is just like a txt file. Microsoft Word reads it in just the same way. The txt file extension can be changed to .tap when saved for his machine. Relating to AutoCad… He is not talking about a drawing format. If he has a means of posting and generating the NC/Tap/TXT or whatever file, he should be able to work from an IGES drawing file. Usually converts very well from A-Cad. That is, of course, if he is using something other than Corell Draw or other simple program which is sometimes used for sign-making. Complex 3D is not for PDF files.

A quick check and found that ShopSaber is using software called WinCNC which saves files with a *.tap extension.

Even still... If this guy were running a shopsabre, and he was using winCNC, he should be able to use dxf files, the most prevalent CAD format out there.

If shopsabre provides software that doesn't read or convert standard dxf or dwg files, I sure am glad I went with shopbot. The software provided with my Bot reads in dxf, dwg, ai, eps, and a few others that I can't think of.

Files with a .tap extension are used by the WinCNC controller but have been output by another software program as toolpaths. I use Enroute 3plus for that purpose. The tap files are text files with the lines of G Code that drives the router. I don't think the WinCNC controller opens anything but tap files that have been output via the driver loaded in Enroute. Enroute can of course handle dxf, dwg and other vector files. If one wanted to use a PDF file in Enroute, it would first have to be traced and converted to a vector file and imported or it could be converted to a bmp file by other software and imported and vectorized in Enroute. Results, of course, would not be guaranteed. However, never say never.

My ShopSabre came with RAMS 3D CAM software which will allow me to open .dxf, .ai, .EPS, .cnc, .plt,.igs, .vda, .3dm, .stl and .sla file extensions and generate toolpaths from them that are then saved as .tap files. The WinCNC controller software that came with the machine will open .tap, .nc. and .h (whatever that is...) file extensions. I use CorelDraw exclusively for creating drawings that I save in .dxf, .ai, or .eps formats. I have been able to open .pdf files in Corel and extract vector graphics from them, so it can be done. I only do that as a last resort, though, if I can't find the graphic I'm looking for from other sources, but can find it in a .pdf file. The ShopSabre, coupled with RAMS, WinCNC, and CorelDraw is an excellent combination for me.

WinCNC will import dxf and hpgl files for a g-code conversion. However, the preferred method for the CNC professional is to use a CAM package for smart toolpathing. This is what a CAM package is for. WinCNC is a motion control package.

As for the .tap extension, this is just a txt based g-code file output by a cam package. The .tap extension is the default for WinCNC, but your extensions can be .nc or anything with g-code text.

[HayTay]

I would be kind of difficult going straight from drawing to g-code not knowing what type of machine you're going to cut the parts on. Someone would have to know the tooling you have in mind along with speeds, feeds, post processor, fixturing, desired part finish, etc.

On the other hand, with Vectric's new VCarve PRO 4.0 you can quickly open the .PDF and export the drawing to a .DXF file.

I don't know if that helps you at all,

[ger21]

Relating to AutoCad… He is not talking about a drawing format. If he has a means of posting and generating the NC/Tap/TXT or whatever file, he should be able to work from an IGES drawing file. Usually converts very well from A-Cad.

Fwiw, in the 10 years I've been using AutoCAD (R14 to present), it hasn't had IGES import or export capabilities without purchasing a 3rd party add-on.

[markxyz]

try corel draw x3 (download the trial if you don't have it www.corel.com) open the pdf and do all the necessary things(Trace Bitmap->Quick Trace or Line art) then export to HPGL format then import it with KCam 4 -> View->G-Code(F).
It can't be easier

[RBrandes]

I really only need the contoured part, the rest I can do. Thanks Brian

Brian,
Your best bet is to mill the rectangular shape (leave .010" on the top for finishing!) then use a large radius ball mill and take small steps around the radii to generate the contour. Probably some program will be able to Gcode the profile, but you won't be cutting it with 12" long endmills. If you have autocad or something similar, offset a line the radius of your ball mill and then divide it into 5º increments and take the X-Y of the points where the radians intersect the offset line. This would be your program points. If the result is too coarse, you will need to go every 2º or finer. The material specd doesn't take too well to sanding, but will finish nice with a sharp cutter. Good Luck!

Regards, Ray in FLA

[Doug@IceMagic]

You should be able to save the file as .txt (Adobe Reader 8.0) and edit the file with your CAM and save with the appropriate NC extension, i.e. (.tap, etc.)

[bcnc]

If it helps Im using mach 3 controller. Ray, i think what you showed will work, will take some work though. Im not too good at programming yet. Thanks Brian