Importing .BMP or .JPG into Dolphin CAD

[rogerfries]

I want to import a shape that I scanned into a .BMP format into Dolphin CAD, but when I select File/Import/Bitmap I browse to my file a select it, but nothing seems to happen. What's the best way to get a .BMP or .JPG type graphic into Dolphin.

Any Ideas?

Thanks!

[harley4ever]

There is something in the whats new section that explains this I think.

[sqatch]

Select import choose your image then click the image icon on your tool bar (the green cactus) which will bring the image to the work area then click to drop it. You can also set the scale in the properties dialog box.

[rogerfries]

Thanks,

I found the cactus and was able to drop the image on my drawing. I could not seem to size it however. I change the values in the dialog box and nothing happens. After It's in the drawing, it has handles. I try to size it with the handles, but as soon as I release the mouse button it just goes back to the size it came in at.

The next problem, How do I trace it to generate tool paths?

I did have some success with a program I found calld Magic Tracer
http://www.magictracer.com
This converts it to a .DXF file. It has a free to try, but $60 to buy. This works pretty well, but it would be nice to do the whole process in Dolphin if I can.

Thanks

[dertsap]

http://www.inkscape.org/ inkscape is free and is in my opinion the best option out there for creating vectors from raster images , you can save as dxf and then import into Dolphin . after that you can scale the vector to whatever size you would like in dolphin

[sqatch]

In Dolphin I trace manualy, that way I get the lines I want without a bunch of dead ends to clean up.

[rogerfries]

Sqatch,

How to you trace in Dolphin? I'm very new to Dolphin.

I'll also give Inkscape a look

Thanks both!

[sqatch]

Use the curve tool and draw lines over the bmp. Use a different layers and colors for more intricate drawings. You can also go back and move near points with the move point tool. In the view menu select near points.