well now that i have it im lost.....

[pulsar110]

I think I meantioned in another thread that I bought a 40W engraver. Usually Im pretty cumputer savy but Im havin a hard time figuring out how to do that I want to do. The machine is the Artsign 40 with Newlydraw software.

The main reason I bought a laser is to cut balsa and lite ply for RC planes. I found a few dxf files and have cut a few pieces to learn the machine. Now heres my question. I want to scan from the paper plans for an airplane, which is like a blue print but on paper. How do I go from like a JPEG, TIF, or wahtever to make it a DXF file?

Hope you guys can guide me thru this so I can make this work. Thank you for your time.

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[KTP]

I can't remember the name of it right now, but there are a few shareware or freeware programs that will go from a jpg or bmp to dxf. You will end up with a lot of extra lines and garbage that you will have to hand edit out of the dxf in autocad or rhino or something, but sometimes it is good to get the basic outline into your system.

Do a search on bmp to dxf converter

[bisjoe]

What you need to do, converting from rastor to vector, is not that easy. programs like Corel trace and Adobe Illustrator can do it, but there is a lot of time to be spent after tracing to clean up the file before exporting as a dxf for your laser.

Take a scanned bitmap file like jpg, and enlarge it. The lines are made up of dots
(pixels). When a trace program is run it will go around each pixel and make a rather jagged line. If you export that as is your wood will have that same jagged edge. You have to use a graphics program to remove extra points, change curves to lines or the other way around as needed.

[lamicron]

I scan the plans and after draw it with corel, is easy and as accurate as you want.The trace programs depending on the file can give you a image with multiple lines that make very difficult to get a good image.

[SkipW]

http://www.theothersolutions.com/Sof...r/Scan2CAD.htm

Ran across this web page the other day. I don't know anything about the software but it says it does raster to vector conversion. $300 to $500 bucks though.... ouch....

[pulsar110]

lamicron,
what version of what corel program do you use? a few days ago i downloaded a trial version of CorelDRAW x3. is that what you are using to do this?

[lamicron]

Yes, I use corelx3 for drawing , I import photos or drawings and trace on theme with the form tool moving the nodes, when I'm going to engrave I start from a square (close figure) because the engrave option doesn't accept open files.
and corel 12 for the laser machine.

[lamicron]

I traced these from Photos

[Baketech]

I've not found an inexpensive jpg to dxf conversion that doesn't require tons of cleanup for line art, so if it's out there, please share...

I generally scan the image, then bring it into AutoCad, lock the layer, then "draw" over top of the image. This gives you complete control over matching arcs, thicknesses, clearances etc. It can be done fairly quickly, and the result is a better drawing... :twocents:

[Jim Dornon]

Try this, http://vectormagic.stanford.edu/

[MonoNeuron]

I have Scan2Cad V7 and don't like it at all. It is hard to use and the vector cleanup tools are not good or intuitive. I love the Corel X3 vector converter tool and it does a great job after you get used to it which isn't too long. I bought a Corporate version on EBay for $85 and love it. I also bought an E-Book to learn the program and it takes all the hassles out of learning a great program.
I get a raster file and in Photoshop or Corel set the file to 200% and 300 dpi then import it into the conversion tool to change it and it gets rid of a lot of the jaggies.
Rich.

[pulsar110]

so im not sure if im just not getting it or what! i have re setup the mirrors a couple times and have them aimed and focused every well. the impact point is nice and fine. the problem im having is that i want to burn through 1/8" ply to make the formers for rc airplanes. this is the 40 watt chinese JSM machine. is it just not really up to the task?

[SkipW]

so im not sure if im just not getting it or what! i have re setup the mirrors a couple times and have them aimed and focused every well. the impact point is nice and fine. the problem im having is that i want to burn through 1/8" ply to make the formers for rc airplanes. this is the 40 watt chinese JSM machine. is it just not really up to the task?

I am not an expert by any means, but maybe I can help in some small way. What are you running for speed and power? 100% power I would think but what speed, and are you using air assist?

I've never cut any myself, but if this is exterior ply, they say the glue used in that stuff is hard to cut through. Got any 1/8" MDF or 1/8" real wood laying around to try for comparison?

[pulsar110]

i have cut up to 3/8 balsa with it and it does that. my cut speed is down to 1 cm/sec. no air assist, the machine was not setup with it.

[MonoNeuron]

You should be able to cut through it with 40 watts but probably very slowly. My 30 watt machine is putting out 35 watts but I doubt I could cut through 1/8 ply with less than 2 passes. Its all in the glue. It cuts the wood fine but has a problem with the glue. You could test the power output by using a mirror and deflecting the beam into a glass of water then do the math calculating how much temperature rise in a certain time. You need an accurate thermometer and a watch or clock. It is a simple calculation but I can't remember it right now but maybe if you do a search you may come up with it. My original glass Chinese laser lost a heap of power 8 months after I bought it, so much so, it was near useless for what I needed to do with it. Yours may be the same.
Rich.
I just came across this if you want to try it out,
Power P is the quotient of done work w = energy and the taken time t
P = w / t.