Generating paths (Gcode) from Illustrator CS2

[bigal]

Hi there,
I have some artwork in photoshop which i have cleaned up and exported path data into illustrator / cleaned up etc but am now lost as to how to convert from the illustrator path data into G-Code. I have tried exporting as DXF and using the ACE converter but it seems to generate a blank text document.... If i open the DXF in VisualMill it shows the path data but of course, visualmill has no facilities to generate the NC code...

I have tried using mojosofts BMP2DIN for converting the photoshop image directly, which works amazingly well except it is hideously inefficient for simple engravings as it works by passing over all points of the material.... (10+ hours for a 70 x 100mm piece)

I am only really looking to do simple 2D engraving / sign works etc, nothing too complicated.

If anyone is able to shed some light on some (preferbly free! (poor student)) software which may be able to bridge the gap between photoshop type images (rasters / bitmaps) / illustrator path data (just so i can use the magic wand to generate paths ^_^) and G-Code i would be most grateful (basically i would love you forever as i have tried for months to do this!...)

All the best - Alex

[fowlerpb]

I have had success on Windows converting Raster to Vector with "Inkscape." Use "Path->Trace Bitmap" and then consider "Path->Simplify." Save in Postscript.

Convert Postscript to DXF via "pstoedit." May requrie ghostscript libraries.

Convert the DXF to gcode via "LazyCam". You should actually consider buying LazyCam, although for what you need, it is free.

Check out www.3dprintheads.org wiki for a very long listing of freesoftware.

Fowler