Relatively new to CNCing. I have a Shapeoko 3 and have cut a variety projects including basic signs, inlays (developed by others), and topographic maps. I am now thinking about developing my own files, Possibly two or three project in the future I think it would be nice to use a photo of my Mom’s house to develop an inlay cutting board (thinking ahead to possible Xmas presents for family).
I’ve stumbled onto GIMP3. Its a pretty impressive photo editing program similar to photoshop (at least in my uneducated opinion). I’ve spent the last month or so researching how to use GIMP3 but am having trouble finding tutorials that are geared toward the CNC/woodworking community.
My question is this, has anybody used GIMP 3 (or other graphic editing programs) to develop vectors for inlays files. If so, would you mind sharing some of the resources you’ve discovered?
You can create “Paths” in Gimp to export as vectors. Gimp doesn’t trace raster images & create paths (vectors). But you can trace in CC. I think the majority of people use Inkscape for vectors. It can trace and convert line drawings to single vectors (center trace).
FYI, I use Gimp a lot. But it’s limited when it comes to vectors. I’ll tweak images so they trace better in CC or Inkscape.
I just draw stuff up using Macromedia Freehand (or directly in Carbide Create).
You could use Inkscape as the other free option, or if on a Mac/Linux, Cenon (not that it has a commercial CAM option, but the drawing mode is free).
Basically, as noted, any tool which will make a pixel image (to trace or import to the background for reference) or an SVG or DXF (to import as a vector) will work.