How to clean up traced image

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

as requested on support…

Given an image:

which has been traced:

the question is posed:

This is a trace image and I’m trying to straighten some lines. Some I can and some I can’t. Can you please help?

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

First, import the original image as a reference:

adjusting the position as necessary:

Done

Then select the geometry:

and ungroup:

Then select the geometry which one wishes to fix and zoom in:

and go into Node Edit mode:

Select and delete any unnecessary nodes:

and then select any smooth nodes which need to be adjusted:

and either adjust or convert to sharp nodes:

Repeat this for each piece of geometry:

If need be, dragging things into position:

Repeat this for each piece of geometry.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Where there is a discontinuity:

Draw in geometry to connect the elements in question:

Select the drawn geometry and the two pieces which one wishes to join together, and either Boolean Union or Trim and Join Vectors:

(note that the inside out nature of some geometry may preclude Boolean operations from working as expected)

OK

OK

and then Join Vectors to close:

and then delete nodes as necessary to clean up.

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Alternately, since the geometry for this is quite regular, it’s arguably quicker and more straight-forward to just re-create the geometry from scratch.

First, set the design so that it is centered:

Then, draw things in using the grid where possible:

Where appropriate use Linear Array to duplicate objects with precision:

Continue drawing in elements — note that it will be helpful to have the surrounding circle to use for placing elements which require duplication:

or, one can use a Circular Array:

Select Center in Window:

OK

Repeat this for other elements:

OK

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Where necessary, use Trim Vectors:

to clean up intersections:

OK

Where necessary, delete elements which are not quite in position, and position some correctly:

and draw in missing elements:

and then delete wrongly placed elements:

and then duplicate the correctly positioned ones:

Using Circular Array:

Then select Open Vectors:

add the rectangle to the selection by shift-clicking:

and remove the unneeded lines:

until one arrives at:

OK

OK

and then use Join Vectors to join things:

Yes

Draw in any remaining elements:

Adjusting the size to make things proportional:

and the position to make them symmetric:

and then paste in and position circles at the corners:

and remove the central square:

Use Trim Vectors to remove overlapping geometry:

until one arrives at:

OK

OK

Join Vectors:

Then use Circular Array:

to duplicate as needed:

OK

[Bozo (Bozo T Clown)]

Here is a single line version svg. Not perfect but probably close enough. Drawn up with linear and circular arrays in CC.

This on one side and a 4 player version on the other side and sell for big bucks. I think core box bits for everything on the face.

[softail96 (Roger)]

WOW! William, I’m new to this and to me, you went above and beyond explaining to complete process. I took advice and started from scratch and redrew the entire game board. Now I have another issue, I have the Shapeoko 4 XL and the cutting area is 33" X 17.5" and my grid is 20" X 20". I have tried to shrink the design, but I’m not having any luck. I probably missing something simple. I selected all and tried aligning to my new grid size, but to no avail. Can you please help with this? Nevermind, I just found what I knew should be there. Thanks, Roger

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

To reduce your working area go to Job Setup:

and change things there as desired:

Note that the Job Setup area does not need to match the working area of your machine.

What are you trying to do? What stock are you trying to cut? Where do you want to have the origin (note that I changed it to Center and left it there — if you wish to set origin from the default lower-left corner you will need to change that in Job Setup.

[softail96 (Roger)]

William, I edited my post stating that I had found what I was looking for. Thanks for some more in depth explanation.