Importing files from the internet

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

Depends on the sort of picture.

Vector images as DXFs or SVGs which are properly defined as filled/empty regions import well and are straight-forward to assign toolpaths to.

Typical SVGs and vector clip-art require a bit of cleanup:

Converting line art for drawing

Often clip art is drawn as a series of stacked stroked and filled outline, e.g., http://clipartist.net/svg/minimalistic-ray-gun-logo-black-white-line-art-svg/ which looks line, but is a confusing mess when one views it in outline mode: [inkscape_1] The solution is to expand the strokes, and punch out the white fills. In Inkscape this is done by: Path | Object to Path [inkscape_2] Then break everything apart (it is important to work in View | Display Mode | Outline) using Path | Break Ap…

Pixel images may be traced:

Carbide Create - Image Tracing

We just posted CC 520 to: https://carbide3d.com/carbidecreate/download/ 520 includes a big new feature for us, Image Tracing. [image] You should be able to load a JPG or PNG and get a reasonable set of curves from it very quickly. A few caveats: Right now, it’s mono only so color images will be converted to black and white using the thresholds in the window. We’re not optimizing for very small images so some will work well, others won’t. We’d recommend images larger than 500px on a side …

or placed on a background layer and re-created:

Let's draw an "ellipse" with new users

(the title of this post hearkens back to a small book / card which Warren Chappell created, “Let’s make a “B” for Bennet” — I was fortunate to meet Mr. Chappell when he was Artist-in-Residence at UVA on a school field trip when I was young, and he was the author, along with his cousin Oscar Ogg, of a number of books I remember from my youth.) Note that the below is obsoleted in current versions of Carbide Create by the ability to asymmetrically scale a circle into an oval/ellipse. Okay, step-b…

also see:

Let's Make a B (for anyone)

Ages ago, there was an elegant little pamphlet entitled “Let’s Make a B for Bennet” which Warren Chappell wrote and illustrated. Here’s a discussion of how to use Carbide Create’s new curve feature to draw a B. We start with an image of a “B”: https://www.flickr.com/photos/letterformarchive/38372487832/in/album-72157687338823192/ [38372487832_6b4562b0a5_o]