How would i cut this??

[myxpykalix]

I have changed my mind a hundred times over a door design. I looked at door mfg's sites and i saw this and my thought was to take that design that is in the glass part and either cut that into a solid core door or on to an applied substrate.
I want to take that design from the picture and i have read about inkscape doing bitmap tracing. I downloaded it and tried it but was not happy with the results. Any of you inkscape experts out there have a link to a tutorial or info on the best way to turn this into a vector or dxf file?
Once that is done what would be your recommendation for machining strategy and tooling? My thought was profiling inside the vectors? Use a 1/4" or 3/8" endmill.
The picture may not have enough resolution to do a good job. Does anyone have any dxf's of door designs? Or mfg sites that have the dxf's?


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[mzettl]

Hi Jack,

Me again. I've never used Inkscape, but I have tried to convert what are basically photos to a vector file with Corel Trace, and have not had much success. I suspect that it would be best to convert the file to B&W, and then try to convert from a bitmap to vector. I think you would stilll be looking at a lot of cleanup though.

That being said, this particular design is quite geometric, and would be relatively easy to draw from scratch. You could also trace it manually with Corel fairly easily. I could probably draw it with Sketchup in 30 to 60 minutes, maybe less.

Sometimes just going ahead and drawing it is faster than all the fooling around required to use various software packages to get from bitmap to vector. I'm sure there are people out there who are much more familiar with this process than I am, and can probably do it in just a few minutes. I'm just the kind of guy who likes to get things done without spinning my wheels a lot.

Matt

[jhicks]

I second Matt's approach. Drawing from scratch seems quicker and easier than messing with direct conversion. Perhaps importing it as a bit map as a guide, then use that model to trace lines and geometry, clean up and smooth vecxtors, scale to door panel size, then tool path perhaps in V carve with maybe a 120 Degree to 140 Degree V carve or parts wizard would deliver a shallow enough cut but enough to create the artwork depth and accent with darker stain or finish in the V. I think The V cutter would be more complimentary to this art deco style anyway.
Good luck

[randy]

Jack,

I don't think there is enough contrast in your image to do a decent trace. You will spend more time trying to adjust the parameters to perform the trace and then cleaning up the result than if you do it by hand.

Suggestion: Use the layers capability of your drawing software. Open the image in one layer; manually draw the image on another layer; then delete the image layer.

[Brady Watson]

How about an original design? I see a lot of folks afraid to step out there with their own designs, copying existing ones. I think that merely copying an established design robs you of your creative ability and keeps you stuck in the mentality that your designs aren't good enough for one reason or another. If this is for a rental property that you own, then there is really little risk of 'looking bad'...and it's a great opportunity to get your designs out there & say that you designed & built it totally from scratch. There's no such thing as a 'wrong' design...You don't need outside validation from existing designs to prove your own design is good & you get good at design by designing. Not many of us are born with all of the crafty designs in our heads...We have to work at it! Just a thought...

-B

[rg_engravers]

Jack I could make the dxf file for you, would only take a minute or 2

Ron

[edcoleman]

Here Here, Brady !

I had a customer ask me for a design based on something they had seen on the web and I took the picture to a graphic artist to see if they could come up with something similar. They quoted me $200 for an original graphic design that I could use for a period of time, then the copyright would revert to them. I decided to try my hand at the design and while what I came up with might not be the equal of a "real artist" - I'm proud to say I did it from scratch.



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The basic shape was cut on the 'bot and the graphics were laser engraved.

[mzettl]

I certainly agree with Brady, and I am a strong proponent of doing your own designs. But, that certainly sends this thread in another direction, which may not be bad. One way to start with your own design process is to take something you like, modify it, or use it as a basis for something that is your own. In the case of Jack's door, the Art Deco theme shown in the photo could certainly be the basis for a design that reflects that style, and would be easy to cut on the Bot.

Thanks for raising that thought, Brady.

Matt

[myxpykalix]

Brady,
You know your words of encouragement remind me of another wiseman i've compared you to in the past (Po) and you are correct. As with my wainscoting I took a design I saw elsewhere changed it, added to it, got lots of help along the way, and turned it into something that i'm proud to show off.
Admittedly sometimes I like to take shortcuts but mainly because i don't have the time to learn a new software program just to do something like as bitmap trace or something like that. I have bad arthritis so my sleep schedule is...go to sleep, wake up in an hour in pain, work on the computer, get sleepy, go to sleep, wake up in another hour. This cycle repeats itself about 3-4 times a night so i'm usually running on empty most of the time.
So i reserve my "learning time" for the middle of the night! Thats why you see me posting at 3AM.
Because i don't have CorelDraw let me ask those of you who do (or use other applications) when you talk about "tracing" I think about the old "onion skin" paper you put on top of a picture then use your pencil to trace the picture that way. Are you referring to a method like that? Or is this some type of auto function?
I don't know how i could manually trace anything accurately with a mouse on a screen. You've seen my artistic ability in drawing here before.
How hard is CorelDraw to learn to use?

[myxpykalix]

Ed,
You need to post that pic over in Virtual show and tell and tell us how you designed that? It looks almost like "applied molding" on a background but my assumption is it is "area cleared"? How did you achieve the details on the figures? Beautiful work...details man, details!!

[davidallen]

If you're looking for 2D vectors conversions, try:

http://www.convert2vector.com/

They look cheap enough.

da

[zeykr]

Jack, for ideas and a cad drawing starting point, take a look at trustile's site. You can choose a basic design, modify it some, then download cad files.

http://www.trustile.com/doordesigntools/default.asp

[blaz_in_az]

Jack,
I have ArtCam Insignia and it has a conversion program to trace bitmat to vector. I found this feature did not to work very good on photographs. After several trys, I found a method that works pretty well for me.

At first trying to trace "exactly" was nearly impossible. Sometimes I would be 10 minutes into a trace and make a goof, and would have to start over. But I have found it easier to trace and correct than try to be perfect the first time.

Trace as accurately as reasonable as is possible with a mouse and unsteady hand. In any fine detail area put more "points", in and don't worry about errors.

Once I copy it into my program, then I begin to smooth lines and add points as necessary to get the final look I want. My point is: it is nearly impossible to trace exactly, but it is surprisingly easier to correct and smooth later.

I hope this helps you. Email me if you have questions. I just finished a drawing of my new granddaughter and it looks remarkably like her, using just a tracing of the outline of her face and features.