Art to DXF

[oscarg1971]

Is there a way to export to DXF in PW3? Thanks, Oscar

[harryball]

Nope, you're trapped. A big pain I know. The best I've come up with is to copy and paste to Corel X3 and then do some clean up.

Robert

[paco]

Try that:

-toolpath each (or all if you can) with 'Along vector' strategy. Don't bother which tool to use or the depth to set (any tool will work and a depth of 0.001" will work). Use the Shopbot inch post (not the arc one). Save the file.

-Start SB3 and enter FC command to convert SBP to DXF. I had problem in the past doing it this way so if it fail; get to the 'C:\Program Files\ShopBot\ShopBot 3\Bin\' folder and start 'UX_SBP.exe'.

-From that point it should be obvious; you open up the files (SBP) you want to convert and chose to save as DXF. Here again, things can slip so let us know how it goes... some program have problem with some DXF headers... V Carve PRO doesn't on converted SBP!

[donchapman]

I wish I'd never paid $500 for PW2 just because of such restrictions as inability to export dxf files. That's why I appreciate the Vectric folks and V-Carve Pro: they don't play those games.

[bruce_clark]

Don,

I have to agree. Given the choice, I would put the $$$ toward VCarvePro everytime. No font restrictions, can v-carve anything and I actually like the interface better on Vcarve even though they are similar. PW feels more "Internet Explorer" to me while VCarve feels _almost_ like "Illustrator".

Bruce

[pierre_wessels]

Or you can do what I do each time I need this to happen....Email the pw2 file to someone with artcam and have them convert the file for you - pay them for their effort and you are ready to go very quickly. I have to say that Paco is a great resource for this type of conversion. Sorry to let the cat out of the bag!!!
Pierre

[paco]

4033

[andre]

anyone know how to convert an eps file to a dxf?

[srwtlc]

If you have CorelDraw or Illustrator, each of those will open a .eps and then export as a .dxf. Beware though that each of these programs aren't the best of .dxf exporters. Cad programs should so it too, TurboCad can. Another one that works very good is Vcarve Pro.

[andre]

Thanks Scott
Thats good to know. My prs alpha will be here in march. I have turbo cad and did not see that file type in the "file open" Can you open an eps from turbo cad or do you need to export it from illistrator?

[harryball]

Andre... spend your money on VcarvePro. The new 4.0 release will be here in May and you'll get the upgrade free. From what I've heard it will be a big improvement of 3.1 with more design tools. It will import and export .eps and .dxf and does a good job. I rarely use PartWizard anymore. I use CorelX3 for dimension work and to gain access to more alignment tools... VCPro 4 should have more of these tools reducing my use of Corel.

Congrats on the bot and good luck.

Oh, let me add, you can download and play with it for free but you can't go wrong by buying it now. It has a great preview feature and between it and the shopbot control software in preview mode you can have a virtual bot running NOW.

Robert

[andre]

sounds sweet
I was planning on buying vcarve once I'm familiar with everything. It looks like a sweet program
Thanks for the info!

[srwtlc]

Andre,

I used to have had good luck opening most .eps files in TurboCad, but lately I've been getting a error stating that a marker was expected. This seems to be a CorelDraw X3 problem as I can open ones from Vcarve Pro with no problem. An eps from TC has worked with other programs well.

I'll second Roberts statement about VC Pro, best money you'll ever spend for the Bot!

[andre]

Thanks Scott

That seems to be the consensus. I may try with turbo cad. I found some vector art in eps format at http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php
and wanted to convert to dxf so I could cut on my shop bot ( when it gets here )
Have any of you guys used art like this to cut?

[kivimagi]

When I use the .sbp to .dxf converter, I find that I am getting the tool movements in the path as well. Is this expected, or am I doing something wrong?

Also would anyone be willing to convert some files for me, to .dxf from pw, if I can't get this to work. Name your price, per file. Might be quite a few files.

Regards,

[paco]

Ryan,

I can help, contact me offline please. Contact infos in my profile.

[tree]

I need some files converted to a DXF...... Anyone?

[paco]

4034

Provide contact information or better yet contact me offline.

[tree]

I really appreciate the offer Paco... I was able to get the geometry by doing the toolpath to dxf method. I will keep you in mind for the future.

By the way...... I like the Chocolate Monkeys you made.... That looked fun

[paco]

That Chocolate Suzanne (http://www.blendernation.com/2007/10/24/chocolate-monkey-heads/) wasn't from exactly... I just found it very cool and made a post on my Blog (http://pacosarea.blogspot.com) about it.


4035

[joeb]

I have a friend that has ArtCam, but says he can't open a file I create in Parts Wizard. He thinks it may be because he has an older version. Any thoughts would be appreciated.