Help converting DXF files

[talanhart]

DXF files are a pain to work with, because of the broken segments. Every once in awhile I get one from a customer and I have to convert it to something we can use. Sometimes when I select all, merging works for me and sometimes it doesn't. I wish I knew why.

[Orion]

Yea, I'm starting to figure out the conversion from dxf isn't a good thing. I was originally thinking that the broken segments was due to tabs put in to hold the piece still while cutting with a router type cnc machine. But I guess that was wrong thinking too.

[Sweetness4713]

When I export the next ones as svg and import into inkscape it just shows up as one big white square with dotted line around it. IE there is nothing from SCAL in the SVG file. I tried going back and drawing the selection square around what I wanted to export and doing it again but had the same results. What am I missing? Here is my svg I exported from SCAL.

Gregg

Gregg??? Your shapes are there.. It's because you don't have your strokes color showing.. If you look at the bottom your strokes and fill are showing unset.. Right click on them and use color fill..

This is what I get when I set the stroke to black.. and here is the image.

[Sweetness4713]

When I export the next ones as svg and import into inkscape it just shows up as one big white square with dotted line around it. IE there is nothing from SCAL in the SVG file. I tried going back and drawing the selection square around what I wanted to export and doing it again but had the same results. What am I missing? Here is my svg I exported from SCAL.

Gregg

Gregg??? Your shapes are there.. It's because you don't have your strokes color showing.. If you look at the bottom your strokes and fill are showing unset.. Right click on them and use color fill..

This is what I get when I set the stroke to black.. and here is the image.

Then what you can do is use the paint bucket on the side to fill in the pieces ..

[jasenj1]

Ouch. Yeah, that SVG file is not going to work in SCAL. SCAL likes continuous paths, with all the nodes connected to each other. With a zillion line segments like you have, SCAL is going to cut a line, raise the blade, move to some other line segment (could be the adjacent one, could be across the page), then lower the blade and cut the next segment. U.G.L.Y.

Sweetness is right that the paint bucket tool is one approach to fix this. Also, you could save as PNG or some other bitmap format from within Inkscape and import into SCAL, letting it auto trace.

Inkscape's paint bucket tool is tricky, though, because it fills based on the view on the screen. That is, if you are zoomed in closely you'll get a more accurate fill than if you are zoomed out with fewer details visible. Also, the paint bucket tends to fill ONLY what's visible on the screen. So if you zoom in to get good detail, but then the piece hangs off the edge of the screen, when you fill, that hidden part does not fill! I've found this very frustrating with the paper toy templates I turn into cut files.

GIMP has the magic wand tool that can be used to select bounded areas similar to what the paint bucket does. These selection paths can be saved as SVG. The magic wand does not depend on the screen view, so I have found it better than Inkscape in many cases.

For the tracing I do, I've kind of settled into a process of using Inkscape's paint bucket or GIMP's magic wand, then going in and manually tweaking the nodes to exactly where I want them. A bit time consuming, but it works.

One final note: Don't miss the paint bucket's "Grow/shrink by" setting. When filling open parts like you have, it can be used to extend the fill beyond the outlines rather than being on the inside of the lines.

- Jasen.

P.S. Also, Inkscape can open DXF files. You might try opening your DXF with it and see what you get. Maybe Inkscape will be smart enough to convert how you want.

P.P.S. (I'm just full of helpful advice today. Avoiding work.) SCAL stops the blade at each node in a shape. So it is beneficial to keep the node count low so you get nice continuous smooth cuts. Stopping & starting the blade leads to nicks, jaggies, and parts that don't pop out cleanly.

[Orion]

The DFX is even worse... LOL There are complete lines missing everywhere when imported into inkscape.

[talanhart]

How about a DXF to PDF converter. I see there are some free ones available.

[Orion]

Ok, that is looking better. I went from dxf to pdf and then imported into scal. I pulled one of the ribs off the sheet and zoomed in on it to see what it looked like. It looks as though all the nodes are connected now but instead of it being one continuous color it is MANY different colors. I will test cut this to see but will the group feature make it one solid continuous cut?

[jasenj1]

Ok, that is looking better. I went from dxf to pdf and then imported into scal. I pulled one of the ribs off the sheet and zoomed in on it to see what it looked like. It looks as though all the nodes are connected now but instead of it being one continuous color it is MANY different colors. I will test cut this to see but will the group feature make it one solid continuous cut?

I think that means they are separate lines. If it was all one path, then they would all be the same color. I think your best bet may be to use Inkscape, GIMP or even SCAL to trace the parts. You'll get nice bezier curves rather than dozens of line segments. I don't know enough about DXF to know if it supports (or if the original file you're using) multi-segment paths.

Feel free to post or send me a DXF and I'll kick it around a bit.

- Jasen.

[Orion]

Here you go Jasen. The whole dxf kit. I tried going into inkscape and doing the fill thing but I just can't figure it out. No matter what color I set the line and fill to my import is still blank. I need a tutorial for inkscape I guess....

Hmm the file is too large to stick here. Let me find the link.