Engraving SB= Image added

[KeriJo]

Hello, all. I'm new to all of this cutting, but, I must say, I'm completely obsessed with it now. I'm a graphic designer/photographer and just got my Silver Bullet a few days ago. SCAL has been running ok since downloading it, but now, all of a sudden, it's freezing and taking forever to select or move layers. Been working on this one design for hours and am getting very frustrated. it's almost 2 am and I've yet to finish one file I started on about 6 hours ago. I've tried restarting my computer (I'm on a Mac) several times, and still freezing... Any suggestions?

RESOLVED: It has been determined that the issue is just with this one file and not all files.

[papasue]

Hi, the only thing I can think of is if your file has gotten to big for the memory of your computer.
You say you've worked on it for hours and have many layers so you might check the size.

Have you shut down totally and restarted?

[KeriJo]

Yes, I was wondering if the file was too big. I used the lattice to fill in part of it, and that was the layer that was freezing up. I was doing something for engraving, which, I may say, turned out spectacular! I even trashed several layers. After several hours of working on something that should have taken less than 10 min, I uninstalled and reinstalled the program. I'm thinking my computer was doing some kind of upgrade in the background, maybe, because restarting didn't fix the problem. I'm getting back in there now. My obsession continues! This Silver Bullet exceeds my expectations. Love, love, LOVE it! <3. I'll try to upload my finish product of my brother. He is a musician and I found these guitar pick charms at Hobby Lobby (and WHY I did not pick up their entire stock is beyond me! {kick, kick, kicking the wall}). One side has his band logo, and the other side has, well, himself! Let me know what you think! Not bad for my first try at engraving!

[papasue]

Beautiful work???? so happy you shared with us.

TKS

[gj1]

Curious...how did you hold the charms in place to do this job?

[dragonlord666]

If you use inkscape you can use the eggbot extension from evil mad scientist to create fills.

Very good work.


the mat should be sticky enough to hold the pick but if not you could use a spray glue on the back of the pick and then put on the mat.

Gaz

[KeriJo]

I actually cut out the outside of the pick (a smidgeon bigger than the original) on thicker cardstock for a "jig" (my hubby is a carpenter, so trained me well!). Then, kept my origin the same, placed the pick in the cutout, and used masking tape along the outside of it. Didn't move a bit. The sticky mat helped keep it in place, but I wanted to be extra sure it stayed, so used tape. Just make sure you hide the outside layer before you engrave... I may or may not have done that. Getting ready to engrave on some dog tags now.

[KeriJo]

Dang, Inkscape looked pretty good, but I'm running on a Mac.... Doesn't support it. May have to jump over to my PC for this one.

[dragonlord666]

Dang, Inkscape looked pretty good, but I'm running on a Mac.... Doesn't support it. May have to jump over to my PC for this one.

er...... I use inkscape and a mac (snow leopard) why do you think a mac does not support it?

Gaz

[KeriJo]

Sorry, I posted before I completely read anything about inkscape. I've got it downloaded, but have no clue what to do in it. Guess I better read a few tutorials... I'm trying to convert a black and white photo of my son's K9 Mallinois to engrave. Not sure how or what to do. I always jump in deep head first with new things and have to figure things out to get the hang of it. I'm a pro at PS, but Illustrator, SCAL, and now Inkscape are totally blowing me out of the water.