[Plusman]

How do i digitize a paper pattern for cnc router ??
Does v carve pro alow you take a picture of the template and trace it some how.
Thx

 

[John Smith_]

just out of curiosity, can we see the paper pattern ?

 

[gwilki]

Like John, I'd like to see the pattern. If you have a scanner, you could scan it, then import the bitmap into VCarve and do a trace to get vectors. You could do the same thing with a photograph of it. The level of success will depend on the clarity of the scan/photo and the level of detail of the pattern.

 

[MEBCWD]

Yes you can trace a picture in VCarve Pro. Right-click on the picture and select properties, then adjust the % of fading so it will be easy to see it when not selected. Then use the Draw Line and/or Draw Curve to trace it. If you have the actual dimensions and want to maintain those dimensions then just draw the item to scale.

 

[gwilki]

I'm not sure what version of VCP you are using, Mike, but back to 9 at least, you can simply import the bitmap (In this case, the scanned object.) and click on the "trace bitmap" icon.

 

[MEBCWD]

I have had Aspire since it turned V2.

The auto trace feature can be hard to use depending on what kind of picture you are trying to use. I have found it is quicker a lot of the time just to trace the picture using the drawing tools so you don't have a lot of node cleanup to do like you have most of the time using the auto trace feature.

It really depends on the project. If you need to hold dimensions then it is better to just draw the item using the drawing tools.

 

[gwilki]

Good tips, Mike. Tks.

 

[ger21]

My preference has always been to manually trace over the image.
Actually, my real preference is to measure the object and draw from scratch, whenever possible, as it can be more accurate.
I've been doing this for 25 years, and can count on one hand the times I've used the Auto Trace.

 

[gwilki]

That's good to know, Ger. Like you, I prefer to draw when I can. I've had reasonable results from using the trace. I guess that it depends a great deal on the quality and complexity of the art work.
Thanks much.

 

[Rob Bragg]

I'm sure you have a smart phone so just take a picture of the pattern and import into V Carve or Inkscape (free program) and convert.

 

[Stokestack]

I would use a scanner. If you take a picture of it, you'll never be perfectly parallel to it and thus the geometry will be distorted.