DXF Help

[zakscott22]

Thank you, David, I'm going to probably spend some time this weekend playing with it and seeing what I can come up with. I really appreciate it. I definitely need to play around with some of the other programs and maybe play with doing artsy stuff.

[zakscott22]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

[adbuch]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

What file export options does it offer? Perhaps show a screen shot of the export options drop down tab.
David

[adbuch]

I have been trying to convert this into a DXF file to cut for my local fire department, everytime i try to trace it i can not get a clean file that will look ok when being cut. Alot of the corners and what should be sharper edges get more rounded and kinda looks sloppy to me. I have asked for a better looking file but this is the best they have given me. Can someone help me, im not even sure if this is the right location to ask for this.
IMG_20240311_192535.jpg

I don't think anyone ever asked - but what program are you using to do your trace? Were you trying to trace by hand or auto trace? When you say that you're getting rounded corners that leads me to believe you are using auto trace.
Thanks,
David

[adbuch]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

https://www.proma-elektronika.com/downl ... iCADen.pdf

myminicad.jpg

[zakscott22]

I have been trying to convert this into a DXF file to cut for my local fire department, everytime i try to trace it i can not get a clean file that will look ok when being cut. Alot of the corners and what should be sharper edges get more rounded and kinda looks sloppy to me. I have asked for a better looking file but this is the best they have given me. Can someone help me, im not even sure if this is the right location to ask for this.
IMG_20240311_192535.jpg

I don't think anyone ever asked - but what program are you using to do your trace? Were you trying to trace by hand or auto trace? When you say that you're getting rounded corners that leads me to believe you are using auto trace.
Thanks,
David

/

So I was using auto trace in inkscape. When you say hand trace what do you mean?

[zakscott22]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

https://www.proma-elektronika.com/downl ... iCADen.pdf
myminicad.jpg

well that sucks, i guess im gonna have to start drawing in fusion360 or something

[adbuch]

I have been trying to convert this into a DXF file to cut for my local fire department, everytime i try to trace it i can not get a clean file that will look ok when being cut. Alot of the corners and what should be sharper edges get more rounded and kinda looks sloppy to me. I have asked for a better looking file but this is the best they have given me. Can someone help me, im not even sure if this is the right location to ask for this.
IMG_20240311_192535.jpg

I don't think anyone ever asked - but what program are you using to do your trace? Were you trying to trace by hand or auto trace? When you say that you're getting rounded corners that leads me to believe you are using auto trace.
Thanks,
David

/

So I was using auto trace in inkscape. When you say hand trace what do you mean?

Auto Trace example

1.jpg

Hand Trace (manual trace) example

2.jpg

[adbuch]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

https://www.proma-elektronika.com/downl ... iCADen.pdf
myminicad.jpg

well that sucks, i guess im gonna have to start drawing in fusion360 or something

For mechanical parts, Fusion 360 could be a good choice. Inkscape and CorelDraw would work as well. For more artistic pieces such as the original image you posted - Inkscape, CorelDraw, or Adobe Illustrator would probably be better than Fusion 360. I expect that Ben did his "manual drawing" of your image using TMCad, or maybe CorelDraw. I did my work on it using a combination of Inkscape, AI, and Design Edge.

Inkscape is free - so that would probably be my recommendation to get you started. You can certainly draw plates, brackets, etc. using Inkscape. Then save as dxf for import to your myplasm program for cutting. Also - your myminicad program will work fine for drawing simple shapes like brackets, etc. that you have probably already been doing.

David

[adbuch]

Here is an Inkscape manual trace screen shot sequence to show how to use the Bezier draw tool to hand trace an image.
David

manual trace 1.jpg

manual trace 2.jpg

manual trace 3.jpg

manual trace 4.jpg

manual trace 5.jpg

manual trace 6.jpg

[adbuch]

And here is another one. Let me know if you have any questions about this process and I will try to answer them.
David

manual trace example.jpg

manual trace example 1.jpg

manual trace example 2.jpg

manual trace example 3.jpg

manual trace example 4.jpg

manual trace example 5.jpg

manual trace example 6.jpg

[adbuch]

manual trace example 7.jpg

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[ben de lappe]

So I was using auto trace in inkscape. When you say hand trace what do you mean?

One hand traces an image by placing nodes individually and adjusting them to suit as David has done in his well thought out samples. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it the results are so much better versus simply relying on a trace and straightening it out.

https://www.proma-elektronika.com/downl ... iCADen.pdf
myminicad.jpg

well that sucks, i guess im gonna have to start drawing in fusion360 or something

For mechanical parts, Fusion 360 could be a good choice. Inkscape and CorelDraw would work as well. For more artistic pieces such as the original image you posted - Inkscape, CorelDraw, or Adobe Illustrator would probably be better than Fusion 360. I expect that Ben did his "manual drawing" of your image using TMCad, or maybe CorelDraw. I did my work on it using a combination of Inkscape, AI, and Design Edge.

Inkscape is free - so that would probably be my recommendation to get you started. You can certainly draw plates, brackets, etc. using Inkscape. Then save as dxf for import to your myplasm program for cutting. Also - your myminicad program will work fine for drawing simple shapes like brackets, etc. that you have probably already been doing.

David

Yes David, for the sake of expediency I used TM CAD here. As always hand traced and looking like they always will be as I venture deeper into CorelDraw and continue to learn

[adbuch]

Also, probably the wrong part of the forum to ask but I'm using MyPlasma and their cad program MyMiniCad for some of my drawings I'm doing, I tried to share a couple, but they are saved as .2d format. Is there an easy way to convert to a .svg or .dxf file so I can share them with everyone.

https://www.proma-elektronika.com/downl ... iCADen.pdf
myminicad.jpg

well that sucks, i guess im gonna have to start drawing in fusion360 or something

zakscott22 - Since you mentioned drawing in Fusion 360 - here is an example showing how to do a manual trace using Fusion 360. Fusion 360 does have a very nice Spline tool for manual tracing - very similar to the CorelDraw B-Spline tool that I like to use, and quicker to use than the Inkscape Bezier draw tool.

David

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[adbuch]

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[plasmanewbie]

No kidding. Pretty cool. Never tried to trace anything in Fusion before, thats pretty slick David, thanks.

[adbuch]

No kidding. Pretty cool. Never tried to trace anything in Fusion before, thats pretty slick David, thanks.

The OP mentioned he might have to use Fusion 360, so I thought I would show him an example. It's really pretty simple to do, and the only downside of Fusion 360 is that it is "cloud based" and sometimes has lags/delays in processing in real time.

David

[DieselFumes]

No kidding. Pretty cool. Never tried to trace anything in Fusion before, thats pretty slick David, thanks.

The OP mentioned he might have to use Fusion 360, so I thought I would show him an example. It's really pretty simple to do, and the only downside of Fusion 360 is that it is "cloud based" and sometimes has lags/delays in processing in real time.

David

I have noticed that lag sometimes, it's pretty irritating and with complex designs it can be a looooong time.

[zakscott22]

No kidding. Pretty cool. Never tried to trace anything in Fusion before, thats pretty slick David, thanks.

The OP mentioned he might have to use Fusion 360, so I thought I would show him an example. It's really pretty simple to do, and the only downside of Fusion 360 is that it is "cloud based" and sometimes has lags/delays in processing in real time.

David

Thank you for showing how to hand trace in those programs, I am definitely going to have to find time to sit down and just play with it all. I took autocad in high school back in the early 2000s so just trying to get back into it and figure it all out.

[adbuch]

No kidding. Pretty cool. Never tried to trace anything in Fusion before, thats pretty slick David, thanks.

The OP mentioned he might have to use Fusion 360, so I thought I would show him an example. It's really pretty simple to do, and the only downside of Fusion 360 is that it is "cloud based" and sometimes has lags/delays in processing in real time.

David

Thank you for showing how to hand trace in those programs, I am definitely going to have to find time to sit down and just play with it all. I took autocad in high school back in the early 2000s so just trying to get back into it and figure it all out.

That probably would have been AutoCAD Release 14, or maybe AutoCAD 2000. I started out using AutoCAD R14 in 1997 and still use it today for certain tasks. It won't run on Windows 7 or 10, so I've got it installed onto several older computers running Windows 2000 and Windows xp. It would not be useful for image tracing, but is great for mechanical drawings, etc. But if you were proficient with AutoCad, it should be easier for you to learn some ot the newer drawing programs. Let us know which program you decide to learn and be sure to ask if you have any questions about it.

David