Problem: I have an object (Snowflake) that when i bring into sheetcam and i edit contours to put the outside portion on its own layer, it is not one solid shape. Rather its a single elements. I assume this problem is from the inkscape set up. How do i correct this?
Where did you get the image? Was it a DXF that you brought into Inkscape? That usually results in the file being individual line segments that are not connected. The easiest way to fix that is to select all (CTRL+A) in Inkscape, while in the “edit nodes” mode, go to the “path” menu and select “combine”.
By the way, there is no need to move contours to another layer in Sheetcam unless you want to create a different operation for that layer. If your drawing doesn’t have errors, it should import with Red lines for outside contours, Yellow lines for inside contours and White lines for open paths. If you select “outside offset” in your jet cutting operation, Sheetcam will assign the correct offsets based on the line color.
1 Like
Yes, it was a dxf file that was brought into inkscape. I had tried the combine method before and it did not work. maybe i was not in the edit nodes mode. I will try again.
The only reason i do seperate operations is so i can assign rules. I have a rule set for Outside cuts, Inside cuts and Holes. Is there an easier way?
I did retry the “combine” function while in editing nodes and still individual lines when in sheetcam.
Why import the DXF to Inkscape? Are you making some changes to it? You can import the DXF straight into Sheetcam and scale it there. It’s not as easy to scale to a particular size, but you can do it.
I can’t think of a reason to have different rules for Inside, Outside and Holes. Rules have parameters, so that rule only gets applied if the conditions are met. Like slowing down for holes smaller than a specified diameter or angles greater than the specified angle.
I have a set of rules that gets applied to everything that I cut. Those are to slow down for circles smaller than .75", slow down for shapes smaller than .5" and slow down for arcs smaller than .5".
Almost everything I cut gets done in a single operation with “outside offset” selected. Using “outside offset” makes Sheetcam assign Red lines as outside offset, Yellow lines as inside offset and White lines as no offset. If you select “inside offset”, Sheetcam will reverse all of those offsets.
The only way to really fix the individual lines properly in Inkscape is to individually “join” all of the disconnected nodes. Working with DXF files in Inkscape can be a real mess sometimes, so I try to avoid it whenever possible. You might be able to do something like converting it to a bitmap and tracing it. The best option is to go to Convertio.co and convert it to SVG before importing to Inkscape.
1 Like
Thank you for all the info. I did use convertio and it works fine.
I will try cutting using your method of applying rules. Thanks for the tips.
1 Like