Background removal in PhotoVCarve

[clivec]

Hi all,

Another cranky bugger this side.

Couldn't get GIMP to play the game using the pen tool (couldn't get it to close the loop), but using the lasoo tool does close the contour when you click on the start point.

Bucket fill as directed, and all looks good.

Open the file in PVC, and select the 'make transparent' process. I seem to be getting varied results. Although the background appears to be the one colour, and even using ctrl key, once PVC has done its thing I get odd spots (dots) machined into the background. These do not appear on the preview. Would love some answers.

Second problem is that even though the 'save NC file' image looks great in PVC, on opening it on the machine, 'background' areas towards the top of the image are left blank and unmachined.

This does not seem to happen if the background is not made transparent.

I'd love some guidance.


Clive

[P.Passuello]

Hi Clive,

The pen tool does not close like the Lasso tool.
Instead run it around the item you wish to select then click 'Selection from Path'. This will close the path with a straight line and you will see your selection.

Save the modified photo as a TIF file with no compression or as a BMP as per the PDF as this will eliminate the problem with the selection tool. You won't even need to use tolerance. I suspect you are saving it as a JPG file. JPG's compress the picture and so changes the color.

I'm not sure about the issue with the machine not machining selected areas of the background. This is what you are trying to achieve isn't it? If it isn't the case can you please post an example.

Cheers
Peter

[clivec]

G'day Peter,

Thanks for the reply. No real problem with Gimp, but I suspect that whilst I select the background to 'White out', others select the image they want and then 'white out' the remainder. Not a real problem.

I will see if I can post screen shots of the couple of funnies I am getting. Will be in a day or so.

The learning curve gets steeper

Clive

[capnl]

Hi all,

here is a sample of a litho I did from a picture my daughter made with her cellphone.

The original photo:

This when I 'spray-paint' the outlines white with 'Photopaint'-software:

After Aspire did its 'magic' the preview looked like this:

and here's the result 12" x 16" (200 x 300 mm)

any questions??
do not hesitate to PM me,

Have Fun,
John

[P.Passuello]

G'day Peter,

Thanks for the reply. No real problem with Gimp, but I suspect that whilst I select the background to 'White out', others select the image they want and then 'white out' the remainder. Not a real problem.

I will see if I can post screen shots of the couple of funnies I am getting. Will be in a day or so.

The learning curve gets steeper

Clive

You would only make the background black or white if you were making a lithophane. If you are machining wood you need to use a bright color not used in the photo like the green in the example. If you make the background white you wouldn't use the 'make color transparent' option.

Cheers
Peter

[clivec]

Thank you Peter.

Yes, applying to a lithophane.

The penny drops

Clive

[jhedlund58]

I read the gimp tutorial many times and even printed to make sure i didn't miss a step. It works. My problem was the gimp options for the tools was not always set properly. BUT After reading the extensive on-line help, I found the scissors work much better / easier as they automatically trace the figure for you with it's intelligent edge-fitting. Just click at a few points and it figures out the shape your trying to follow. Works GREAT.

As far as the shading for 2.5D... gimp has a channel function that should do this for us as well. Pic has to be in indexed mode. i haven't gotten this all figured out yet. look up CHANNEL and/or INDEX MODE and read for yourselves. i may get to it soon. on my to do list!!!

i am liking gimp more and more for these tasks and it is FREE

[bgriggs]

I recently did a post on my blog about removing the background from a photo using Photoshop. There is some info there and also some links to videos showing the process. http://www.makermasters.com/cnc-sign-projects-design/.
CNC Sign Projects - Design Dilemma

Bill

[Adrian]

Keep an eye out for costs when that is out of beta as it could get expensive going by what happened with their other program Vector Magic.

Looks like it works in the same way as the background removal tool in my favourite graphics program; Xara Designer Pro.

[pops1964]

Ernie I've been doing litho's about a year and had a very hard time with photo editing . Then someone showed me a site called pixlr.com its free and very simple
honestly I mstly just crop the picture to were I;am happy and call it good. Photo editing is just aggreviating. good luck .

[ericksored]

I cut the picture out with scissors and then scanned the picture with an all all black background. I am virtually certain i removed the old background, but i was hoping for no 'diagonal cut lines' where the new black background existed. That didn't happen. I believe I am revealing myself as a new user without knowing all the 'ways and means' to get PhotoVCarve to work optimally.

[Adrian]

You need to have the background as a colour other than black or white. That way when you load the picture up into PhotoVCarve you can check the "Make color transparent" option and then use the select to make that colour transparent so the background is not machined.

[dunndl]

The BEST and fastest free background remover I have found is https://burner.bonanza.com/

It is FREE and works quickly for me.....as I stumbled onto it by accident yesterday.

[FixitMike]

I have found Paint.net to be fairly easy to use, quite versatile, free, with lots of tutorials on line. Search using "Download Paint.net" as paint.net as a web page belongs to a paint store.