Copying

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Clockman
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Copying

Post by Clockman »

mini_image (2).png
I am new to this, I have Vcarve Desktop and I was asked by a friend if I could do a copy of this tile in wood, is that possible, if it is what should I read to learn

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highpockets
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Re: Copying

Post by highpockets »

Is it possible? Yes. I'd recommend starting with all the Vectric tutorials starting from the first one and "working" through each one. Don't just watch them, but download the files associated with the tutorial and work along with the tutorial.
If you are looking to do a copy that is close to the tile you'll need to get really comfortable with node editing vectors. Look for the best quality image of the tile, a high res black and white image would be best. Even with that I'm not sure I'd even both with bitmap trace, you're going to spend a LOT of time node editing. Just creating vectors from scratch may not seem at first to be faster, but it probably would be.
If you can just "come close" then you could use fonts for the text and create vectors for the center part....
As a newbie it's a pretty ambitious project IMHO. Good luck.
John
Maker of Chips

Clockman
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Re: Copying

Post by Clockman »

Thank's highpockets, yes you are right I am trying to run before I can walk, I will take my time and read all the tutorials first and then come back to this later, it's nice to know it is possible

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TReischl
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Re: Copying

Post by TReischl »

I think it is an excellent project to learn on, as long as you do not become frustrated easily.

If'n it were me I would start with the lettering. It is not as bad as it looks. There are a lot of repeat letters so you can draw one up and then copy/paste/rotate and drag into position. Look for symmetry and when you find it, use the mirror command. The flames on the sun are a good place to learn about doing an array of objects. There are twelve of them so you should draw two guidelines with a 30 degree angle between them and work between them.

There is a lot of repetition in that design so like I said it is not as complicated as it looks at first.

There are some "tricks" when drawing things like letters. If there are little corner radii do not try tracing them, use the fillet tool instead. In other words draw the letter as all straight lines and then use the fillet tool to round off corners.

You should go for it! You sure as heck will know a lot more about using the software when finished.
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

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newmexico
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Re: Copying

Post by newmexico »

Your png image after Tracing.
tile-0.jpg

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TReischl
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Re: Copying

Post by TReischl »

newmexico wrote:Your png image after Tracing.
tile-0.jpg
That is a prime example of why a lot of us do not bother with "auto tracing" to create projects.

I like to think I am pretty fluent with software. Like everyone else I would love to have a "magic silver bullet" that just traces things out with fairly decent results. Such is not the case. I haven't tried 'em all I am sure, but have tried quite a few, Inkscape, Corel, etc. Really clean black & white hi resolution images come out pretty good as a rule. Everything else? Nope.

Vector drawing programs are not all created equal by any means. They each use different methods and commands when drawing and "node" editing. Some of this comes down to personal preferences and what a person started with. For instance, a person who started drawing with Vectric products would find Corel and Rhino strange and weird. The reverse is also true. For years I used Corel to do my vector drawing because I actually started with Corel 1.0 and it is what I was comfortable with. Lately I have been using Rhino which at first seemed really strange but I am finding it to be much better than anything else I have tried. Problem with Rhino is that it is downright expensive for just tracing bitmaps.

Well, there is my two cents worth. Not badmouthing Vectric products at all, but to me software on a computer is like a tool box, you pull out the tool that is going to work best for you. I am a huge fan of Vectric software, it works and works really well, but like anything it is not all things to all people.
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

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newmexico
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Re: Copying

Post by newmexico »

tile-1.jpg
We forgot to upload this. Here's the reverse trace result.

The trace software used here did its job and captured all the details. However, the quality of the tile png is rough.

We trace a lot around here. Powerful tool for production work.

Making money with a CNC machine almost always requires tracing artwork from customers. Hard to get around that.

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highpockets
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Re: Copying

Post by highpockets »

newmexico wrote:
tile-1.jpg
We forgot to upload this. Here's the reverse trace result.

The trace software used here did its job and captured all the details. However, the quality of the tile png is rough.

We trace a lot around here. Powerful tool for production work.

Making money with a CNC machine almost always requires tracing artwork from customers. Hard to get around that.
Since you do a lot of tracing from customer's art, can you please give us some advise on how you'd go about solving this issue... I've tried with very mixed success using the trace option.
John
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newmexico
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Re: Copying

Post by newmexico »

We trace a lot. Then we edit nodes a lot. All in Adobe Illustrator.
Apps we use on our phone to capture images and edit (prepare them for tracing in Adobe Illustrator):
1. Graphite
2. BeCasso
3. Inshot

We ask every customer to bring Vector art but that NEVER happens. Its always a Bitmap in a jpg or png format.

I believe there are on-line web sites that will trace and vectorize bitmap graphics, even photos. But they charge.

John, to directly answer the question... Yes, the tile can be traced. However, we use other CAD software, not Vectric.
We grew up with Illustrator, Corel Draw, AutoCad and any other vector drawing program we could get our hands on.
I think we've been tracing bitmaps a long time, even before Tracing software was invented. The pen tool was our first tracing tool.

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newmexico
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Re: Copying

Post by newmexico »

FYI...

A majority of those vector images on vectorstock.com started out as bitmaps. They were traced into vectors with tracing software or some on-line tracing service.

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highpockets
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Re: Copying

Post by highpockets »

Thanks for the reply...

I'm always interested to get an insight into how people get to their final results.

Thanks for sharing....
John
Maker of Chips

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