Inkscape

How do I make sure my drawings are Vector Lines

Asked by Elizabeth Mason

How do I convert mty drawing into a vector line, with marks for etching (engraving), and marks for cutting, to be used by a digital laser cutter.

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Hachmann (marenhachmann) said : 		#1

Hi Elizabeth,

that's a question that would need a real lot of explaining and asking back and forth... so allow me to just give you some tips, so you can find out a lot of what you need on your own:

You will need to:

- learn about vectorization. See
Help -> Tutorials -> Trace,
 http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Trace.html ,
http://goinkscape.com/how-to-vectorize-in-inkscape/ ,
http://goinkscape.com/how-to-trace-a-photo-in-inkscape/

- Find out about the requirements of your digital laser cutter (which file formats does it understand? How do you need to mark the lines for cutting / etching?)

- Depending on the file format you need, do a research of the options. It may well be that you can export as DXF, or use the Plotter extension, or you may need to use the GCodeTools extension. I'm not an expert on this. Some manufactureres even produce their own Inkscape extension.

There's a forum, where people share their experiences with cutters and Inkscape:
http://www.inkscapecuttingdesign.com/

Kind regards,
 Maren

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