Oh man, I hope I’m not overlooking something obvious but that looks like the file I have, including the gap in the inner circle of the upper part of the ‘8’ at about 3 O’clock. What I’d like to learn how to do is trace, use splines or??? to separate the ‘V’ and the ‘8’ into separate files and then carve them as separate pieces…
I appreciate your efforts, I truly do, but it’s the old ‘give a man a fish’ vs. ‘teach a man to fish’ thingie. I want to learn how to do these things on my won. I haven’t spent time on a CAD program in 12 years or so and this is all a whole new world to me at this time. Fortunately I have a stubborn streak.
Let me give a more detailed answer that is more helpful.
However, to be clear, that’s what I did. I took the image an traced it automatic in Inkscape. The two “images” will be near identical but one is a raster/picture and the one I posted in a vector/SVG.
Standby for a bit, I will post something more helpful perhaps.
I look forward to someday having more answers than questions but: I’ve been fooling with various things while trying to complete my MPCNC with an enclosure and dust collection. I’ve converted file formats using searched services, is there some benefit to doing so in something like InkScape.
I saw one tutorial, pretty sure it was for Fusion, where it showed you could put points along an existing but incomplete shape and have the program basically complete the shape. I thought something like that would be what I need to use? I’m guessing it would best be done using separate layers for each file but I haven’t gotten that far into it yet.
YES! The .svg file is exactly how I was looking to complete the outline but I’d like to make them separate files to be carved separately. Of course what I’d really like to do is learn the steps involved in doing that.
Or a brief outline, even if just the operations you used that would allow me to shuffle through some tutorials. I appreciate the offer of help but I really want to learn how to fish.
By the way, this is all based on the assumption that you have an image (of a logo) and eventually want to be able to get it in a form that useful. This more about Inkscape than CAD however.
General
At a high level, when I look at most of the topics surrounding everything on this forum my head swirls. All of a sudden I have to learn/research topics A,B,C,D,E,F, etc. At that high level they all look difficult and confusing (at least they can be to me). Honestly, when you focus on just one or two they are really not that bad for most stuff.
I think what makes things worse, is that each piece of software works different for different reasons. As such, I literally try to think in silos. Meaning, when I am working in Inkscape. I try just to have my Inkscape hat on a forget everything about other software programs (workflow, keyboard short cuts, etc).
SVG’s/Vector Graphics
This is by no means the most accurate description, but this is how I approach it. Rather than a picture (like a JPG) that I can zoom and crop and change some colors, the SVG format is more like a bunch of nodes, probably connected to form some kinda path, and those paths happen form some picture/logo. For me I treat them as separate worlds. One just has to use a tool (like Inkscape) and learn to manipulate the nodes/paths.
Inkscape
Okay, maybe there will be some better info here. Keep in mind, I started out disliking Inkscape but as I learn I get much better.
Let me begin by saying you probably need to look for youtube videos on most of the following, but I will give you a couple links.
The first confusing thing to me was you can draw a bunch of objects in Inkscape. Circles, lines, whatever. However, this is not “enough”. You have to eventually convert them to “nodes” and “paths”. I think of it as actually making the “vector”. This is mostly done through the Path → Object To Path menu option. Do a little research on that, but to some extent that was the first key for me in getting my drawing to work later down the road (like importing into estlCam properly).
I have no drawing skills. So very often I take an image, like yours, and import it. However you need to then covert it to a bunch of nodes and paths. This is Path → Trace Bitmap. This is a vital feature to learn.
Now you want may want to manipulate those paths. My suggestion would be to google for the exact thing you are trying to do. However, let me give you some links below. I am sure there are many others out there.
Example: I was trying to learn more about paths. Nick had a video ( Inkscape Explained: Path Functions). Not the first video you would start with but an example of a pretty decent video on things I needed help with.
Summary
Search and watch some videos learning the concept of nodes and paths as well as navigating Inkscape. Play with tracing bitmap and find some vid’s on that. That should get you started.
Let me make another post with a couple specifics on your Ford logo (if I have time ).
Thanks much for taking the time to write all this! Been a long day and I doubt I’ll do much until tomorrow, right now I hear the calling for a glass of Malbec or three. It’s going to take some time to get my head away from drawing things in 3-view which is mostly what I did in the past.
This forum never ceases to amaze me! You all are amazing. I guess I won’t need to give it a try later.
What baked my noodle, was understanding the very consept of a vector and how Inkscape shows them.
Inkscape is unfortunately not too intuitive, since you don’t necessarily SEE the vector, but have to choose the vector selector tool and drag-select the area to see the points. Perhaps there is a setting that let’s you see the different object types? I’m still confused by wether what I’m looking at is a pixel object, a vector object, or text object - and what is a PATH in all of this?? Welcome to yet another rabbit hole.
Yeah, when I look at the many, many things software like Fusion and Inkscape are capable of, it often seems one thing missing is simplicity. I know years ago I was able to take a scan of a logo decal and mere minutes and few steps later be able to carve that logo into V8 valve covers. Granted it was using a program that was $5K at the time but it was also 20 years ago. And perhaps more important to a hobby user, very intuitive.
I guess the bottom line is simplicity isn’t that simple.
At the bottom of this post, I provide another couple good links perhaphs.
Commentary
Let me say that I agree in principle and that is often my reaction. If fact, I have a degree in Computing Science, but in most cases that barely helps. Perhaps the only thing that it helps me with is to allow me to say to myself “there is probably an easy way to do this, I just have to slow down and investigate”. I am by nature impatient.
IMHO, I think that what ends up happening is that this type of software makes extremely complicated things simpler. However, there are so many (let’s call them simplifications) that they have to be “hidden” behind menus, icons, keyboard shortcuts, and perhaps short multi-step techniques. As such, they are not immediately obvious/intuitive. They may in fact be simple, but not obvious, which makes them seem not simple at first glance.
All of this seems true for all this “type” of editing software. The learning curve/techniques all seem similar to me. I use/used Sony Vegas for video editing and Cubase for recording and producing albums. It’s the same story.
Inkscape - New Version
I am no expert at all, but Inkscape 1.0 got released May 4, 2020. Seems better. Here are a couple things right under my nose that I was not aware of.
This link (Learn Inkscape) seems very good, but I have not explored.
From the Inkscape menu Help → Tutorials.
Inkscape - Alternative
When I was frustrated with Inkscape a couple weeks ago, I found this. I liked it. Slighty eaiser to use than Inkscape.
Thanks for the links, I will definitely check them out!
I don’t know, maybe I just got spoiled. I basically taught myself CAD on MasterCAM VIII which was far more intuitive than anything I’ve looked at lately for a hobbyist user. When my friend was coerced into ‘upgrading’ to MC X, I played with it a bit and quickly returned to VIII. I don’t question that X was likely an upgrade for people who used it 30-40 hours a week but for a user such as myself I found it far less intuitive. That was 20 years ago and I guess I was hoping that ease of learning/use had filtered down to some of the free programs offered today. There’s just things I need to get used to, I had a problem with Estlcam not cutting until someone had me put more depth in the tool table. That’s just totally opposite to past experience where DOC was associated with the geometry and not the tool. I have the feeling I’d have an easier time learning had I not used a different approach to things in the past.
I think what I really need is to find a tutorial that suits my way of learning, many people doing tutorials are expert on the subject but teaching it is a whole 'nother story. In many ways I’m a bit more comfortable with a book than learning online but I know it’s just a matter of finding the right person doing the tutorial.
When a program gets used by professionals, 40+ hours a week, 52 weeks/year, efficacy is more important than obvious. The initial learning curve can be steep, but it needs to perform well to the trained user. I believe inkscape follows a lot of the idioms and oddities of adobe illustrator. Similar to how gimp follows photoshop.
I’ve had this problem with my own software UI. There are decisions you can make that make it either easier to use, or take fewer moves to finish. The right click on text to copy is easier, but ctrl+c requires less moves. There was probably a time in your life where word processors were complicated, and seemed like they should just be simpler.
I always think of the pepsi challenge. When you ask someone if 2oz of pepsi tastes better than 2oz of coke, people will mostly pick the pepsi. But after drinking 12oz, they prefer the coke. This flawed testing lead to new coke. (I know some people prefer pepsi, I can’t help you).
All that is to say, there is a lot of thought that goes into the ui. It is a hard problem. Something that bothers you today may be something you really appreciate in a month.
I use vim as my text/software editor. It is famous for being hard to just type code and quit, because it has made some choices that are counterintuitive to a starting user. But now, I can definitely write my code a lot faster than when I was using an easier editor.
Inkscape, fusion, solidworks, onshape are really quite approachable by comparison. They do a good job of balancing between the extremes.
).
