the F engrave programme will do the engraving job for me....i dont really need anymore as it creates multi line writing

however...i noticed in the SETTINGS it has a IMAGE MODE.....

now all i require is Images that are OUTLINED ONLY...like MOTIFS & Logos etc etc...

can someone tell me how to operate this IMAGE MODE from this F Engrave software...

i have this feeling that all my saved images (which are in JPEG format will need to be converted to DXF Files)

if this is correct....

anyone help me out on how to do this please

Hi Belin, I've used F Engrave, great for engraving text, especially in a curve or round shape, however only using G01 coding makes the program file very long.  I save them as a G code then use Mach's edit function to get rid of the rubbish at the start, then the replace option to change (change all) the Z#1 with a specific value and remove any text Mach doesn't recognise. As far a jpeg files its a bit of a pain. I load them into my photoshop option and save them as a .PBM file, this seems to work, however it very much depends on how the original drawings were constructed, Mach thru F engrave is very unforgiving on how you constructed your drawing and misses out bits it dosen't understand. If you have not constructed your drawing in a logical way the cutter moves all over the place and takes forever to cut. I find using the correct CAD packages much easier and less time consuming. I found when doing drawing you need to think  about how your CNC machine will machine the component then do your drawing to match. Hope this helps. Jim

F-Engrave utilizes a routine (potrace) that takes images/logos which have beed converted to black and white and does the outline for you.

I just used it on a simple image (B&W of course) and it came out rather nicely.

Not sure which version you're using but 0.9 just hit the street a few days ago.

1. Convert your image to B&W (or you may need to use other software* if there are multiple colors, that take each color and outlines according to the color)
2. Set F-Engrave to image mode
3. Go to File dropdown and open your new image.
4. Go to Settings, Bitmap Import Setting and make changes until you get what you are looking for in terms of smoothness of curves, detail, etc.

* There are mulititudes of raster to vector softwares available for multi-colored logos, some which let you save your file in a vector format. F-Engrave at the present will allow multi-colored logos but doesn't differentiate between them. However, I suspect that's a function/restriction of potrace and not F-Engrave fault.

F-Engrave does work very well with B&W!


Also, do a search for raster to vector conversion software on the internet and you'll see what I mean.

Regards,
Vogavt

Might want to read this thread too.

thank you very much...this is most helpful

have you any link as to where i could downlaod the new 0.9 version

F-Engrave Home Page

Also listed in Post #3 in the link above.