PDA

View Full Version : mpc. patterns



Timehunter
06-13-2006, 10:20 AM
Okay.......<G>
Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong?
I save a pattern "mpc" from the Carvewright forum to a folder on my hard drive.
I try to "import image" to the favorites in patterns.
I get a format error: The file you selected is not a recognized graphic format.
How do I download so that I can save it as a pattern in my favorites in patterns?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Gordon

Old Salt
06-13-2006, 11:27 PM
Just open as a file pattern

Timehunter
06-14-2006, 09:54 AM
Old Salt:
Thanks for the reply.
I still don't get it......
If I were to make a pattern, drawing, etc. on a board and would like to save it as a pattern, how would I do it?
I have been fumbling around with this for several days and I just...don't ...get it.....
Maybe one of these days I will get the hang of this software???
Please help!!

BTW
If anyone is having their machine sound like it's binding when the board is being measured or moved left and right...be careful that it might strip the drive gears. I filed a slight angle and rounded the edges on the infeed on both sides of the machine sliding guide and squaring plate. There was just a slight burr that would dig into the wood and put the drive gears under a lot of tension.

nwn
06-14-2006, 03:51 PM
"Import image" is to bring clipart, pictures, etc into the "Favorites" folder under the patterns icon. You then place these onto your workpiece. The *.mpc files are finshed projects.

Import image allows you to use jpg's, gifs', and bmp's in a carvewright project. You often have to fiddle with them to make them usable, but all in all it does a pretty fair job.

Once you have a project open, select import image, find the graphic file you're interested in, and click save (or doubleclick the image name). You then can raise it, lower it, or invert it before saving. Choose a name, and it will appear under favorites in the pattern list. Click on it, and click on your project where you want it to appear. You still may have to play a little to make it look good. If you can't make that one look good enough, you can delete it with a right click, and try again.

Neal

Timehunter
06-16-2006, 09:07 AM
Neal:
Thanks for the reply.
I guess I am not asking the question correctly.
I have done what you explained . I have no problem manipulating and saving to favorites pictures, .jpg files etc.
What I am trying to do is this: when I am drawing or creating something on a board and want to keep the board or a part of it as a pattern in favotites, that is where I am having the problem.
Do you or anyone else know if it can be done at all???

Thanks,

Gordon

David M.
06-16-2006, 09:31 AM
I've been following this thread and it sounds like all your trying to do is save a file? The only images that get saved to FAVORITES is the .jpg images you import (photos), all else get saved as a regular file. Is this what your looking or am I misunderstanding you also?

Timehunter
06-16-2006, 12:57 PM
David:
When you say regular file, I assume you mean an mpc file.
I know how to save pictures and .jpgs, etc. as a pattern, although I am still working on the fine tuning of them.
If I start a new project (board), and I create on it something that I would like to keep as a pattern. That is what I am trying to do. Whether a piece of the board or all of it. Is there a way to save it "mainly a section of it, or the whole board" as a pattern?

David M.
06-16-2006, 02:53 PM
From what I'm understanding you can save any of the things you discribed, if you only want a part of your image, select all the pieces at once, and copy and paste them to a new board then go to FILE (top left) and SAVE, name your file and hit OK. Now you have a file with your drawing saved (not in FAVORITES though), usually within the carvewrite software, or where ever you choose when saving the file.

Then when you want to open this file again later you go back to FILE, click on OPEN and select the file you named, it should be on the first page it opens.

I think this is what your asking, hope this helps.

Matthew
10-19-2006, 07:54 AM
New to the forum and I realize this is several months after the original posting of this thread, but it seems like Timehunter may have given up and I'd like to know the answer to this as well. His (and my) question isn't how to save a project file. His question was how to turn something he has designed into a pattern that will appear in his Pattern Library.
As an example, when you import an image, it gets saved in Pattern Favorites and you can then use that image pattern in any project file you'd like. He'd like to do the same thing with an mpc file he has downloaded from the forums. He may have found something like a Fleur de Lis or a fish that someone posted to the forum in an .mpc file. Now he'd like to take that fish and add it to his Pattern Favorites. Similarly, I may have designed this really cool pygmy marmoset that I would like to save to a new Pattern Library. How can I select the items for the marmoset from my current project and add them to a new pattern library that I want to call "Animals". Naturally, I'll then want to share the "Animals" library with everyone on the forum. How can this be done?

I'm sure the answer will be RTFM :oops: and I'm getting there, just a little slow.

Thanks!

Old Salt
10-19-2006, 08:35 PM
If you go to favorites and right click on it a menu will come up hit import this will open a box set it to type of fill , finde file hit ok . it will go to your favorites list hope this is what you want to do :?

BobHill
10-20-2006, 09:41 AM
Matthew and TimeHunter,

I believe you are asking HOW can you make and add items you've designed to the LIBRARY part of the Pattern List options. As stated, one can certainly make Favorites in either GIF, BMP, JPG, or PNG formats, but HOW DOES ONE MAKE A PATTERN FOR THE LIBRARY. You can, of course create a pattern and save it as a MPC (finished work file) but unless you open that again and do a Select All and Copy, then Paste that into another new work project, how would you make it a Library Pattern itself, as apparently the LHR have done or had done? I'd like to know how that comes about, myself. Since you can't Open a Library object and have to place it into a new or at least an open project, apparently it's not a .mpc file, so what format would that be in and how would you add it to LIBRARY?

Bob Hill
Tampa Florida

Matthew
11-02-2006, 09:13 PM
Bob,
Exactly what I'm looking for. I still haven't found anything. I've seen some posts in the forum with .ptn files.
How can we save a pattern to the library?
How can we create our own library?
How can we share that library with others?

Perhaps this needs to be requested as a software enhancement. At the very least, if a process already exists then it should be more intuitive.

BobHill
11-02-2006, 11:25 PM
Matthew,

The library patterns are in PTN format and the problem isn't just getting a PTN file into the Library but also to have a program that will MAKE something in the PTN format itself. I just did a Google file extension search and see that .PTN can be a file extension for CADKEY (CAD 3D wireframe program) software, which now is owned by Kubotek Corporation, which I'm not familiar with ( www.kubotekusa.com/products/cadkey.html ) . If any other CAD programs will make the PTN format, I don't know what they might be, as it may be proprietary to whoever made the existing Library files for LHR (even themselves).

Bob

Matthew
11-03-2006, 09:37 AM
Bob,
Exactly. That's what I meant by my first question, saving a pattern to the library. That should really be two separate questions, how to save a pattern file .ptn and then how to put it into a library.
I'll do some looking around and see what I can find out about who supports .ptn files. I work with most of the big CAD/CAM/CAE companies, so perhaps I can scrounge something up.

Greybeard
11-03-2006, 09:52 AM
I hope this isn't one of those rare cases when two programmers have both used the same file extension (.ptn)for simillar, but incompatible file types ?
I don't know the protocol on naming extensions, but I know this used to be possible.
John

BobHill
11-03-2006, 11:49 AM
John,

Yes, as a matter of fact, there is at least one other software (Amaya Dicopar File ???) but since I doubt I'd ever see one of those files and if so, it would easily be unusable, that should never be a problem. I see "Housecall Cirus Pattern File" also as using .ptn along with TSC, but doubt that would ever come into play either. PaperPort Thumbnail Images uses PPTHUMB.PTN as an indedx file for it's rapid location Info too.

Bob

Matthew
11-03-2006, 01:33 PM
Yeah, duplicate use of extensions are possible, but given the similarity between uses for the CADKEY file and this file, I'd guess they're the same. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything about anyone using that file format now. A number of CAD-related packages can import CADKey model files, though few import the ptn file. I can't find anything current that will generate the ptn file except for CADKey. Though I'm not positive, I don't think CADKey is actively developed any longer.
Interestingly enough, just generating a .ptn file does not seem sufficient for what we want to do. It seems that the CarveWright Designer software stores its patterns in SQLite databases which is saved to disk as an .mpn file. I did notice that you can export something from your Favorites as a .ptn file. So, in reality, the .ptn file is simply an exported file format that the Designer supports. This doesn't mean that Designer stores it's patterns in that format. In fact, since the patterns are stored in a database, it's likely that they're stored in a raw format that is either the same format as a .ptn file or is similar enough that exporting to .ptn is simple.

So, what does all this mean. Not much. It means that we don't necessarily need .ptn files to store patterns. It also means that the only way to do this is to wait for official support from the Designer developers. I think it's time for an official enhancement request. :D
(Of course, more intelligent people probably would have just done that to begin with, but I enjoyed the challenge.)

Greybeard
11-03-2006, 01:43 PM
Mathew - I'm with you on the stimulus of the challenge.
I've just been looking at the possibility of converting small designs into .ttf files to be imported and used in cw, only to discover that text letters in cw are not available to be edited as paths.
This was going to be my "sneakaround", but there you go.

John