Using Coreldraw and DXF Importer to create cut out words

[lawrence]

My sister had a request that I create some cut out words for her. (don't ask my why she wanted the words Rock Party...I have no idea, but she's my sister so I know better than to ask questions!)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/DSCF01891024x768.jpg
I came up with this and took a quick video showing how it turned out and how to make the DXF letters using coreldraw. Please forgive the roughness of the production... I didn't really practice and just wanted to throw this together to show you how to do it.

Lawrence
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NfqIobG2P8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUZ0V8jNae4

Here's how it turned out as well as showing how well you can collect MDF dust when you use both an above and below collection system when doing through cuts. (turn down your sound for this one!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapHPycGs64
and the final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBGV5OvEh4

If there's an easier way to do this please let me know, but I do like how controlled things are doing them this way.

Thanks for looking and hope this was informative
Lawrence

[fwharris]

Lawrence,

Thanks for the HOW TOs! Great job!

[Sallen1215]

Thanks for the video Lawrence. Makes it really difficult to not drop the 200 bucks on the dxf importer...... really hard :-)




Stephen

[Digitalwoodshop]

Excellent set of videos and GREAT Shop.... You have all the Quality Toys....

AL

[henry1]

My sister had a request that I create some cut out words for her. (don't ask my why she wanted the words Rock Party...I have no idea, but she's my sister so I know better than to ask questions!)
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u313/ldr_klr/DSCF01891024x768.jpg
I came up with this and took a quick video showing how it turned out and how to make the DXF letters using coreldraw. Please forgive the roughness of the production... I didn't really practice and just wanted to throw this together to show you how to do it.

Lawrence
thx lawrence I have corel draw hardly used it now I will lol thx for the info
Henry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NfqIobG2P8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUZ0V8jNae4

Here's how it turned out as well as showing how well you can collect MDF dust when you use both an above and below collection system when doing through cuts. (turn down your sound for this one!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DapHPycGs64
and the final
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYBGV5OvEh4

If there's an easier way to do this please let me know, but I do like how controlled things are doing them this way.

Thanks for looking and hope this was informative
Lawrence

thx lawrence I have corel draw hardly used it now I will lol thx for the info
Henry

[liquidguitars]

Excellent!

[dbfletcher]

Great videos! I do have one question thou.... I dont use Corel Draw myself, but it seemed a little odd, that you start with a vector typeface (Truetype, Type 1 PS, etc), rasterize it to a bitmap image, and then have several steps to get it back to a vector. Can corel not export a text object direct to dxf there eliminating most of your steps??

Edit: I have not tried this program myself, but it seems like it does a straight conversion from vector typefaces to dxf files. I have used similar programs int eh past however. http://www.devcad.com/eng/devfont_frame.htm

[lawrence]

Great videos! I do have one question thou.... I dont use Corel Draw myself, but it seemed a little odd, that you start with a vector typeface (Truetype, Type 1 PS, etc), rasterize it to a bitmap image, and then have several steps to get it back to a vector. Can corel not export a text object direct to dxf there eliminating most of your steps??

Edit: I have not tried this program myself, but it seems like it does a straight conversion from vector typefaces to dxf files. I have used similar programs int eh past however. http://www.devcad.com/eng/devfont_frame.htm

I tried doing it this way and ran into several problems-- which may indeed be due to user error

1. Using the text box in Coreldraw makes my computer run VERY slowly. I think this is in part due to the large amount of fonts I have loaded on my computer. The computer shouldn't be too much of an issue as it is pretty quick (Velocity micro i7 w/6GB memory and an NVIDIA GT 240) At any rate, microsoft word always seems to work quickly and without a hitch so I use it

2. I have tried to use the text box and for some reason I cannot get the DXF importer to work with the exports from Coreldraw unless I turn them into bitmaps. If you know of a different way to do this please let me know as I have just figured out that this way works 100% of the time (other ways give me a "all portions of the object could not be imported" error when I try to import the DXF and then nothing happens) The couple of times that I have succeeded in importing straight to DXF the number of nodes was HUGE and the carve took a very long time. When I smooth things out with coreldraw and get the number of nodes down it really seems to cut down on the carve time. You can certainly just use the text function and then turn it into a bitmap to get it to work, but like I mentioned Word and snipping tool just happens to run really smoothly on my computer.

3. The method I showed there also works for non-text objects... and it works especially well with small-sized (fuzzy) objects such as the winged foot MPC I made here
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?19016-Winged-Flying-Foot
I guess what I am saying is that it works equally well for both fonts and line drawings/pictures.

At any rate, I'd love to hear of any other methods others use for making their DXF imports. If there is a quicker or easier way I'm absolutely open to hearing about it/trying it. We're all in this rowboat together boys and girls--- I don't know about you but I feel like we've only touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to using these machines!

Thanks again for the inputs all-- I hope these videos are of some use.
Lawrence

[lawrence]

Excellent set of videos and GREAT Shop.... You have all the Quality Toys....

AL
thanks Al--I have a very understanding wife! (and like she says... "you don't golf, you don't gamble too much... what you do actually produces something and keeps you out of trouble")
Lawrence

[mtylerfl]

Hi Lawrence,

Thank you for producing the tutorials. Quite a different method than what I use and was very interesting to see another "take" on that type of task.

Myself, I do not convert vectors to bitmaps if at all possible. I prefer working with smooth vectors the entire prep process. For all-in-one-piece-text cutout designs such as your example, I simply use the "weld" tool in Corel after converting the text to curves. I may "tweak" a few nodes to get lettering to join-up together, but it is very minor in most cases. EDIT: I can outline the procedure step-by-step for anyone who needs help with the procedure. (BTW, I do not use a "text box" - that is paragraph text in Corel - just select the Text Tool, click once on the workspace and type your wording to avoid a text box situation)

Once the text is welded, I export from CorelDRAW as AutoCAD 2004 DXF (you can use the older R12, R14, etc. DXF format, but I'm finding the 2004 version seems to be more reliable in some cases).

Also, if you have trouble with DXF importing via the CW DXF Importer not "connecting" nodes like it should, try enlarging your original vector shape in Corel before exporting to DXF. Often, this solves the problem. Alternatively, you can just manually join vectors after importing into Designer using the vector editing tools there, if you wish.

Thanks again for presenting your method for "getting the job done"!

[mercer57]

The easy way is to use a scroll saw for word art, ten times faster than a CW.

[lawrence]

I love my scroll saw (I have the dewalt) but at 20 mins for this size of words... it is much cleaner to do it with my CW... (and certainly not much slower) Plus cutting 3/4 MDF is really hard on my scrollsaw blades and I would likely go through a couple per-carve.... and my printer would not be able to handle a 36-inch long piece of paper for use as a pattern...and it would take some finangling to make that length of work on my scrollsaw too.

I did consider it first though and thanks for bringing it up mercer, but just decided on the CW.

Michael, I would love to see how you do things-- I am certainly open to different/better ways of doing things and am especially interested in hearing how you keep the vectors simple enough to keep your times down-- I can't seem to get that part down.

Thanks again all,
Lawrence

[mtylerfl]

...Michael, I would love to see how you do things-- I am certainly open to different/better ways of doing things and am especially interested in hearing how you keep the vectors simple enough to keep your times down-- I can't seem to get that part down.

Thanks again all,
Lawrence

Hi Lawrence,

Seems there's always more than one way to skin a cat! I enjoy seeing how other folks do things too! I've got to get back to finishing up some more video tips. Lots of folks have been asking about how-to-do-this-or-that regarding lettering, lately. Perhaps I'll do a short Tips series on the topic and include the use of CorelDRAW and the CW DXF Importer for one of them.

[stanv77]

Hello mike
I appreciate all the lessons on coraldraw I can get. I am having trouble understanding all there is to understand. The computer is not my cup of tea but I am tring to learn with help.
Thanks again
Stan

[mtylerfl]

Hello mike
I appreciate all the lessons on coraldraw I can get. I am having trouble understanding all there is to understand. The computer is not my cup of tea but I am tring to learn with help.
Thanks again
Stan

Hi Stan,

I'll be happy to answer a few questions regarding CorelDRAW for you (don't forget that Corel has lots of tutorials and an excellent HelpFile too!). However, we need to move our discussions of 3rd-Party Software to... you guessed it - the new 3rd Party Software Section! The purpose of adding that section is to help organize discussions of any non-CarveWright software products that we find useful for creating items and/or layouts for our CarveWright projects and designs, etc.

Here is the link to that section:
http://forum.carvewright.com/forumdisplay.php?98-3rd-Party-Software

You can begin a new topic - perhaps just call it "CorelDRAW Questions" and post there when you need help with something. See you there!

[lawrence]

I didn't even think about that area and just assumed this belonged in "techniques"- thanks for the heads up.

Mods, please feel free to move this to the right loc so folks can find it if they are looking for it.

Lawrence

[mercer57]

If you were to use a # 7 crowntooth blade ,the edge would be as clean or cleaner than the cw cut, and slice through 3/4 mdf like butter. As for the printer , Corel draw has a tile printer option that works well.I have been Scrolling for 10 plus years, I have a Dewalt and a Rbi G26 as well.

[Capt Bruce]

Hi Lawrence,

Seems there's always more than one way to skin a cat! I enjoy seeing how other folks do things too! I've got to get back to finishing up some more video tips. Lots of folks have been asking about how-to-do-this-or-that regarding lettering, lately. Perhaps I'll do a short Tips series on the topic and include the use of CorelDRAW and the CW DXF Importer for one of them.


Michael,
Just one more vote for your production of a video on this technique using CorelDraw when you can find time. Thanks for all you contribute to our common knowledge.