creating a pattern

[andes]

Ok, I'm new and I'm trying to create a pattern. I have just started playing around to learn, but the first thing I noted was that when I import a pattern, start a new project, take that pattern that I just imported and place it on my board, it is indented and I don't want that. I want that pattern to sit on top of my board; I hope this is making sense ;-} Could someone explain this, better yet how do I avoid this.

Andes

[Jeff_Birt]

You have toe tell the machine to carve away all the material around your pattern to make it stand proud of the board.

Try this:

1) draw a rectangle around your pattern with the rectangle tool
2) make the rectangle a carve region about 0.25" deep
3) place your pattern in the hole left by the carve region
4) depending on your design you may have to play with the merge settings

More information can be found in the Tips&Tricks newsletter here:
http://www.carvewright.com/tips.html

Also check out all the tutorials here:
http://www.carvewright.com/tutorials.html

[andes]

Thanks Jeff.

Andes

[TIMCOSBY]

it's the I button beside the drill button.

[mtylerfl]

Hello,

Generally, you make the carve region depth the same or a little more than, the depth of the pattern.

I almost always place my patterns into a "carve region" so that the patterns will carve out 'raised up' from a flat surface with no "funny things" poking up between the pattern's area details.

Some folks use the "feather" function instead of creating carve regions like Jeff described, but I usually don't use that myself since it can leave "stick up" parts between pattern details. (I remove the "feather" region immediately after I drag the pattern onto the board, then create a carve region. By default, the Designer software always places a feather region around every pattern automatically, so I (we) have to disable it for each pattern placed onto the board, if the feather is not desired).

Patterns such as our CarveBuddy crab or the deerhead, elk, oak tree, etc. all have small areas between the details (legs, antlers, branches, and so on). If patterns are not placed within a carve region, the areas between the pattern details will stick up and would have to be removed by hand, after carving (that would be a real pain).

I usually make the depth of the pattern the same or a tad less than the depth of the carve region for best results...i.e., if I assign a depth on the crab to be 1/2", then the carve region will be at least 1/2" also. That way all the pattern details carve properly and you don't get any "stick ups" between the details of the pattern. The exception to making the carve region the same as the pattern depth is when I am doing a layered layout when patterns need to have different depth and height settings to achieve the layered effect. (download my tutorial entitled "Pattern Layering and Composition" to learn about layering techniques:
http://www.carvebuddy.com/PDFs/CW_TipsandTricks_Newsletters/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Oct07.pdf (http://www.carvebuddy.com/PDFs/CW_TipsandTricks_Newsletters/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Oct07.pdf)
Even when layering, I make sure that the deepest pattern is set so that no "stick ups" occur between pattern details.

Another thing I do is to make sure after everything is laid out, is select the "BEST" Bit Optimization setting for each pattern element. Right-click on each pattern, then rest your mouse cursor over "Bit Optimization" so the contextual menu will appear, then select "Bit Optimization: Best". That way, it assures that the pattern(s) element will carve the best detail possible when you run the project. Oh, I also make sure I select the "Best Quality" setting when I upload my projects to the memory card, for the same reason. You need to make both settings to achieve the best quality result for your carving projects.

Hope that helps!

[andes]

Thanks, this is all good information. Thanks everone that responded. I'm learning a lot from all of you.

Andes