Importing image for a pattern. Look of the image altered when placed on board

[Ton80]

Hello,

I edited an image of a dartboard in GIMP, imported this image as a Pattern and placed it onto my project board. At the point of importing, everything looks exactly as I want it to look. If you examine the pattern in the Pattern Editor it looks exactly the same as it does in the Import window. When the pattern is placed onto the project board though, all the details thin out and it doesn't look nearly the way it does within Pattern Editor.

I am not changing the size of the pattern ( yet ) and it is left at the same depth and size that I imported it at.

EDIT *** While I was typing this message, I went back into Designer and decided I just wanted to make sure I tried making sure I was not missing something. I decided I would hit the BIT OPTIMIZATION button ( something I would normally not do until I was done designing a project ) and BAM! - It's fixed. SO, I guess this is a lesson in making sure you use that little button. In my case, I have always used it but most times it is not used until all elements are on my project board and ready for a carve.

SO, anyone know why Designer thins out the pattern so much until bit optimization is performed?

This image shows how the image looks when placed on the project board BEFORE bit optimization ( the left half of the image ). After bit optimization the pattern looks identical to how it appears in pattern editor ( the right half of the image )

Click for large view - Uploaded with Skitch

[bergerud]

It is the same old - the tip of the bit follows the pattern surface and so the sides of the bit cut out more than you may want it to. Designer shows you the result. Bit optimization, I believe, calculates a new surface for the tip to follow so that the original surface is the envelope of the carving ball.