Which file format would you suggest for cut line paths?

[TurtleCove]

I haven't done a lot of importing of images with Designer, but I'm coming upon a project where I will be creating a lot of 2D drawings in CorelCad. I will need to cut these images out, on my machine.

CorelCad can export to these formats:
pdf
bmp
jpeg
png
emf
svg
sld
eps
tif
stl
dwf
dxf

I don't want to purchase the dxf importing software for Designer.
Which of these above formats would you suggest I export my 2D images as, to then import into Designer to perform simple cut paths of my images?

[badbert]

I use 16 bit tiff files to save. But I import them directly from the clipboard. When I am done creating/editing, I select all, copy merged. The when importing in designer click import from clipboard. This makes a sort of workflow allowing me to flip back and forth editing the image, and then importing it again, without having to save a file in between.

[PCOutlaw]

Designer does not recognize “.tiff” files on my computer. I need to convert from “.tiff” to “.bmp” then import into Designer.

[bergerud]

For cut paths, you have little choice. You need to import vector curves, not bitmaps. Exporting .dxf from Corel and importing with the DXF importer into Designer is the way. A poorer way is to import bitmaps and outline them. In that case I think .png is the best.

[lawrence]

+1 bergerud

The DXF importer is by far (IMHO) the best way to import vectors for the Carvewright. It paid for itself (the software) very quickly.

Lawrence

[TurtleCove]

It paid for itself (the software) very quickly.

Lawrence

Maybe for you it did....
But, when I paid about $50 for CorelCad, and then see that they want $200 for a .dxf importer, something seems out of whack.
$200 is way out of line.

[lynnfrwd]

I get what you are saying, but it is all about perspective. If you consider prices of other software, it is not out of line. Take a look at what other CNC software prices are...

[dbfletcher]

Maybe for you it did....
But, when I paid about $50 for CorelCad, and then see that they want $200 for a .dxf importer, something seems out of whack.
$200 is way out of line.

Search the forum for ai2mpc. You can export .ai ver 8 files from corel and use the FREE ai2mpc program to import your vectors. I own dxf importer, but i still find myself using ai2mpc on a regular basis. Both programs can do things the other one cant.

Edit: Whoops.. I see you said CorelCad and not Corel. My bad. But if you can get your files in .ai version 8 or lower, you can still import them using ai2mpc. Or you can PM me the vectors and I would be happy to convert them for you.

[CNC Carver]

Read this link has a more user friendly interface for the ai2mpc program. Works good.
http://forum.carvewright.com/showthr...906#post199906

[lawrence]

Maybe for you it did....
But, when I paid about $50 for CorelCad, and then see that they want $200 for a .dxf importer, something seems out of whack.
$200 is way out of line.

If you wait for a 10% off sale it's $180- still not cheap granted, but I do not feel like it is out of line. There are workarounds, including AI2MPC as was mentioned. Another option is to use the outline function to create a vector of a pattern. Before the DXF importer I also created my own dingbats and used centerline to create a vector line, but the long and short of it is that, to me, the DXF importer represents good value for money. Even if you add on ALL of the additional software (including the pattern editor) if you wait for a sale you are only spending a fraction of what you will spend on Aspire or Artcam (under $1000 if you wait for 10% off) and the updates are included in the price. These updates make the software package VERY competitive even when compared with the retail version of Corelcad (which retails at $600 for the non-student version...)

Again, just my .02 and hopefully one of these other options will get you a solution. Another option is to ask someone here on the forum that owns the DXF importer to create the vector files for you... we do it all the time.

Lawrence