Automatic mapping of image files (jpeg,png)

[thelasercutter01]

Just looking for some quick advise on how to do the below please.

If I have an image (not svg) e.g. a jpeg/png, etc format like attached is there a way for QCAD to automatically to trace as much as is possible after I import it as image into QCAD? I know I can manually trace but wondering if there is an automatic way to do it?

OS: Windows 11, version: 3.27.8.0 (3.27.

[bambuko]

https://inkscape.org/ is your friend
to convert it to svg takes no time at all...

dog.dxf

(226.61 KiB) Downloaded 160 times

Screenshot from 2023-01-23 16.44.49.jpeg (54.78 KiB) Viewed 1526 times

[CVH]

Hi,

First this: The results of bitmap tracing is always better with a larger image.

Remark in dog.dxf by bambuko that it is a mix of arcs, polylines and splines.

Many cnc controllers and some CAM don't support splines.
One can approximate them in QCAD with polylines using Explode (XP).
The tolerance for that can be set in App.Prefs.

Also remark that there are 6 polylines with a length far less than 0.1 unit (in this case mm).
Found with Detect Zero-Length Entities (MZ) with 0.1 tolerance.

For laser cutting a continuous path is preferable.
Double click near an entity and QCAD will select all connected.
You can then merge this selection to a single polyline contour with Polyline From Selection (OC).
Splines (& ellipses) are automatically approximated with the Explode settings.
When the polyline contour isn't closed (See Property Editor) then it may need some manual tweeking.

Regards,
CVH

[thelasercutter01]

https://inkscape.org/ is your friend
to convert it to svg takes no time at all...
dog.dxf

Screenshot from 2023-01-23 16.44.49.jpeg

Thank you very much, I think as a beginner this sounds like great idea!

[thelasercutter01]

Hi,

First this: The results of bitmap tracing is always better with a larger image.

Remark in dog.dxf by bambuko that it is a mix of arcs, polylines and splines.

Many cnc controllers and some CAM don't support splines.
One can approximate them in QCAD with polylines using Explode (XP).
The tolerance for that can be set in App.Prefs.

Also remark that there are 6 polylines with a length far less than 0.1 unit (in this case mm).
Found with Detect Zero-Length Entities (MZ) with 0.1 tolerance.

For laser cutting a continuous path is preferable.
Double click near an entity and QCAD will select all connected.
You can then merge this selection to a single polyline contour with Polyline From Selection (OC).
Splines (& ellipses) are automatically approximated with the Explode settings.
When the polyline contour isn't closed (See Property Editor) then it may need some manual tweeking.

Regards,
CVH

Thanks for the detailed answer. I think I need some time to get my head around this and test