Tickets to Autodesk’s design gallery

Autodesk, San Francisco is exhibiting a rotating gallery of 20 of its most impressive. It showcases the programme’s capabilities including the plans for some of the world’s most major buildings and scientific breakthroughs such as scale models of molecules. You can also see a giant dinosaur made completely from Lego. For tickets, head to the AutoDesk gallery here. https://usa.autodesk.com/gallery/

3D printed Jewellery

3D jewellery design has made a huge impact on the fashion industry and it’s easy to see why with results this intricate. Style Shapes takes all of the best examples from the web and collects them together for the easiest shopping experience.  If 3D is your thing, this is the place to go. https://styleshapes.com/

Create your own designs in 3D

If you’d rather create your own designs than buy someone else’s, Shapeways can help. From ornaments and mosaic eggs to toys and homeware, you can use it to make just about anything. Simply upload your design, choose the materials you wish to use and then wait for it to be made and delivered to you. You can even make use of their multicolor 3D printing facilities to create some truly unique designs.

You can view the above 3D printed bauble design here

Handibot

The Handibot^® Smart Power Tool is a portable, hand-held robotic power tool that can be used on professional jobsites, home DIY projects, prototyping, classroom settings and much, much more. It delivers precision cutting, drilling, machining, and carving which is powered by CNC (computer numerical control) operation.

Which of these ideas or products have you found the most interesting? Do you think we’ve missed anything out? Leave us a comment below and let’s start a discussion.

We have a full glossary for you to download and refer to at any time just enter your email address below to get your cheat sheet in your inbox.

To get you started here are a few of the most common terms that you should know.

Attached raster image

A raster image that is attached to a vector file. When the vector file is loaded into a CAD program, the raster image is automatically loaded as well, at the correct scale and in the correct position. Note that the raster image is not actually contained in the vector file. If the raster image is moved, deleted or renamed it will no longer be attached to the vector file.

BMP

File extension for a bitmap. You can use Scan2CAD to convert BMP to DXF, DWG, or another vector file type.

CNC

Computer numeric cutting. Cutting of shapes and profiles from metal, etc. Raster to vector conversion is frequently used in CNC for converting raster images to vector outlines that can be cut with a CNC machine.

Compressed file

File that has been reduced in file size by compressing the data it contains. The reduction in file size that can be achieved depends on the level of detail in the file and the compression method used. Note that compression only affects the size of the file when it is saved. As soon as you open it up in a software program such as Scan2CAD or Photoshop, it expands back to its uncompressed size.

Despeckle

The automatic removal of unwanted dirt or noise from a raster image’s background.

Dots per inch (DPI)

The resolution of a printed page, expressed in the number of printer dots in an inch. Often used as a synonym for pixels per inch.

GIF

Graphics Interchange Format. A 256 color raster file format that uses lossless compression, usually used for web graphics. Not normally recommended for raster to vector conversion as GIF files are typically too low resolution to be useful.

Raster (raster image, raster file)

An image made up of rows and columns of pixels of two (black and white) or more colors. Scanners save images as raster files. Typical raster file formats are BMP, TIFF and JPEG.

Raster to vector conversion

R2V. Process of converting raster files, which cannot be edited in CAD, into CAD-editable vector files such as DXF. Often done automatically by raster to vector conversion software such as Scan2CAD. Aka vectorization.

Learned Something New?

If the above explanations have already taught you something new, make sure you download your personal copy of this PDF cheat sheet.

With over 120 CAD-related technical terms explained this is sure to become a handy reference to keep handy.

Read on to find out the common issues you should avoid when you convert JPG to vector.

JPG images use lossy compression

When you save a JPG file, the quality of the image is reduced. Why? JPG uses “lossy compression” so when you save an image as JPG, some of the image detail is lost in order to make the saved file as small as possible.

JPG Images can be distorted

The general of thumb with JPG files is quality is weighed against file size. As JPGs were designed to be as small as possible (they were designed for digital cameras’ limited memory) they can become pixelated or grainy.

The wide view of the drawing (JPG format)

Zoomed in, you can see the distorted lines caused by JPG’s compression

Get it right at the source

JPG files usually require extra raster cleaning steps before they can be vectorized. However, saving an image as JPG will damage it. This cannot be undone by then converting the JPG image to a high quality file format like TIFF. You will need to rescan the whole drawing again. Getting the process right to begin with will help you avoid having to do this.

 Larger files are typically fine

As I previously wrote, JPG files were designed to be as small as possible without dramatically affecting the image. But with modern day computer storage, limiting your image’s file-size has has become a moot subject. It’s best to try and use lossless file types where possible such as BMP, TIF or PNG. Lossless files such as these will be larger in size when compared to JPG, but will typically give you better results when converting your raster file to vector.

Learn more about converting JPG to DWG. Alternatively, visit our ultimate guide for everything you need to know about JPG to DXF conversion.

Schematic’s of Datarota’s custom designed machine

The company’s specialism is the design and control of special-purpose machines. In 2001 they needed to convert a hand-drawn profile into a machine-cut component so they turned to Scan2CAD. Peter inputs the DXF file from Scan2CAD into their purpose built machine  which cuts material by rotating it on a turntable while driving an ultrasonic knife on a radial axis.

The project was a great success and they are presently building the 26th machine that operates on the same principle, with many more leads in the pipeline.  For a company that usually designs one-offs, this is a very good thing. Datarota has trusted Scan2CAD since 2001 and, although they only use a fraction of its power, they would not be able to do what they do without it. Their customers receive training in the basic Scan2CAD skills necessary to “clean” a hand-drawn profile and turning it into a usable DXF file.

Q & A’s

Your cutting machine is very interesting. Is this effectively a bespoke CNC machine? 

Yes, I guess it is.  Custom and practice in this field involves the use of hand-held scissors cutting round a template which is stuck to the blank – a very slow process which is not good for RSI, so a CNC-type solution was bound to be welcomed.

It’s great to hear that you’re able to train your clients the basic processes. The ‘cleaning’ of a drawing is a necessary (but sometimes monotonous) task isn’t it? As someone who has been an engineer for some years do the modern-day cleaning tools that Scan2CAD offer save time compared to those from years ago?

I have no experience of prior methods – Scan2CAD is my first and only experience of ‘cleaning’ profiles.

Can you tell me more about the characteristics of the ideal vector image you aim to create ready for cutting? Are there certain shapes or lines which are more troublesome than others? 

The profiles usually arrive with our customers as hand-drawn shapes (as BMPs), usually approximately circular or elliptical, but rarely ‘regular’ and hence could not be characterised formulaically.  Typically, the ‘cleaning’ process will be used to remove unwanted speckles and ‘tails’ and to bridge gaps.  Sometimes it is necessary to remove an ID number that exists within the locus of the profile.

What has been your biggest challenge in this project?

The biggest software challenge was the mathematics.  Starting with a ‘random’ profile, the maths necessary to combine the turntable rotation with the ultrasonic knife vector (single axis) in order to achieve that profile is highly complex.  High-precision servos are required for the motor and blade drives and there are other issues to address, such as modulating the rotational speed to sustain a fixed cutting speed regardless of the cutting radius.  Some profiles are highly re-entrant and quick response is required too.  Machine-wise, the key development areas were how to locate the blank product (which is a ‘bag’, only one face of which must be cut) and the deployment of ultrasonics to cope with cutting glue-surfaced products.  The blanks are drawn from a stock of many hundreds of types – of varying size, thickness, material etc and the machine must cope with all of them.

As some tasks could potentially be repetitive, do you ever use Scan2CAD’s batch conversion tool or the automation via command line?

The received profiles are inconsistently ‘different’.  I did trial the batch feature for a customer who had a backlog of ‘000s of templates.  That way we could pre-process the removal of speckles etc but too many profiles needed ‘special’ treatment, so we abandoned it.

When teaching your clients the basics of Scan2CAD what has been the easiest thing for them to learn, what has been the hardest?

It’s hard to say.  I guess the easiest aspects are pre-scanning, scanning and de-speckling.  The hardest is spotting and correcting the apparently-tiny details which totally compromise production.  My software inspects the DXF produced by Scan2CAD and immediately lets them know if they need to have another go.

What do you think about Peter’s use of Scan2CAD? Did anything surprise you or do you use different methods that you’d like to share? Additionally, if you’d like to be featured in a user interview please get in touch.