Homebrew PCBs

Hi I have a nice simple homebrew PCB mill and it works very well, the 
problem is at present I scan the artwork onto my PC and redarw this 
with a CAD package (by hand!) save as a DXF file and then run it 
through ACEconverter which generates the G codes needed by the milling 
machine.
Does anyone know a simpler method of changing the artwork/layout say 
out of a book/magazine into the G codes?
I have tried WinTopo but this does not do it correctly as the machine 
simly does not follow the traces it simply goes back and forth doing a 
dot here and there until the whole artwork is done but in a very large 
amount of time.
So anyone know how to tyake simple artwork, scan change from BMP to 
DXF, to G codes in a better way than redrawing by hand?
many thanks 
regards
Gus M0IKB

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "gus_452000" <angus@...> wrote:
>
> Hi I have a nice simple homebrew PCB mill and it works very well, the 
> problem is at present I scan the artwork onto my PC and redarw this 
> with a CAD package (by hand!) save as a DXF file and then run it 
> through ACEconverter which generates the G codes needed by the milling 
> machine.
> Does anyone know a simpler method of changing the artwork/layout say 
> out of a book/magazine into the G codes?
> I have tried WinTopo but this does not do it correctly as the machine 
> simly does not follow the traces it simply goes back and forth doing a 
> dot here and there until the whole artwork is done but in a very large 
> amount of time.
> So anyone know how to tyake simple artwork, scan change from BMP to 
> DXF, to G codes in a better way than redrawing by hand?
> many thanks 
> regards
> Gus M0IKB
>

A while ago I looked for a good bitmap to vector conversion program
but did not find anything that worked for me in the open source world.
 My search was not exhaustive and I may have missed something.  

In the end it seemed worthwhile to upgrade an old copy of the Corel
Draw Suite I owned just to get the Corel Trace module.  The graphics
software world is very competitive so Corel's upgrade terms were very
liberal (my old package was *ancient*).  I got all the other vector
drawing, bitmap editor, lots of format conversion possibilities, etc.
in the deal.

While I really prefer to use (& support) open source and small
shareware vendors whenever possible, sometimes there is no really good
alternative.

-- Dave

Check out KellyCAM and Mach 3 at ArtSoft.

I know that Mach 3 will load DXF files and cut them but only certain 
linetypes.

Hugh

pork_u_pine2000 wrote:

> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "gus_452000" <angus@...> wrote:
>> Hi I have a nice simple homebrew PCB mill and it works very well, the 
>> problem is at present I scan the artwork onto my PC and redarw this 
>> with a CAD package (by hand!) save as a DXF file and then run it 
>> through ACEconverter which generates the G codes needed by the milling 
>> machine.
>> Does anyone know a simpler method of changing the artwork/layout say 
>> out of a book/magazine into the G codes?
>> I have tried WinTopo but this does not do it correctly as the machine 
>> simly does not follow the traces it simply goes back and forth doing a 
>> dot here and there until the whole artwork is done but in a very large 
>> amount of time.
>> So anyone know how to tyake simple artwork, scan change from BMP to 
>> DXF, to G codes in a better way than redrawing by hand?
>> many thanks 
>> regards
>> Gus M0IKB
>>
> 
> A while ago I looked for a good bitmap to vector conversion program
> but did not find anything that worked for me in the open source world.
>  My search was not exhaustive and I may have missed something.  
> 
> In the end it seemed worthwhile to upgrade an old copy of the Corel
> Draw Suite I owned just to get the Corel Trace module.  The graphics
> software world is very competitive so Corel's upgrade terms were very
> liberal (my old package was *ancient*).  I got all the other vector
> drawing, bitmap editor, lots of format conversion possibilities, etc.
> in the deal.
> 
> While I really prefer to use (& support) open source and small
> shareware vendors whenever possible, sometimes there is no really good
> alternative.
> 
> -- Dave
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 
>

> > So anyone know how to take simple artwork, scan change from BMP to 
> > DXF, to G codes in a better way than redrawing by hand?


A quick search over at CNC.com brought up these two possible
solutions from the forums. A longer read there shows others.

At Science Specialists they have ACME Profiler - Coyote Edition
http://www2.fwi.com/~kimble/scispec/scispec.htm

And 

meshCam over at www.robgrz.com

There's a DOS program bmp2cnc that maybe useful also.

All the best

At 03:18 AM 5/28/2008 -0000, Dave wrote:
>A while ago I looked for a good bitmap to vector conversion program
>but did not find anything that worked for me in the open source world.
> My search was not exhaustive and I may have missed something.  

The newer versions of the open source Inkscape (www.inkscape.org) 
have a "tracing" capability that might provide a workable approach. 
The program's preferred format is .SVG, but it can import plenty of graphic
formats (including .BMP), and export plenty of others (including .DXF).

When tracing you can tweak values for brightness, edge detection, and
color quantization, then when you have a good line representation of
the original, apply "simplify path" which will smooth curves and reduce
the number of line segments in the output.

I used the feature once when converting a company logo from bitmap
to vector and was surprised at what it could do.  The input had lots of
curves and text... think of a 60-tooth gear with serif font text on the
inner circumference, just about zero straight lines... which gave the
program a good workout.  I think if the input was mostly straight lines
and regular angles, like a pcb layout, it might do a great job.

When working with the program's user interface I have a little difficulty
switching my brain from engineering mode to artist mode, but that's
probably good mental exercise.  It ain't no CAD program, that's for sure.

Mike