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Has anyone had luck scanning a color photo in black & Whiteand importing it to CAD..

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snowshooze

Stainless
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Location
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Has anyone had luck scanning a color photo in black & Whiteand importing it to CAD..

I am new to CAD/CAM with Bobcad V28 which I am still fighting my way through.
Overall, I am absolutely amazed.
Anyhow, I was watching various ways of tracing and splining.
A bunch of fooling around there.
I haven't tried to scan color to B&W, play with contrast a bit..send to Bobcad..
But it seems like it should work.
Anybody try this?
Thanks,
Mark
 
Cool. Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, Bobcad can vectorize. I just now tried sending the color image through it, JPG vectorized it, tool-pathed and simulated.
Pretty rough, but still identifiable.
I am wondering what my copier can do.
Ok, I ran the photo through Picasa, got to B&W.
It didn't vectorize any better.
I tried the embossed model, and it was beautiful on screen, however, as I am quite new I suppose, I could not come up with an acceptable level of definition.
 
Last edited:
Inkscape is a free download that will do many of the things Corel draw does for us. The current version can be downloaded and used for up to a month, IIRC, and if you keep an eye out, you may be able to take advantage of a back-to-school sale.

There are a BUNCH of different programs available in the sign and such sphere, the folks that are running the 3 axis routers and the like, that will do great things with a direct input of a raster graphic, as far as converting it to engravable half-tones and such, though you will have to dig around a bit.

I also recall running across a software (free, I think) that allowed you to project an image onto the computer screen, it would keep it on the top and you could vary the opacity, allowing you to essentially trace the outline. Sorry, cannot recall the names.

Lots of options out there without spending a pile, and even more options if you have any sort of budget to work with.

Cheers
Trev
 
I don't know about bobcad but you can insert raster images into AutoCAD. I do it all the time for tracing. Much faster. Converting to vector is usually a waste for me, it just results in a lousy drawing and I wind up using more time to fix it.
 
I'll look at all of those.
Thanks Guys!
I am going to hang a router off the Haas and see if I can do some of my Daughters pictures.
It would be a real boost in the brownie points with the Wife, which are pretty much cashed out right now...
 
I agree with Hooser, despite what others think (not saying your wrong). But I would try B&W that first.
Second call Bob-Cad but; insist adamantly to speak with Sirin Nenu. I attended his seminars and is awesome, not a techie, he is a machinist. If it can be done he will know how.
 
I followed his procedure for a picture of my son and it worked great. I need to do it again with a better photo though...I already had some of the software and although I had to pause the video a few times to catch up with what he was doing it wasn't too hard to follow
 
I can't remember which is the Hoosier state.
Yeah, the first order was to wash out to B&W
Is Siren here?
Yeah, and thoe I walk through the valley of death, I shall fear no evil as I are a dumb machinist and have not the common sense to be ascared...
 
snowshooze, You are looking for high contrast images. If you are working with your daughters drawings there may not be clear lines for contrast to occur. It may make more sense to do an embossment from the scan and do 3D milling on the file. This will create a more consistent part to your daughters drawings.

We recently did a test with a pencil sketch that had shading with BobART. What we found is there wasn't enough contrast for the software vectroize cleanly. That's where the tracking method comes in that you mentioned. But because it's your daughters drawing you may not want to loose the essence of the design. This is why I recommend the emboss from picture option of BobART. This will give you a 3D shape that you can then machine with a planar toolpath.

If you need help with it, just email me over the file and I'll work on it with you. Hope all is well up north!
 
Cutting shop is really good software. It is Tom that runs that company? It's been years since I've seen him face to face. I think the image Doug came up with is really not that bad, I've attached a clip of the traced image I came up with.


nina_drawing.jpg
 
I agree with you something like Corel will generate an very accurate file, but it's junk. Made up of millions of tiny line segments that over lap and really become unusable for the cnc. Image your machine trying to process 200,000 lines of code for 1 inch of movement...

This is where I also feel BobART is a great tool for converting images. It will generate both line an arc's for the image file you are working with. It also will generate a chain the doesn't overlap and is made up of larger segments on geometry.

It you talk to Tom anytime soon tell him Al says hello!
 
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