What cnc program did this

I was checking out this website of a small cnc mill maker http://www.microproto.com/ and in their application gallery they have a picture of a engraving that someone did of a photo. http://www.microproto.com/image1.htm I use FeatureCam 2.5 and have used a few others but I am not familiar with a program that will do this particular type of engraving. It may be there own program, I emailed and asked them and will let you know if they actually get back to me. Anyways it looks kind of cool and I could think of a few good uses for it.


Thanks

P.S. I am not affiliated with this company in anyway blah blah blah.

This is done with raster to vector software. Do a google search on it and you will find quite a bit of info. Basically takes pic and changes color to grey scale then converts that to a vector. Darkest can be deepest or highest. Makes for a very lenghty program but kinda cool.
AL

+1 to 6handicap

Quite a few cads can do this... Mastercam, Surfcam,... I think Gibbs and UG as well.

And I'm sure there's quite a few others... If not maybe even the one you have. Look for "Raster to Vector" or something along those lines for your software.

Someone posted a link here a while back to the WinTopo site. They have a freeware and a for sale version of their raster to vector software. I downloaded it, and found the freeware version to be quite capable and much easier to use than most any of the demo's of other for sale R to V software. The pay version has additional features, but at least you can find out for free whether the darn thing works or not. So far, in playing with it, I've been impressed with the ease of use. You might download it and give it a try to see if it will do the things you have in mind. Their site is http://wintopo.com No affiliation, yada, yada, etc.

BobCAD's BobArt will do this pretty well. I have it and have played with it but don't personaly see much use for doing it around here.

-1 to 6handicap

This isn't done with raster to vector software. It is done directly from a .tiff image. By the way I have played with raster to vecor software for stuff like this and have found they generally do a crappy job, I am sure the software works good for certain needs but this one doesnt seem to fit the bill.

he bobcad art sounds promising but I can't stand bobcrap software and would rather not deal with that company or their product.

Here is a copy of the email that was sent back from my inquiry.

{For photo engraving see either www.super-tech.com or www.deskam.com.


Dr. Kurt E. Daley, Ph.D.
Senior Development Engineer
MicroProto Systems
12419 E. Nightingale Ln.
Chandler, AZ 85249
USA
(602)791-0219
(480)895-9648 fax
www.microproto.com)

This one looks the most promising http://www.super-tech.com/root/supercam/

They did this in some oak veneer, it is pamela lee if you didn't know already.

Mochinist.
Don't mean to split hairs here, and if you prefer certain software that is cool.

The definition of "raster" is the format of a picture ie. Jpeg, png, tif, bmp, gif ,pcx, etc.
(which means pixel location and color information)

SOOOOOO a tiff image IS a raster image(ie no vector information.

The software converts the pixels to vector coordinates to be used in dxf format. Vector data is required for cad/cam to convert to g-code.

The software you recommended is by definition raster to vector software.

Al

I dont necesarilly prefer certain softwares, I just cant stand bobcrap or their sales staff.

Thanks for the definition of what a raster image is.(not)And thanks for the lesson in what is needed for to make a cnc program.(whatever)I know what a .tiff image is and I know what a .dxf is and I know how it is made into g code, both with finger cam and cad cam programs.

I guess technally this is a raster to vector to cam program. This is a qoute from their description of how it does the image.

Images can be transferred to wood and metal. SuperCam can read .TIF files in the uncompressed, infinite grayscale mode. The spindle will follow the scan of the image, diving the tool deepest where it is darkest. All the cutting parameters are controlled by setting variables. Line width image engravings can be created using this feature with V-tipped cutting tools. The images created have holographic viewing effects. The image becomes part of the material, it is not just on it but it is in it.

That means no messing around with a raster to vector prograsterram.

I just thought the way it did it was kinda cool and could definately have a niche market for the art fair type of crowds.

P.S. Don't mean to be a smart ass, my back just hurts and I had a crappy day in the shop and at home.

Sorry about your back, and crappy day etc etc.

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SuperCam can be used as a CNC code generator for CNC machine tool control. Graphic items are converted into coordinate points and used to create the ASCII formatted .TXT file for transfer to CNC machine.
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Don't want get into a semantics discussion, BUT,
"graphic items(raster) are converted to coordinate points(vector).

I have yet to see any CNC machine work without coodinate data or work using graphic data.

The Holographic comes from using the grey scale as depth of cut.

I have tried several of these types of programs, they all work fairly well. The results are mostly dependent on the quailty of the graphics used. I engraved the black & white harley logo in alum. 5'X10". It came out looking very good, after 3 hours of pixel editing first.
AL