Alternate software for PlasmaCAM machines?

failsafe7 · Dec 8, 2006

Does anyone here have a PlasmaCAM in their shop or garage? If so, are you running a different software than the supplied?

I would like to find a better solution than the PlasmaCAM house software. Somebody mentioned in another thread that BobCAD was "awesome" for waterjet nesting. I'm looking not only for better nesting, but also a much better raster to vector conversion process.

Thank you in advance.

WatchUrStep · Dec 11, 2006

What is your typical resolution on those images and what program are the commonly originating from? Are you looking for Raster to Vector or True centerline trace?

You could try the ACME PROFILER, which is a Raster to Vector program. It costs like maybe $20 or less for the programmer to ship you a CD. This is the more common type of Raster to Vector system, as it produces an outline of the pixels rather than a centerline trace.

Corel and Adobe both provide good programs for converting Raster images to Vector files, typically in dxf format. These companies both provide tools that allow the user to export Centerline trace.

Regards

Greg King · Dec 11, 2006

failsafe7,

You know my suggestion for software that will do everything you ask and more but maybe you could hook up with some Dynatorch users and get their opinion.

Independent CNC Programmer
www.ctcn,net/~3kings/

failsafe7 · Dec 12, 2006

Actually, I just found the BEST raster to vector converter that I have thus used - and it was right in front of me the whole time.

I used Adobe Illustrator, with the "Live Trace" feature. Holy crap, that's really slick, if you gave the patience to learn to use it.

I'll still check out the other software for driving the cutter path. Thank you very much for your input. (both of you) It helped, even it weren't the answer that I was looking for.

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