Introduction to using Inkscape to produce cutting files

[MickRalph]

Mike,

 You are really stretching well beyond the call of duty with your tutorials and I’m laboriously working through them in order to get to grips with this Inkscape prog.

Many, many thanks

However there’s always a “but”!

I’m on page two and have duplicated the rectangle that we are supposed to bend into a gable end shape. I’ve got that rectangle into “node edit mode” but the two top nodes totally refuse to be selected, meaning that I can’t get the desired extra nod when in “add node”.

I’ve gone back to the earlier exercise abode nodes and repeated them but I just cant get this bit to work.

The prog. has closed on me several times while trying to select the two nodes saying something about an internal fault.

Any ideas please Mike.

Indeed has any body else some idea of what I can possibly be doing wrong.

 

Dave

Dave,

 

I think that you have omitted the step "Click on "Path" -> "Object to path"".  This changes the rectangle to have four nodes, rather than two square ones at the upper left and lower right corners and a round one at the upper right.  You should then be able to select any pair of nodes in order to insert a new node between them.  "Object to path" and "stroke to path" are very useful options, particularly the latter when it comes to drawing window frames later in the tutorial.

 

On unexpected closing of the program, this is not something I have experienced.

 

Mick

 

ps  There are several other excellent topics on the use of the cutters - particularly the tutorials by JCL on use of the cutter here  and again by Mike Trice on preparing coach sides and ends here

Edited October 30, 2014 by MickRalph

[MickRalph]

I have just posted in Jason's thread on the Silhouette cutter an update on the use of the CutWizard extension for Inkscape.  There are still some issues with this program, so in case anyone is following this thread but not Jason's, I will ask the same question here, with apologies to those reading it twice.

 

I have had some problems when converting the Inkscape files to DXF format and importing them into Silhouette Studio for cutting.  I now note that one can buy an extension to the latest version (v3) of Studio to convert it to the Designer Edition, which is claimed to work with SVG files and with layers.  My question is: is anyone using the Designer edition and does it properly open and cut Inkscape SVG files?  If so, it will be worth me buying this program to see whether it is easier and better to use than CutWizard (it is also about £10 cheaper).

 

Mick

Edited October 30, 2014 by MickRalph

[Dave at Honley Tank]

Dave,

 

I think that you have omitted the step "Click on "Path" -> "Object to path"".  This changes the rectangle to have four nodes, rather than two square ones at the upper left and lower right corners and a round one at the upper right.  You should then be able to select any pair of nodes in order to insert a new node between them.  "Object to path" and "stroke to path" are very useful options, particularly the latter when it comes to drawing window frames later in the tutorial.

 

On unexpected closing of the program, this is not something I have experienced.

 

Mick

 

ps  There are several other excellent topics on the use of the cutters - particularly the tutorials by JCL on use of the cutter here  and again by Mike Trice on preparing coach sides and ends here

 

 

 

Thanks for that quick reply Mick; I'll give that a close look later.

I am aware of the other threads about these cutters but I have been spending most of the time I allot myself to be on the computer in following Mikes tutorial on Inkscape.

 

In the past I have used Corel-Draw to produce drawings for etching but I don't like the delay waiting for the etching company to deliver, nor the expense of correcting the mistakes. (I'm pretty prolific at making mistakes!). Unfortunately I no longer have access to Corel-draw  but Inkscape looks to be a reasonable replacement as long as I can get to understanding its little foibles.

 

I hope do have some simple drawings for windows and doors initially by the time Santa brings me the machine.

 

Keep at it or get to it everybody.

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

i

[JCL]

Hi Dave

 

Good luck with the tutorials. Mike did a great job on them! Inkscape is pretty good, especially for free. Yes there are some foibles you have to get around, but these can generally be got around. I hope you enjoy using your Silhouette.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[JCL]

Hi Mick

 

I'm afraid I don't know anyone that's upgraded. I gave up with Cutwizard pretty quickly. The program seemed pretty flaky, and I never did get them to reply to my emails. I'm just using Inkscape to draw before saving as a DFX to cut. If Silhouette allowed the connection to be used for Inkscape (I think it did once) I'd seriously consider getting the connector program.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[Dave at Honley Tank]

Thanks for that quick reply Mick; I'll give that a close look later.

I am aware of the other threads about these cutters but I have been spending most of the time I allot myself to be on the computer in following Mikes tutorial on Inkscape.

 

In the past I have used Corel-Draw to produce drawings for etching but I don't like the delay waiting for the etching company to deliver, nor the expense of correcting the mistakes. (I'm pretty prolific at making mistakes!). Unfortunately I no longer have access to Corel-draw  but Inkscape looks to be a reasonable replacement as long as I can get to understanding its little foibles.

 

I hope do have some simple drawings for windows and doors initially by the time Santa brings me the machine.

 

Keep at it or get to it everybody.

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

i

Mick was correct. Repeatedly I had missed reading one line of Mikes instructions. 

Today I reached the end of  the section of the tutorial to cut the yard hut.- i.e. I'm about up to January 2014 with the tutorial!

Then I decided to read through all threads relating to this machine and now my brain is screaming for a rest!!!!!!!!

Can any one help me save some brain bashing and tell me what I need to order along with the Silluoette in order to be able to drive it with Inscape drawings. Some posts seem to me to suggest that the machine is driven by its own program which does not readily accept files from Inkscape and that I need some 'extras'.

 

Any help much appreciated,

 

Dave

[MickRalph]

Hi Dave,

 

Yes, there is an awful lot of information to assimilate from the very helpful posts in the fora.

 

The Silhouette Studio program comes with the machine - you will probably need to go to www.silhouetteamerica.com to download the latest version of Studio (v3).  This will import DXF files, which Inkscape can export.  However, if you have used layers, you will need to export each layer separately (ie delete each layer except the one you need to cut).  In doing the export, you need to make sure that DWPolyline option is not selected.  It is also best to convert all objects to paths.  You may need to check that the drawing is the right size in Studio and to move it to a more convenient place on the Studio workspace.  You will find that Studio has good control over the cutting process.

 

It is possible to cut direct from Inkscape, but you lose a lot of control - you need to install the printer driver which you can find on the disk which comes with the machine or can be downloaded from the Silhouette website.  The driver is not installed by default, as it is not needed for cutting from the Studio program.

 

You may have seen that you can upgrade Studio to Designer Edition for about £25-30, but no-one seems to have done so.  I will buy it on Monday, as it does have support for SVG files and layers, so it should be able to open our Inkscape files directly for cutting.  I will report on the outcome in due course.

 

I am out for the afternoon and evening, but will try to post tomorrow some links to relevant posts in the various threads to give some useful tips and other tools you might buy to go with the machine.

 

Mick

[JCL]

I couldn't have said it better myself, except to add, when you create your layer files, give each one a different name. I tack on the material it'll be printed in to the end. E.g. Shed - 010.dxf for .010" styrene. This allows you to keep a track on what you're doing.

[Ralph R]

As a friend of Dave at Honley Tank and one who pointed him in the right direction to buy his cutter perhaps I can explain what I am actually doing with my machine.

 

Currently it is beavering away scribing a large sheet of 10thou plastic for me - what is it? Well actually it is English Bond brick paper. Why bother? Well it actually looks a lot better than the Slaters equivalent as the Slaters mortar courses are far too deep and the bricks have rounded corners so why not use the Silhouette to do a much better job for a fraction of the price? It is very easy despite it taking a long time but then what else does it have to do?

 

The artwork is drawn in Coreldraw and I use version 12. I also use this to produce my etch drawings so, for me, this is a no brainer - no point in learning Inkscape for me although I have been very impressed with Mike Trice's achievements using it. The only issue with using Coreldraw is that the drawing starts printing at the bottom of the sheet so before cutting I just move it all to the bottom of the page and then it cuts from the top - leave a gap or it will cut the backing sheet. You don't need to go through any conversion software, just select the Silhouette as if you are sending the job to a printer(yes of course you need to load the driver). Before printing you need to go to properties and select the colour of the line you want to cut, the default on my machine is a grey so just pick black or whatever colour you have used to draw in. Then leave it to cut, no need to go into any other package or buy the Coreldraw add on they are now selling.

 

I have used it to produce 4mm doors and windows for buildings and I intend to use it to mark plastic for buildings and bridges from drawings in thicker materials. 

 

As far as the cutting heads go I am currently using a Roland blade with an adaptor (Ebay) which is working just fine and keeps the costs down compared to the Silhouette blades.

 

Hope this helps Dave to quickly get up and running with his machine once Santa has been.

 

Ralph

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi Ralph

 

Are you using the Roland blade to scribe the bricks or are you using something else?

 

TIA

 

SS

[Ralph R]

The scribing was done using the blade. If you look at real brickwork mortar courses are not set back that much, at least not as far as on a Slaters sheet of plastic so what you can do with the cutter is plenty deep enough. Ok, it takes a while to do but at least you can set the brick styles out to match your model. In fact it is highly likely that we will actually set out most of our buildings on the cutter for Slattocks Junction, the Manchester Model Railway Society's P4 layout. Not too sure about the huge mill that will take up most of the front board though, but all the terraced houses will benefit from having the walls scribed out with the cutter and then I will probably make a resin master so that we can batch build them all more easily. The scribe lines are of sufficient depth for the mould to pick up very easily, the rubber picks up the tiniest of scratches on the master.

 

The cutter bits I have been using are here:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-QUALITY-LIYU-14mm-HOLDER-BEST-QUALITY-SAME-DAY-DISPATCH-FREE-UK-P-P-/141202069979?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item20e04c99db

 

and I see that he doesn't list the Roland blades in his shop at the moment, there are plenty of alternatives though. I do remember speaking to the guy at this shop and telling him what I wanted and he gave me the low down so I could order the right stuff. Would definitely use his services again when the blades run out which could be a while yet!

 

Hope this helps you.

 

Ralph

[JCL]

I will be genuinely interested in how this turns out once it's been painted, as of course window arches and fancy brickwork can be added into the mix.

 

It you are using a knife, do you get raised edges either side of the cut where the plastic has been moved out wards and slightly upwards? If you do, are you finishing with a light sand?

[Ralph R]

Hi Jason,

 

Yes you get burrs from the knife but these are easily sanded off. I always sand Slaters brick sheets anyway as the face looks so much better when the bricks are flatter.

 

The file shows part of an English bond sheet I made and painted in engineers blue. This is just a test to see if it would all work. Different shades of blue acrylic followed by a coat of grey enamel when it was all dry, the enamel was then wiped off with a tissue leaving the mortar marks. Don't forget that the brick sizes here are 3mm by 1mm high and this is massively oversized.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Ralph

 

[Dave at Honley Tank]

Thought I should let you all know that I ordered  a 'Portrait' from Yolo on Saturday and it was delivered on Tuesday.

So I've cut my first bit of card!

Now I need to finish drawing that dam*** coal hut or yard office, first in 'Inkscape', then in 'Studio' and yet again in 'Corel'.

Whether I shall make three huts remains to be seen. Possibly one in card and one in styrene and perhaps cut a third in card just to see which program best suits me.

 

Without this thread and without Jason's thread it seems unlikely that I would have gone down the path of machine cutting laminae.

Please accept my thanks Mike & Jason; brilliant tutorials

 

Dave

[JCL]

Oh dear Dave, sorry about the extra work! I'm having a go at putting together some 3D stuff now. Whatever you do, don't look in my 3D thread, I won't be responsible for your lost evenings.

 

Hi Ralph, that sheet looks good. As I say, it would be great also for dressed stone, arches, unusual brickwork etc as they could be scribed in accurately before then running the sheet through the second time and cutting out the parts.

[Dave at Honley Tank]

Hi All,

Just put a picture of my hut on Jason's thread about the cutter. It proves my photographic ability is even below my modelling ability but I have an end product from my investment......

 

Ralph R is visiting me later this week; the real purpose is to discuss the modelling tutorials we run at Manchester Model Railway Society but I bet that the word "Silhouette" crops up too.

Subject of a new course perhaps. - Talk about the blind leading the.....

 

Now get out of that armchair and start cutting!

 

Dave

[MickRalph]

Inkscape 0.91 Released

 

I have just received an announcement that the new version of Inkscape has been released.  The Press Release can be seen here.  The new program can be downloaded from the downloads page on www.inkscape.org.

 

Mick

[MikeTrice]

Thanks for this. From an Inkscape/Silhouette user's perspective I guess we need to check out:

 

• Inkscape's ability to cut direct to the Silhouette
• Whether export to DXF has been improved (to allow import into Studio)

 

Not certain I will have an opportunity for a few days so someone is bound to beat me to it, in which case feel free to let us know. Hopefully this tutorial will still be valid.

[Londontram]

Hello mike having just come to ink scape new (literally yesterday) I'm starting your tutorial from the start so this is going to seem a very basic question but on the first exercise after drawing the rectangle you then instruct us to draw the circle /ellipse, yours shows a perfect ellipse but mine keeps coming out like some sort of packman with a split on the right side,. what am I doing wrong? Steve

[MikeTrice]

This does happen occassionally. I thought I had better download and install the latest version before responding just in case something has changed in the interface.

 

So from your description you getting something like one of these:

 

What has happened is that for some reason Inkscape is drawing an arc/segment instead of an ellipse. To resolve select one of the shapes and select the node editing tool. This will display little circle handles at the end of the arc:

 

If you grab one with the left mouse button and drag it to the left outside the ellipse is will adjust the shape around the arc and it will still appear as a segement:

 

If on the other hand you drag to the left inside the ellipse it will adjust the shape around the arc but display it as an arc only:

 

When you are going to adjust the segment/arc in this way the display at the bottom of the screen gives you a prompt of what to do:

 

To restore back to a complete ellipse just drag the handle inside the ellipse until it meets the other handle:

 

When you first select the circle/ellipse icon for drawing the display at the top should indicate what type of object you are going to draw, e.g. segement, arc or complete ellipse. By clicking on the appropriate one you should be able to influence the drawing of the object.

 

For some reason on my machine these are not available for selection which could well be a bug in the new release of the program. Oh joy!

[MikeTrice]

Looking on the Inkscape site there do appear to be a large number of "High/Medium" "Fix Committed" bugs reported including a number of stability issues so keep an eye out for updates, or revert back to v0.48. Either way, save often.

[Londontram]

Thanks Mike I'll have another go later. Steve

[Londontram]

Ok thanks mike it seem that it automatically defaults to the segment setting but by pressing the ellipse option it does draw an ellipse but for some reason it keeps reverting to the ark setting. I'll have a play around with it and try your tutorial again. Steve

[MikeTrice]

Try the following.

 

Select from the menus Edit -> Preferences

 

Expand "Tools" then "Shapes" and then "Ellipse". In the right hand options select "Last used style".

 

Now it should remember what you last used.

[MikeTrice]

Interesting, going back to my earlier issue regarding the disabled buttons if I draw an arc/segment then finish editing it (by deselecting) by default you no longer have access to the three little buttons at the top.

 

To get them back you have to select the arc/segment, then click on node eit, then click on the circle tool again as if you are going to draw another one. Now the three little buttons appear at the top but this time the prompt on the left is "Change" instead of "New". Now I can click on the full ellipse on the right and the arc/segment becomes an ellipse. The three buttons only appear to work for arc/segements.

 

Here I have created a segment and no buttons are visible:

 

First select the Node Editing button:

 

Now select the Circle/Ellipse button:

 

The top toolbar now lets you modify the shape.

 

Clicking on the Arc button changes the shape thus:

 

Clicking on the Ellipse button completes it, but then disables the buttons from further selection:

Edited February 2, 2015 by MikeTrice