I’d like to use a fill pattern to engrave fonts with my laser machine. Everything works fine, but my machine requires the fill pattern to be converted into a simple path. So far, I haven’t found any way to do this directly. The only workaround I use at the moment is exporting at a very high resolution, re-importing the file, and then converting the image to a path.
This process is slow and requires a lot of extra work.
It is a requested feature. Hopefully I can find it again at Gitlab. I believe the request is something similar to Object>Pattern>Flatten. In other words, you want to flatten an object that is filled with a vector pattern.
I use a work around but it is simply not a one or two click solution. However, it works great in v1.4.2.
Edit: Prior versions will leave artifacts outside of the cutting object that requires quite a bit of clean up. V1.4.2 has improved this technique quite a bit.
I have already tried this. It only worked for me when I created my own fill pattern. With the built-in patterns unfortunately it didn’t work.
The pattern or the cut object remains an object with a “pattern” fill. What I would actually need is just a set of plain paths (or multiple paths), so I can use it directly with my laser machine.
Object>Pattern>Flatten sounds like what I need - hopefully it comes soon :) Meanwhile I will have to export and import :(
Yes - some of the patterns in Inkscape will not work with this technique even if you do a Object>Pattern>Pattern To Objects and tile it.
Could you attach a document with the Inkscape pattern that you wish to use? Maybe I can recreate the pattern so that it will work with this technique.
Object>Pattern>Flatten has been requested by quite a few "makers/crafters" in various social media over the years. I wonder if "we" can start a crowdsourcing campaign to get a developer to create an extension?
I tried it with the default wave pattern, which is very good for laser engraving. I created a rect → export → import. Now I have a “universal” pattern rect, only with paths. With this rect I can use the intersection with my form. This works fine. But the question is – is that really easier than just preparing the image, then export, import, laser?
I will try it, and maybe I’ll find a better way. If so, I’ll post it.
By the way, I’m a developer 😁 I’ll check if my skills are the right ones. If they are, maybe I’ll bring us a little extension 😎 But I think the extension would just do the same (export/import), only in the background with one click.
Yup - Pattern to Object works on that but is difficult to tile properly. Basically a sine wave. Easy to recreate but even using my method you will have to do a stroke to path after tiling it. Then do the boolean intersection. Some of the Inkscape patterns are simply difficult to use with my method.
I discovered 25 years ago that I was highly allergic to programming. Good luck! 🤣
If you are just engraving - nothing wrong in just exporting the pattern filled object as a PNG/JPG at 300/600/1200 dpi (depending on your laser and software). Bitmap engraving will just be "generally" slower than vector engraving. However, with the shear number of nodes and paths, you won't even see the difference in speed. Might even be slower! 🤣
I did manage to get that wave pattern to convert over using my method. 2000+ nodes 166 paths in this simple text.If you want higher density - that will just drive the number of paths/nodes through the roof.
Oh yay, now I see why there isn’t already a simple feature for that… I’ll give it a try this weekend – my problem is that I want to engrave cardboard. That means I can’t really use a “fill” because it just burns everything away. Only single lines work, but they’re so thin that the text becomes unreadable. My idea is to fill it with parallel lines so it gets darker without burning through.
Have you tried the Pointillism filter? Still will have to convert to a PNG. Sometimes you have to take advantage of a flaw to your benefit. By changing the filter turbulance and displacement in the filter editor and the stroke thickness, you might find a winning combo.
Oh nice idea, but my gut feeling is that dots take much longer to laser than lines. But I’ll have to try that out first.
I’m using a 10W blue laser – works fine with glass, but you need a pre-treatment. Leather also works perfectly – but the smell is absolutely terrible! My laser is set up in my office with an exhaust to the outside, but I really avoid leather. :D
Well - you can convert to a bitmap then do a trace bitmap but we come back to the number of nodes and paths issue again. Yuck!
From my understanding, with a UV laser; no smell. It is more of a photo-chemical process than a "burn". Zero heat. With glass, no pre-treatment needed. Also, with glass, the image is not on the inside or outside surface, but inside the glass. Then of course, since there is no "burning" involved; the DPI is >1000 with a galvo.
UV does produce ozone, so proper extraction is essential. A UV laser would be great, especially since it can mark PLA from 3D printing. Unfortunately it’s still pricey—~2 W is all that’s affordable for now.
Yeah - I can't justify the price. Brother In Law builds custom kitchen cabinets and wants to do glass inlay doors with designs. He got some quotes for chemical etching and almost had a seizure. A UV would do it very economically (not to mention being in house with fast turn around) but I see an issue with limited platform stage size. He would have to create alignment jigs and do mulitple passes (top, middle, bottom). Always something huh?
Using Inkscape with Cutters/Plotters Convert Fill Pattern to Path
Inkscape.org
Hi there,
I’d like to use a fill pattern to engrave fonts with my laser machine. Everything works fine, but my machine requires the fill pattern to be converted into a simple path. So far, I haven’t found any way to do this directly. The only workaround I use at the moment is exporting at a very high resolution, re-importing the file, and then converting the image to a path.
This process is slow and requires a lot of extra work.
Does anyone know a better solution?
https://gitlab.com/moini_ink/hatch_fill
Thank you for your answer.
I already know the extension, and the extension is good. But fill patterns are much easier to apply and there is a larger selection.
For this reason, I would like to convert the fill pattern. I am now looking for a more elegant way than exporting and reimporting.
Does anyone know a quick way?
It is a requested feature. Hopefully I can find it again at Gitlab. I believe the request is something similar to Object>Pattern>Flatten. In other words, you want to flatten an object that is filled with a vector pattern.
I use a work around but it is simply not a one or two click solution. However, it works great in v1.4.2.
Edit: Prior versions will leave artifacts outside of the cutting object that requires quite a bit of clean up. V1.4.2 has improved this technique quite a bit.
Hi COD,
I have already tried this. It only worked for me when I created my own fill pattern.
With the built-in patterns unfortunately it didn’t work.
The pattern or the cut object remains an object with a “pattern” fill.
What I would actually need is just a set of plain paths (or multiple paths), so I can use it directly with my laser machine.
Object>Pattern>Flatten sounds like what I need - hopefully it comes soon :)
Meanwhile I will have to export and import :(
Yes - some of the patterns in Inkscape will not work with this technique even if you do a Object>Pattern>Pattern To Objects and tile it.
Could you attach a document with the Inkscape pattern that you wish to use? Maybe I can recreate the pattern so that it will work with this technique.
Object>Pattern>Flatten has been requested by quite a few "makers/crafters" in various social media over the years. I wonder if "we" can start a crowdsourcing campaign to get a developer to create an extension?
Thanks!
I tried it with the default wave pattern, which is very good for laser engraving.
I created a rect → export → import. Now I have a “universal” pattern rect, only with paths. With this rect I can use the intersection with my form.
This works fine. But the question is – is that really easier than just preparing the image, then export, import, laser?
I will try it, and maybe I’ll find a better way. If so, I’ll post it.
By the way, I’m a developer 😁 I’ll check if my skills are the right ones. If they are, maybe I’ll bring us a little extension 😎
But I think the extension would just do the same (export/import), only in the background with one click.
Yup - Pattern to Object works on that but is difficult to tile properly. Basically a sine wave. Easy to recreate but even using my method you will have to do a stroke to path after tiling it. Then do the boolean intersection. Some of the Inkscape patterns are simply difficult to use with my method.
I discovered 25 years ago that I was highly allergic to programming. Good luck! 🤣
That is a path with 1900+ nodes.
Outline view
If you are just engraving - nothing wrong in just exporting the pattern filled object as a PNG/JPG at 300/600/1200 dpi (depending on your laser and software). Bitmap engraving will just be "generally" slower than vector engraving. However, with the shear number of nodes and paths, you won't even see the difference in speed. Might even be slower! 🤣
I did manage to get that wave pattern to convert over using my method. 2000+ nodes 166 paths in this simple text.If you want higher density - that will just drive the number of paths/nodes through the roof.
Oh yay, now I see why there isn’t already a simple feature for that…
I’ll give it a try this weekend – my problem is that I want to engrave cardboard. That means I can’t really use a “fill” because it just burns everything away.
Only single lines work, but they’re so thin that the text becomes unreadable. My idea is to fill it with parallel lines so it gets darker without burning through.
Thank you for your method and your help!
I’ll try it out and let you know what I find ;)
One of these days I'll get one of those 10W UV lasers for those type of materials (leather and glass too!).
At one time, Inkscape had hatch patterns. No clue what happened to them.
Haven't tried these yet: https://inkscape.org/~henkjan_nl/★classical-hatch-patterns-for-mechanical-drawings
Have you tried the Pointillism filter? Still will have to convert to a PNG. Sometimes you have to take advantage of a flaw to your benefit. By changing the filter turbulance and displacement in the filter editor and the stroke thickness, you might find a winning combo.
Oh nice idea, but my gut feeling is that dots take much longer to laser than lines.
But I’ll have to try that out first.
I’m using a 10W blue laser – works fine with glass, but you need a pre-treatment.
Leather also works perfectly – but the smell is absolutely terrible! My laser is set up in my office with an exhaust to the outside, but I really avoid leather. :D
Well - you can convert to a bitmap then do a trace bitmap but we come back to the number of nodes and paths issue again. Yuck!
From my understanding, with a UV laser; no smell. It is more of a photo-chemical process than a "burn". Zero heat. With glass, no pre-treatment needed. Also, with glass, the image is not on the inside or outside surface, but inside the glass. Then of course, since there is no "burning" involved; the DPI is >1000 with a galvo.
I’ll give it a try and see how it performs.
UV does produce ozone, so proper extraction is essential.
A UV laser would be great, especially since it can mark PLA from 3D printing.
Unfortunately it’s still pricey—~2 W is all that’s affordable for now.
Let’s see where this goes :)
Don't forget your eyes!
Yeah - I can't justify the price. Brother In Law builds custom kitchen cabinets and wants to do glass inlay doors with designs. He got some quotes for chemical etching and almost had a seizure.
A UV would do it very economically (not to mention being in house with fast turn around) but I see an issue with limited platform stage size. He would have to create alignment jigs and do mulitple passes (top, middle, bottom). Always something huh?