Creating Cut Line on Graphic Within Photoshop

[ros1111]

So I have a B&W high-res PNG I want to use for an engrave, and then to have it cut out. If I take the image and put it into Inkscape and draw a red circle around it (it’s a circular graphic) then export it as an SVG, the Glowforge will read it correctly and separate the engrave from the cut. But if I make the image in Photoshop with the red line and export it as an SVG, even though the GF recognizes it as a separate layer, it won’t switch from engrave to cut for the red line because “bitmaps can only be engraved.” Is there a way to make a red cutline with Photoshop and have the GF read it correctly? Thank you.

[lmk]

This YouTube video maybe of some help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLSG8SsgHV4

[eflyguy]

Correct. PS is not producing vector output. Just because the file type is SVG, does not mean it’s vector.

[hansepe]

Start by looking here: The Matrix - Tips and Tricks

You’ll find two good articles about creating vectors in Photoshop:

Vector Cut Files from Photoshop: etch AND cut without illustrator

Illustrator is powerful. If you are using the Adobe suite, you would do well to learn how to use Illustrator to work with vectors. But going from your comfort zone in Photoshop into Illustrator can be daunting. Good news: For certain simple shapes, you don’t have to. In the case of making a simple cutline around an image, you can create Shapes (rectangle, circle, polygon, line, custom; shortcut key for the currently selected shape tool is “u”), and those can be exported as SVG. This tutoria…

Photoshop to Illustrator / Quick Outlines and Vectors of Photoshop Paths

The trace tool in Illustrator can be a great tool but sometimes you spend more finagling with getting a clean trace than you should. The following is a quick way to get easy outlines of objects (very useful for cutting). You can also use it to send any Photoshop path to Illustrator in a vector format - useful for things like the Symmetry Brush in this post. I want to trace a cut line of this walleye fish. I could use the Illustrator trace tool and delete the unneeded components. Or, I could spe…

[eflyguy]

I’ve moved this to an appropriate forum. P&S is for technical support issues (although they will likely check in here now, as a support ticket was created when this thread was opened in that forum).

[ros1111]

Thanks for all of the information! I will go ahead and use Illustrator since I do have access to that at work.

[eflyguy]

Inkscape is just as capable for GF design work, and is free, if you’d prefer to work on designs at home.