I’m attempting to replace the faceplate for another tool I dropped (haha) with 3 screw holes in it.
I cut out the holes but it keeps making inner and outer engraves on the outer edge and they are wavy I drew it out with a ruler, why can I not get a straight line? I decided to drag out a saw and just cut it the old fashioned way.
I have spent weeks on messing up traces previously and my main issue is not being able to clean up the image before printing. My hand drawing is not perfect and I can never get heavy enough lines on the outer edge so it keeps trying to engrave where I want a cut. It also sees a smudge I made with my hand or a finger etc. Am I doing it all wrong, it seems messy awkward, and a total waste of time.
The trace feature is primarily for making engraved copies of simple hand-drawn designs, like putting a kids sketch or a hand-written phrase onto a box lid or a pendant. It’s not designed to be used for replicating objects.
If you’re cutting circles and straight lines, download Inkscape and draw it in there. You can get exact dimensions and you’ll get a clean cut.
That said, you can also adjust the sensitivity of the trace. I can’t for the life of me remember the shortcuts, but if you search on here you’ll find them (or maybe it’s mentioned in the tutorial). That will remove smudges, etc.
Ctrl arrow UP/arrow down for adjusting the contrast.
Yes, it is tough to get exterior only outlines to cut from the lid camera trace. I do better with taking a picture, bringing it into Inkscape and then doing a manual trace or construct with shapes.
I’m sorry that you’ve run into trouble while using the Trace feature in the app. It looks like you’ve already received some great advice from our other community members. Thanks folks!
Did the information they provided help you with your project? In addition to the shortcut keys for adjusting the contrast that @marmak3261 mentioned, there are also keys to adjust the amount of small detail in the trace. Here is a link to a full list of keyboard shortcuts for the app: Shortcut Keys. Please let us know how it goes!
I’m sorry to hear about the time you may have wasted utilizing the trace feature, but I hope you were able to utilize the advice the community provided to finish your project. I’ll close this thread for now, but please don’t hesitate to reach out to us in the future if you happen to run into any more trouble. We’re here to help!