How do I cut edges?

Good Morning.

I received my Glowforge about two weeks ago. I have downloaded Inkscape. I am a NOVICE!!! I have made all the beginners items, but I am still LOST!!!

I have two questions.

  1. It seems that when I add a cut around anything that, I am getting a double cut. It tends to cut a very thin outer layer. I cannot figure out how to not do that.

  2. I have somethings that someone has asked me to do. For example, they want all the branches of the tree cut out so you can touch them as a Christmas ornament with the star on top with a small hole to put the hanger through. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make that happen.

HELP PLEASE!

Thank you in advance!

Leanne

Hey I’m away from my computer so I can’t be a ton of help but I’ll say two things.

One: welcome! We love new people here :slight_smile:

Two: if you’re having a problem with a particular file it can be really helpful if you can upload it here. There are a few reasons why double cutting might be happening, if you let us see which svg it is we can probably help you troubleshoot it.

And hey why not a bonus three — if you haven’t seen it I think you might like this post, full of good stuff to know:

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This sounds like you may be cutting a line that is an expanded shape, which is why you are getting two cuts. What file type are you exporting from inkscape?

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Here is the jpeg.

What I want is for it to have the ‘hangie things’ at the top, but then to cut out the silhouette of the horse and girl.

I feel that once I understand that, it will open many doors.

The double, I am not sure you can open this link. I have to download that file from my other computer.Glowforge - the 3D laser printer.

If you can, you all can laugh at the way I set this up. but again, am a novice and could not get the rest of it to work without it looking this way. I know there is an easier way to stack.

Thanks again!

Leanne

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Hi Zachubb89,

Inkscape svg (*.svg)

Leanne

We wouldn’t do that at all, we’ve all been new once.

Luckily the jpeg is easy. Open a new document in Inkscape. Then drag the JPEG file into the window.

Now you have a jpeg inside your Inkscape document. Select it, then go to the “trace bitmap” command. I think it’s under the Path menu? Anyway once you find it, trace the bitmap, and it’ll make a vector copy of the picture. You can then cut the shape out. You don’t need the imported jpeg inside your svg so you can delete it from the Inkscape window.

With a little practice, the whole thing will take literally seconds! Pretty sweet.

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cooper9

Here is the file that is double cutting the house. (the one I said, go ahead and laugh by the way I set it up)

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Sorry, I’m away from my pc so can’t dig into it. Luckily there are lots of really smart people here and someone’s sure to come along and give you great advice.

Thanks! I am in hopes that one day I can be in all of your shoes and be able to give advice.

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You’re right, there are two lines. If you open it in inkscape and change the view to outline, it’s easy to see. And the house and the heart have two different paths to address. It’s easier to do when you enlarge it a lot, then select the inner line, hold shift and select the outer line. Then path/union.

cooper9

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forgot one thing. Set the fill for the house to none, then the stroke to a color of your choice.cooper9

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We would never laugh at you! I am not experienced yet either, and I rely heavily on the advice of the people in this community. They are all welcoming and ready to help.

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I think you will find Gimp to be a great tool for creating masks that can be made into paths and the paths exported as SVGs on so simple an image it is simple to do, but play a bit with it with other images and you can get amazing vectors from it…

horse

You can save this to your computer and just cut it.

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Good instruction, short and concise

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Welcome to the forum and don’t worry about asking questions about simple things. We all have to begin somewhere.

When one takes a bitmap image like a png or jpeg and it has lines in it, the scan will usually put a lines on either side of even a very thin line, so there results several lines. One way to check a file out to make sure there aren’t extra lines is to go View > Outline. That allows you to see the individual vectors and see what you need to keep and what to get rid of.

Please do keep posting files and questions. You’ll get the help you need. You did great by giving the forum something to work with.

How do you get rid of the edges when you do not want it to cut? I have found the vector marks when I trace bitmap, but do not know how to get rid of them. I see the outline that it will cut when I send it to so I know it will make it hollow.

I just want it to cut the the cup out and leave all the interior as engraved. I just do not know what to do. I have looked at youtube videos and other things and am lost.!

shutterstock_678475816|468x500

coffeecup

Thank you in advance.

Leanne

There is a heck of a learning curve one inkscape! But when it all starts making sense it is a great feeling, we have all been there. Heck, I’m still there! Welcome to the community!

I selected all in the file and removed the fill. Then clicked on “path”, then “break apart”. After that I just selected the interior boxes and deleted them.

coffeecup

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Welcome! It won’t be long before everything starts clicking into place for you. Many of us have been where you are now and it’s just a short phase!

I found it helpful to trace things in the design program, it helped me get used to understanding the lines and how to control them.

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