Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
(OP)
Hello everyone. I'm working on a new product line, and it requires an engraving. By engraving, I mean a textured, curvy surface. I've only attempted this with the Carvewright software for my hobby woodworking at home, but we loved the effect so much that we want it as part of real products. However, this has proven to be extremely frustrating with solidworks and/or Inventor.
I've attached an image as an example of an engraved part (the model texture is wood, but the machine cuts these in polycarbonate just fine). This takes less than a minute to make in that software once you have the image; it's a matter of click the import option and set the max depth (a simplified explanation as there are more advanced options, but you should get the idea). Imagine how long such a textured and curved shape would take to model without a feature like this.
So then comes the question: how do you do this in Solidworks? I know about the auto trace and sketch from image, but those don't give you the same result without hours of freeforming and surface modeling.
(If anyone is curious, the software I'm comparing does this function by brightness comparison. It turns the image to black and wide, then smooths the pixels, then cuts the depth for that picture based on brightness. With some photoshop/illustrator work, the results are very nice.)
I've attached an image as an example of an engraved part (the model texture is wood, but the machine cuts these in polycarbonate just fine). This takes less than a minute to make in that software once you have the image; it's a matter of click the import option and set the max depth (a simplified explanation as there are more advanced options, but you should get the idea). Imagine how long such a textured and curved shape would take to model without a feature like this.
So then comes the question: how do you do this in Solidworks? I know about the auto trace and sketch from image, but those don't give you the same result without hours of freeforming and surface modeling.
(If anyone is curious, the software I'm comparing does this function by brightness comparison. It turns the image to black and wide, then smooths the pixels, then cuts the depth for that picture based on brightness. With some photoshop/illustrator work, the results are very nice.)






RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
I do not have an answer. But I do have a question for you. An image is 2D. How does Carvewright know depth of engraving from the set max depth? Mathematically, it is not possible, is it?
Best regards,
Alex
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
Jeff Mirisola
My Blog
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
(Technically, the pixels aren't even analyzed. The binary representation of the pixels has all of the necessary information already; it's just easier to understand it this way.)
It would thoroughly surprise me if this function wasn't available at all in Solidworks/Inventor. Most logos (company, product line, certifications) are more than just vector art, and it would be a useful and simple feature to add (since it's so similar to Sketch from picture).
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
Eric
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
It could be very useful, albeit extremely resource consuming, to be able to create actual textures in 3D model parts ... especially for RP parts.
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
If you can convert from Grayscale to stl, then it must be a toy. I do not think SW needs that. Grayscale is an image which is a reflection of light. Building a solid model based on reflection is not a solid approach fundamentally.
Best regards,
Alex
RE: Engrave an image? Flat surface, Textured, not vector!
With experience and practice, you can model each piece, place onto the base part, then creat them in SW as an assy template or something similar.
Chris
SolidWorks 11
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