# Bob cad / Bob art



## J agoitia (Jan 13, 2014)

Is there a program that you don't have to trace your drawing to get it on to your router

Or a way to do it.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Can't help with your question but I'm sure someone will be able to help.


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

VCarve Pro from Vectric.com has a "trace bitmap" function that can turn a bitmap image into vectors for CNCing. So if you have any kind of scanner or camera to take a good digital image of your drawing then it can be imported, traced, scaled to the size you want, toolpathed, then cut on your CNC. 

I've never used bobcad so can't tell you if it has a similar feature.


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## curiousgeorge (Nov 6, 2006)

There is a FREE program called Inkscape that has a trace bitmap function also. And, did I say, it's free?


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## bgriggs (Nov 26, 2008)

A scanned vector will only be as good as image it was scanned from. If the image is made up of pixels then the scan will be jagged because pixels are square. 

To get good vectors you will need to do some editing.

For most folks the scanned image will be fine but for professional merchandise you should start with good vectors.


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## Bryan Rocker (Jul 10, 2014)

Very true but not all trace programs are created equal, I would put Corel Draw's trace program up towards the top of that pile. The better the trace program the better the output but you can only do so much with a poor pic.......


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## subtleaccents (Nov 5, 2011)

I have Corel Draw 11. It has Trace in it. It does do a decent job tracing a bitmap image. I export the trace to MasterCam as a dxf file and MasterCam converts it to it's Mc9 format to produce the toolpath. Sounds like a lot of time consuming work but it is fast. Ask any of your friends or associates that are involved with advertising art if they have older versions of Corel Draw, like V7 or V11 that they no longer use.


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## 4DThinker (Feb 16, 2014)

A good tracer has sliders to determine how closely it follows the pixelation of the bitmap. 

And after the image is turned into vectors, there are other tools to smooth out curves or straighten out lines.


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## J agoitia (Jan 13, 2014)

Thanks guys iI will try the ones that I think will work and see how they work. Again thanks.


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## Davif (Nov 24, 2014)

I second the Inkscape program. You need to convert the pixel base image into a vector image. Once you have that, your CAM software should be able to create the tool paths. 

And yes, Inkscape is free. 

You could also manually program the G-code but that's even slower than retracing your pictures.


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