black and white question??

Hi there, I’m looking for a software package or solution that will take a black and white image and create mach 3 g-code within pre-set parameters of tool size, speeds and feeds, it would require that one colour (e.g. black) would be removed to a depth of 2.5mm, leaving the other colour (e.g. white) as the upper surface. Ideally the programme would do this with as liitle additional input as possible and produce code that can be directly used to mill the physical form

I’ve seen that this is the way that chemical etchers work for creating patterns in zinc plate, id there anything transferable from the software used here that anyone knows about?

Hi.have a look at v carve. This program allows you to make tool paths from pictures.

Excellent, i'll have a look at this now, thanks for your help

Most decent programs like Aspire or V carve etc will have trace option which automaticly trace the outline using the contrast between black white and grey scales.
It's simple enough just load picture use the trace function. This then creates you vectors which you can use to create tool paths. Very quick to do, I could create simple pocket toolpath from start to finish in time it took to type this reply.

Load picture into Inkscape (a free program) and use 'trace bitmap'. Save as an .SVG file, and load it into Sheetcam (not free but demo available free to produce Gcode suitable for your chosen controller using one of the many inbuilt post processors

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Originally Posted by JAZZCNC

Most decent programs like Aspire or V carve etc will have trace option which automaticly trace the outline using the contrast between black white and grey scales.
It's simple enough just load picture use the trace function. This then creates you vectors which you can use to create tool paths. Very quick to do, I could create simple pocket toolpath from start to finish in time it took to type this reply.

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I've had a quick look at the Vectric products and they seem very well suited to the types of operations i would like to undertake, thank you for your reply

thanks for this tip, another programme i was unaware of and free to boot! i'll be giving it a go, thanks very much