Convert your logo to FreeCAD PART 1 of 4: Image to vector using Inkscape and import, Beginners guide

Beginners guide to converting your logo to freeCAD Part 1 of 4. Do you have an image of your logo that you want to print on your 3D Printer or cut on your CNC machine. Or maybe you just want to create a 3D model of it. This tutorial is for you. We go from an image of your logo to a nice shinny textured logo in freeCAD 0.1.18 or 0.1.19. and above.
In video 1 we take your image of a logo, in this case a logo that I found on the internet for education purposes. This is a image in JPEG format. When then convert this to vector using inkscape's trace bitmap feature. We spend some time learning how to use this feature to get the best result then we export this out the a SVG.
In our next video we import the SVG into FreeCAD but, we hit a few problems and I show you how to resolve them. We also learn how to deal with the vector in the sketcher.
#FreeCAD , #CAD , #Logo #3DPrinting, #CNC
PART 1 of 4: Image to vector using Inkscape and import, Beginners guide
• Convert your logo to F...
PART 2 of 4: Import and fix issues, pad pocket extrude. Beginners guide
• Convert your logo to F...
PART 3 of 4: Refine, Smooth, Fillet and Chamfer. Beginners guide
• Convert your logo to F...
PART 4 of 4: Colour and Texture your model. Beginners Guide
• Convert your logo to F...
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[@goowatch]

Thanks for the technics or artifacts in Inkscape

[@MangoJellySolutions]

No problems glad you found it useful

[@PotNanny]

You sound like Maurice from IT crowd... thx for the vid, was looking for this.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Lol that made me laugh. I spent a lot of time in the same area as where the actor grew so it's probably an accent thing. Glad you liked the video

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Oh and I do work in IT lol

[@flygarfpv3496]

I like to put the part of the design that you want at FreeCAD’s “origin” at the 0,0 point (upper left) in Inkscape. That way you don’t have to translate the position later.

[@MangoJellySolutions]

Really nice tip. I like it! 👍

[@PenguinTutor]

That technique worked well in that logo. I was hoping at one point you were going to add suggestions for cleaning it up, other than individually correcting any artifacts. I've spent ages before working through a bit of the image at a time.
Do you have any suggestions?

[@MangoJellySolutions]

That logo was relatively easy to convert. The simplify path works to some extent but all depends on the subject. Trouble is the amount of b spline curve nodes that inkscape creates through the trace bitmap process. I spent some time going through the settings and none really reduced this factor. I am going to experiment with other image programs to see if the amount of b splines are reduced including Adobe illustrator. It will be interesting to see the comparison. I tried to create a macro to clean things up but again limited success. I even tried some machine learning to see if anything can be done but that got complicated very quickly. In the end if I need to do any further cleaning up to allow for fillets and chamfers I normal adopt the quick trace option using the corners of the svg as a constraint as in video 2 or 3 (forget which one). I have some interesting freelance work coming up with a much more complex logo on a curved surface which I have plenty of time to do and experiment and I hope to get something to share with the community and also get the client using CAD in his own shop. I think the silver bullet is to get that b spline node count down, somehow.

[@PenguinTutor]

@@MangoJellySolutions Fair enough - I was just hoping you'd found some magical fix that I didn't know about.
When I've found that images are too complex for the auto trace then I've usually just created my own trace having the bitmap on the bottom layer and then drawing points around with the polygon tool until I get what I want. It gives a crude representation, but the quality depends upon spending a lot of time.
Thanks for your video though.

[@waynenorris5847]

I'm new to Inkscape and just have a quick Question. When I try to reverse the image I don't get the nodes in the corners so I can't complete that step. Anyone else have this problem? I'm using V 1.2