circles are not circles

[Cbrbarnes]

I've been trying to cut some 16" circles on my Tracker table. I'm using CorelDraw X7 and when I use the ellipse tool and draw a perfect circle, I end up with what looks like a circle but is actually about 40(ish) straight lines. When I cut the file you can really see the straight lines as opposed to one big arc. Has anybody ever dealt with this? I know I can't possibly be the first one. Thought maybe I could add a bunch of nodes to the arc to make it less noticeable, though I hate to add nodes to a file. Or possibly less nodes and hopefully it would still follow the arc path. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Gamelord]

Its how you are exporting the file. Best bet is to use the DXF tool.

[SeanP]

Last time I looked dxf tool wasn't available for X7,,,,I would just export to SVG format to cure that one.

[Cbrbarnes]

It has to do with the ellipse itself when created in X7. I can see the straight lines when I create the circle and if I use the edit tool it comes up as all of the nodes with straight lines in between. This circle was created using the ellipse tool with the control key to keep it symmetrical.

[Cbrbarnes]

I figured it out. The arc tool needs to be used at 360 degrees. Not sure why the ellipse tool would not be used for this but what do I know? Thanks for the input, have a great day!

[btburn]

I've got X7 and have only used the ellipse tool for my circles and have not had this issue. I've started exporting as SVG format and that has helped with truer files with no clipped corners.

[SeanP]

If you create a circle or an elipse in corel you should only see 4 nodes, I don't understand how you are getting so many unless it's a file from elsewhere, in which case I would delete there circle and add your own, then export using svg.

[patc]

I never used X7, but you might need to convert the circle to curves before you export it.

Pat

[Cbrbarnes]

The whole file including the circles were created in X7, not sure why so many nodes either. The arc tool seems to have solved the issue. I know it's not an export issue based on the number of nodes it's creating. All is well otherwise.

[WyoGreen]

One of the programs I use has an option for how many segments there are in a circle. I couldn't find such an option in CorelDraw X7, so its probably not that program. I just thought I'd throw that in here in hopes it may get some brain cells firing. When I draw an ellipse in CorelDraw X7, I just get 4 nodes (after converting to curves). So it sure seems like an options thing in CorelDraw.

Steve

[Cbrbarnes]

I don't know if it was just a corrupt X7 file? but now when I draw a circle in a fresh file, the ellipse only has one node. Not sure if this is correct either but looks 10x better. I would think there would be 4 nodes as mentioned but I'll cut a file and see what happens...if it aint broke, don't fix it.

[Cbrbarnes]

Also converting it to a curve helped. I wouldn't have guessed it was necessary but thanks WyoGreen, it worked great. I haven't been out in the garage yet to see how the cut turns out but the file looks much better.

[littlefatbuddy]

Sorry to bring up the old thread but I need some help here. I use Corel X6. I use the ctrl button and the elipse tool to create true circles. I made my circle, converted to curves, and then save it as a DXF in corel. I show four nodes in the circle. Because of my computer setup, I then save it to a thumb drive, take it to the shop, and I open sheetcam and import the drawing. Once I have created the cutting operation it makes about 300 nodes all the way around the circle. This obviously makes for a horrible cut and weird circle. I also had a rounded point triangle in this file. Kind of the same thing happened. I showed three nodes in Corel and when the operation created the cut lines in Sheetcam it was about 50 little nodes around the curve of the triangle. I appreciate any help.

[Gamelord]

It happens when you export it to DXF from corel. The export feature is poor. Try different export options until you find one that works better. I usually use "autocad R14" and get good results. Try that one.

[srp]

Sheetcam will accept .svg files (scalable vector format). I find this gives me the best results in sheetcam. I drew a circle using the arc option in the ellipse tool set to the 360 degrees holding down the control key for a perfect circle. Saved and input to sheetcam and it rendered a perfect circle -one arc - no lines - one node. On you issue of rounded corners on your triangle - Sheetcam adds these when the contour is added for the kerf allowance. You might try adding the contour in Corel and using a tool in Sheetcam with a 0 kerf. This way nothing is added in sheetcam for an allowance for the kerf because you have already added it in Corel. If you do add it in Corel with the contour tool remember to only add 1/2 of the total width of the kerf of your torch.

[littlefatbuddy]

Thank you for the responses. I will try them all. The Autocad14 did not work for me though. Since I do not directly export to Sheetcam but save the file and then import into Sheetcam would this affect the conversion at all?

[Gamelord]

no, shouldn't effect it at all....do you have the DXF tools?

[littlefatbuddy]

The DXF macro for corel? No I do not have it.

[Gamelord]

You may want to look into this for your Corel.
http://www.coreldrawtools.com/standard/index.html