Converting Entire Drawing to Polylines

[Clayton]

I have been working with a designer who uses Adobe Illustrator to create line drawings for me. Unfortunately when exporting to DXF Adobe creates the whole drawing with splines and Command and Cut software wont recognize splines. Is there a way to convert the whole drawing to polylines without selecting each individual object (these are sometimes very complex designs)?

[acourtjester]

Can he save it in SVG format??

[Clayton]

It can be exported in any format. I have the source files and Illustrator so I can do it. How does SVG get me closer to a cuttable part?

[little blue choo]

Sheetcam will post process SVG as well as DXF files. I do most of my design work in SVG and post process it in Sheetcam.

[Clayton]

Ok. I have never worked with Sheetcam. I do have BobCAD, and I woke up this morning with a new idea. I exported the AI files to high-res PNG files for vectorization in BobCAD and they came out perfect. I was racking my brain trying to figure out how to get Illustrator to go directly to ACAD when I just needed to add one more step. Problem Solved.

[tnbndr]

For future reference:
If you select Modify/Object/Polyline/"M" for multiple and select entire drawing/ watch the command line/ It will say items are not polylines do you want to convert them/ "Y" for yes/ if they are splines it will come up with a spline conversion precision, I use the default 10./hit enter/ watch command line for further choices. I usually use Join to simplify the drawing and create fewer objects.

[bhamer62]

good tip tnbndr, there are many ways to do things in ACAD and get just a little different result with vector outputs. Another way is to use the way you described and use the Fit command, it will convert splines into line segments, however sometimes this is a little too "blocky" so I use the PE Edit command, then use the Spline command for my poly line. This does not actually convert your lines into true splines , it converts them into a series of lines and arcs that are mathematically recognizable to CNC programs but really smooths out all the little jagged points. So far, it hasn't slowed my laser down on any cuts. Just like all other tools, there are times and places where one may work better than the other in a particular situation.