exporting DXF's in Corel

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:14 am

Hi folks,

So I finally have some drawings that I did in Corel X5... I thought I had it just about perfect, but when I open them in Autocad or in Torchmate cad, they look like crap! WHY????!!!!

Thanks

April

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:29 am

Hi guys,

I just posted this in the general forum...

I have what I think is a pretty good drawing that I did from scratch in Corel x5, but when I export it, Autocad doesnt recognize it, and in Torchmate Cad, it looks "bubbly" and crappy, and has some extra lines in it. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong, or how I should export it??

Thanks a bunch!

April

Largemouthlou · Post by **Largemouthlou** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 5:56 am

Do you use the DXF tool for exporting?? http://www.coreldrawtools.com/standard/ ... dition.pdf

redneckgateart · Post by **redneckgateart** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:04 am

April,

If you post it (or email it) I'm sure we can figure it out....there's a lot of Corel-savvy folks here.

Happy New Year,
Clark

redneckgateart · Post by **redneckgateart** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:09 am

DXFTool works great but Corel should do a decent job on it's own. If it's not, then something must be "weird" in the drawing. Post it (or email it) and we'll be glad to take a look at it.

Happy New Year,
Clark

Post by **Scratch** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:12 am

Hey April, I read your post last night but missed your PM.... I don't know if I can be of any help though. I dont use Autocad or Torchmate cad so I aint familiar with either. I also have Corel 11, not 5 so things may be different there too.

I draw my crap in Corel, and export it as a stinkin' DXF. Then use stupid WinCNC to convert it to a worthless .TAP file for my dumb machine to cut.

In Autocad, do you need to export it as a DXF for Autocad to use it?

Maybe post up the CDR file and the DXF file and we'll see if we can use it.

Does this mean you haven't cut anything on your machine yet? I thought with how long you've been on here, you've had it running for months. I know you recently just got your table or something, but in all your posts you seem very knowledgable about all the CNC stuff so I figured you had it all figured out. Did you ever get someone to come out and help you get started when you asked for help a while back? I wish I lived closer...

SignTorch Vector Art · Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:58 pm

You have to select AutoCAD R10 or earlier DXF version, or else corel curves will be translated into DXF spline entities (same as bezier curves), which most CNC programs don't recognize correctly. DXF v10 or earlier does not have splines.

Oddly, Corel X3 has no option to export earlier DXF versions.

: Corel X5 export DXF dialog; Corel X5 export DXF.jpg (21.95 KiB) Viewed 4743 times

: Corel X5 export DXF dialog; Corel X5 export DXF.jpg (21.95 KiB) Viewed 4743 times

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:05 pm

Thanks guys! Clark, I will post the file in here.

Scratch, you do make me laugh! I thought you used Corel x5 so thats why I stalked you when I saw you were on here

If I seem knowledgable, it's all a farce! I have run into problem after problem, and I just threw my hands up in the air about 3 weeks before Christmas. I walked away from the shop not to return until after Christmas to avoid further verbal abuse to anyone who would listen

I DID have the machine running, and did a dry run on a bunch of things, worked great, nested everything on brand new sparkly sheet of 16g... everything cut good, but on the last cut, the torch adopted a mind of its own and cut straight across the entire sheet of cut things, then dipped down and welded the tip to the metal and dragged it across the table. I pried the metal off the tip, but thats how it lays still. To make for more fun, my compressor froze in the shed it was in during a very very rare cold snap here. I had temporarily ran air hose through the trusses of my barn and into the shop, but everywhere it dipped, water in the lines froze and snow came out.
So long story short, I have been working on a small closet for the compressor that lives just outside the door of the shop (so I dont have to listen to it). I have a vent and small space heater for freakishly cold spells, and this way the air is staying at the same temp (not cold to warm) and I am going to hard plumb it in complete with nozzels to drain water along the way (yes, I have two air dryers to, but it is super wet around here). Now I just have to make a door for the closet, and do some plumbing, and then call tech support for the hundredth time, and I should be up and running. I thought in the meanwhile I would practice some drawing, and when that didnt work either, I was and am ready to bang my head against the wall.
So to answer your question Scratch, no, it is not running.. I like to refer to it as a very expensive decoration in my shop that was also very expensive and has not made a red cent since being put there last May.
Anyway, this is my very first attempt at drawing something from scratch in Corel. No, I dont use Autocad other than to view things . I like to open the drawing in different programs and see if it looks the same, which it should right? I picked this giraffe because it had lots of holes and looked frustrating, and would make subsequent drawings easier

Tthanks for looking!

April

SignTorch Vector Art · Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:09 pm

That DXF has splines in it.

You have to select AutoCAD R10 or earlier DXF version, or else corel curves will be translated into DXF spline entities (same as bezier curves), which most CNC programs don't recognize correctly. DXF v10 or earlier does not have splines.

Oddly, Corel X3 has no option to export earlier DXF versions.

: corel x5 export DXF dialog; Corel X5 export DXF.jpg (21.95 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

: corel x5 export DXF dialog; Corel X5 export DXF.jpg (21.95 KiB) Viewed 4779 times

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:10 pm

Thanks Gary, I posted a long reply in the software discussion section. I dont actually use Autocad, I just wanted to view it in there to see if it worked. It looked slightly better in the torchmate program, but still "bubbly". I posted both the corel file and the lame dxf there. Thanks so much!

April

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 1:22 pm

Gary! I LOVE YOU!

That worked, and now I am happy!

Is the drawing Ok in your opinion? Too many nodes or anything?

Thanks

April

SignTorch Vector Art · Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:28 pm

Actually I'm impressed, you did great. I don't see any errors or anything to complain about. It's brilliant.

One suggestion: export and post corel files in CMX format so they can be opened in any version of corel. CDR files can only be opened in an equal or later version of corel.

I'd have to give you an A+ on that one. And I am delighted to see you doing so well.

Post by **Scratch** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:31 pm

Don't feel bad April.... That sounds like my first week with the machine also...

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 10:46 pm

Thanks guys! Gary, you are too kind... I watched alot of youtube videos about drawing in Corel. I am still waiting for you to do some tutorial videos

April

Largemouthlou · Post by **Largemouthlou** » Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:31 am

Does Corel 4 have this same option to change to autocad?

SignTorch Vector Art · Mon Jan 03, 2011 10:55 am

All corel versions can export DXF. I went from X3 to X5, so not sure about X4, when you hit export with file type set to DXF, there is a drop down list to choose which AutoCAD version,

: DXF version selector; Corel X5 export DXF 2.jpg (28.99 KiB) Viewed 4748 times

: DXF version selector; Corel X5 export DXF 2.jpg (28.99 KiB) Viewed 4748 times

Largemouthlou · Post by **Largemouthlou** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:43 am

I have been exporting the dxf's (what few I have done) with the dxf tool so I don't see that drop down, will look for it though.. I'm still VERY green myself at all this, still haven't cut anything yet.

April have you seen Lynda.com They have tutorials on a lot of software

Post by **ronsii** » Sat Jan 08, 2011 1:35 pm

Hi parrotlady, I was just reading through the posts here seeing your post about the machine getting a mind of it's own brought back memories of the first time I thought I was all setup and ready to go

much to my dismay it all went south real quick even after I did a trial run so now if it's a new file I will do multiple dry runs as there is something about torchmate cad and how it relates to the driver software.... it can be fine the first run but after that it might turn on me

and try to destroy itself

Anyways, I just thought I would let you know your not alone with problems like that

On another note to help you avoid other problems in the future with your air compressor, if you make a closet for the compressor make sure you have some sort of venting for it to let fresh cool air in and get rid of the warm compressor killing air that will accumulate in there while the compressor motor is running... I know this from experience and a few compressors

Later, Ron

Post by **parrotlady** » Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:25 am

Thanks Ron! It is actually comforting to know that others have had problems. I have self imposed pressure on myself because I was starting to think it was because I was a "girl" and it was genetically impossible or something