DXFTooL

[patc]

I downloaded the DXFTooL trial version a couple weeks ago and it reduced the size of the first files that I exported using the tool. The latest file I exported with the tool, was also the largest, and when I did a dry run, the torch would cut a small area, stop, then continue, stop continue, an so on. I was able to get the file to cut properly by redrawing all the objects that were giving me difficulty, and then export the cmx file again using the DXFTool. Has anyone else had this problem? I have Corel Draw X4.

Thanks, Pat

[tcaudle]

CorelDraw exports DXF poorly. (turns arc and circles into hundreds of line segments) DXF toiol changes that and exports with the arcs and circles intact BUT the original DXF has to be clean to begine with or you have to use the tool sin CorelDraw to make the arcs made up of three points again. Sometimes DXF tool will not give you a good output of some arcs. You can usually go to that arc in corel and use the Node Tools and insert another node in the middle of the arc and it will fix the export. If you export to SheetCAM then using SVG export works better. Also Inkscape reads CDR files from X4 directly so you can open them , save as SVG and then load that into SHeetCAM. Once in SVG you can import that back inot wither Corel or Inkscape and do any editing you want. Uf you are using some CAM that only takes DXF you have fewer options.

[patc]

Thanks tcaudle, I don't use inkscape or Sheetcam, but the next time I have a problem, I will try and insert another node in the middle of the arc.

Thanks again, Pat

[Largemouthlou]

I have both corel4x and the dxf tool.. Works fine for me. But like Tom said drawing must be clean and I have had to go back and add nodes or turn a drawing into object.. Sometimes just using the combine command works as well..

[tcaudle]

DXFtool does nothing to "fix" a bad DXF nor will it make a line segmented DXF (no arcs) into a better file. You first have to use the tools in CorelDraw to get back the unsegmented arcs and circles. Its sole purpose is to take the internal Bezier Curves that are native to CorelDraw and some other drawing packages and export them with the arc and circles intact instead of breaking them into hundreds of tiny line segments (which the native DXF export filter in Corel Does.) The way that Corel (evidently ) looks at it is that exporting a DXF is for printing or plotting , not moving to a CAM program. At one point DXFTool was the only reasonable option in CorelDraw but as some CAM packages evolved and will take in other vector formats that maintain the complex Bezier Curves like SVG, EPS, CMX, etc the tool is not as widely used any more. If you have good clean artwork with curves intact, its the best choice if DXF is you only option for processing in your CAM. With CorelDraw X4 they improved their SVG export and import filters and now offer and alternative to DXF if your CAM will take SVG (like SheetCAM).

[gamble]

So what's the best software to export a dxf?