Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

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rotormansa
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:54 pm

Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by rotormansa »

OS: Windows 7
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.16.6706 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-16
Hash: f86a4e411ff7848dea98d7242f43b7774bee8fa0
Python version: 2.7.8
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 6.8.0.oce-0.17


I've been using Blender for a few months and trying to embed a logo (stamp into a surface) or emboss (logo protrudes from the surface is quite troublesome. One can create a fine looking model but it's not a manifold and prints a bad. It is also very time consuming and have decided to look at other tools to prehaps have an easier time doing this task.

So now I'm onto FreeCad. Basically I do a bitmap trace of my logo using Inkscape, I then import it into Freecad. Freecad treats the logo as a much of curve. I've tried to use the Draft-Upgrade method but I still can't extrude the logo to give it depth since sketch-wb doesn't see the object as something that is a 2D object.

I've reviewed a few of the posts on how to do this, many are basically re-drawing over the imported curves.... that doesn't seem like a good use of time.

The logo is a circle with curved text along the perimeter of the circle with an antenna tower in the center. It's not too complex. I'd stick with blender but I started playing with FreeCad and some things are really easy to do in this tool so I thought I'd give a week to try it out.

Looking inputs.

Many thanks

Rotormansa
chrisb
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by chrisb »

FreeCAD is well suited for that task. If you have an inkscape SVG make sure it is a closed path. You can check it in inkscape by colouring the inside. If it is not closed you cannot fill it with colour.
After importing you have to treat inner shapes separately, i.e. you have to cut them away by a boolean operation.
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
rotormansa
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:54 pm

Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by rotormansa »

I'm still not having much success..
I can import my closed SVG file into FreeCad. It gets imported as about 50 or so different paths. I can successfully extrude these paths to a thickness, my goal is to cut into another surface with this 'stamp' of sorts. With my paths now all Extrudes I can't really do much with these with an object, say a cylinder. The boolean functions only work with sketches. I've tried to convert the extrudes to sketches but they are all empty.

Frustrated.. any ideas.
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microelly2
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by microelly2 »

rotormansa wrote:I'm still not having much success..
I can import my closed SVG file into FreeCad. It gets imported as about 50 or so different paths. I can successfully extrude these paths to a thickness, my goal is to cut into another surface with this 'stamp' of sorts. With my paths now all Extrudes I can't really do much with these with an object, say a cylinder. The boolean functions only work with sketches. I've tried to convert the extrudes to sketches but they are all empty.

Frustrated.. any ideas.
I'm sure, it will work
https://freecadbuch.de/doku.php?id=blog ... auer_bauen
can you upload your svg file for debugging the data?
Often the pathes are not closed, so no volume shapes can be created.
rotormansa
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by rotormansa »

I'd like to attach the project but it's 4M and we're limited to 512k. I was going to zip up the project but the not sure we are suppose to do this on this forum...
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microelly2
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by microelly2 »

rotormansa wrote:I'd like to attach the project but it's 4M and we're limited to 512k. I was going to zip up the project but the not sure we are suppose to do this on this forum...
you can store it in your dropbox and share the link.
chrisb
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by chrisb »

rotormansa wrote: I was going to zip up the project but the not sure we are suppose to do this on this forum...
Zipping won't help much, FreeCAD is a zip archive.
rotormansa wrote: I've tried to convert the extrudes to sketches but they are all empty.
Inkscape uses bezier curves. These cannot (yet) be converted ro sketches automatically. This macro might help, it creates an approximation with lines and circles/arcs only. There is a serious drawback: it works only in the current 0.17 version, which you can install in parallel with your 0.16. While you cannot use 0.17 files directly in 0.16 you can copy and paste complete sketches between them.

Code: Select all

# execfile('/Users/cb/panhard/coupe/sanssoupapes/wire2sketch.py')
# Use PathUtils for the approxiamtion
''' Apprixamation of wires containing bezier curves by arcs '''

import FreeCAD
import Path
from PathScripts import PathUtils
import Draft

def shape2Sketch(shape):
  # replace shape.edges with arcs
  global test
  newEdges = PathUtils.cleanedges(shape.Edges,0.1)

  wire = Part.Wire([Part.Edge(i) for i in newEdges])

  sketch = Draft.makeSketch(wire,autoconstraints=True,delete=True)
  
selection = FreeCADGui.Selection.getSelectionEx()
for s in selection:
  shape2Sketch(s.Object.Shape)
A Sketcher Lecture with in-depth information is available in English, auf Deutsch, en français, en español.
rotormansa
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Joined: Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:54 pm

Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by rotormansa »

I'll give 0.17 a shot, but for reference here's a link to my dropbox location with the example file. This isn't the final but close. What I'm trying to do is create this image embedded into the surface of another object. This is needed when printing 3d filament type prints if this is the bottom surface, top surface it could either be embedded or embossed but the bottom layer has to embedded else the print really looks horrible. I've succeeded doing this with blender BUT it is SO time consuming to achieve the effect, and I did it with a much simpler logo. Ideally a tool that converts to a solid then do a boolean difference between this solid and the one your burning into is needed.

Here's the link; https://www.dropbox.com/s/th73svtzc1vew ... FCStd?dl=0
chrisb
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by chrisb »

As far as I can see you got already very far. The idea is to make a union (which currently fails) and subtract that from whatever the rest of your model is. I will have a look at the failing union.
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sgrogan
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Re: Embedding or Embossing a logo onto a surface

Post by sgrogan »

chrisb wrote:As far as I can see you got already very far. The idea is to make a union (which currently fails) and subtract that from whatever the rest of your model is. I will have a look at the failing union.
Hey chrisb, I'm looking too. In Cut001 the order of selection is reversed. There is also a lot of duplicate geometry. Look at the dependency graph and try check geometry. I'll post something soon that is somewhat cleaded up.

@rotormansa, can you post your .svg?
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