recommended suggestions for dxf plugin for Illustrator please

rob farr

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Apr 5, 2015, 7:55:42 AM4/5/15

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I've just started renting Illustrator CC running it on Windows 8 and want to export to DXF for the laser cutter. The update on Adobe's website doesn't work so wanted to ask if anyone can recommend a plugin please?

Faraz Sayed

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Apr 6, 2015, 5:27:20 AM4/6/15

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If you don't find one, you could always use Inkscape: https://inkscape.org/en/. Its an opensource vector drawing program that can save files as .dxf. I haven't used Illustrator much but I do find inkscape easier to get my head around. If you make everything in mm in document setting and make sure mm is selected when you export, things come out the right size
on the laser cutter. The dxf doesn't understand objects and strokes from your .svg so do the appropriate conversion to paths before saving as dxf. good luck!

stephen o'brien

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Apr 6, 2015, 5:52:26 AM4/6/15

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According to the lasercut5.3 manual.... it should accept adobe *.AI files as a direct import.

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rob farr

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Apr 6, 2015, 10:36:17 AM4/6/15

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thanks for your responses i tried inkscape a couple of times but am keen to use illustrator for my work, I'll bear the info in mind though Faraz.

I had the training for the new laser cutter recently and I was informed only dxf files work, so its interesting to hear AI files should work also

Matt Wielbut

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Apr 6, 2015, 4:42:33 PM4/6/15

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The following steps work for me to go from Illustrator to DXF. I have tried other combinations/options and they DO NOT result in a file that’s correctly scaled after importing to LaserCut.

- File > Export

- Select AutoCAD exchange file (DXF) in the format options

- Select R14 / LT98 / LT97 in the AutoCAD Version options

- Leave other settings as default: Scale 1 Pixel = 1 Unit, Raster File Format PNG, Maximum Editability

*I’m on a mac, not sure how that may affect the process.

-

On Apr 5, 2015, at 12:55 PM, rob farr <rob.f...@googlemail.com> wrote:

I've just started renting Illustrator CC running it on Windows 8 and want to export to DXF for the laser cutter. The update on Adobe's website doesn't work so wanted to ask if anyone can recommend a plugin please?

rob farr

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Apr 6, 2015, 5:09:38 PM4/6/15

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Cheers Matt much appreciated, look forward to doing some tests soon

Glyn Hanmer

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Apr 7, 2015, 4:15:13 AM4/7/15

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If you export as 1 inch = 1 unit, it comes out correctly - true for Illustrator CS6

https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Laser_Cutter/Exporting_DXF_from_Adobe_Illustrator

Glyn Hanmer

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Apr 7, 2015, 4:15:50 AM4/7/15

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Please feel free to read and add to this page if it becomes of use to you!
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Laser_Cutter/Exporting_DXF_from_Adobe_Illustrator

rob farr

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Apr 7, 2015, 2:07:35 PM4/7/15

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Cheers Glyn I'll take a look

On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 9:15 AM, Glyn Hanmer <glynh...@gmail.com> wrote:

Please feel free to read and add to this page if it becomes of use to you!
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Laser_Cutter/Exporting_DXF_from_Adobe_Illustrator

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