Need an illustrator effect to make CNC engravings

[Mike_Levad@adobeforums.com]

Hi all,

I am an exhibit developer at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, I need some of this groups special expertise.

Here is my problem. I want to use a CNC engraving machine to make a special kind of art work called a scratch hologram. Here is a link that explains the phenomenon.

<http://www.amasci.com/amateur/holo1.html>

Basically you are making an arc scratch in plastic for every point of the line image. When viewed at the correct angle in the right light these scratches form a floating image in the plastic. The distance that the image floats inside the plastic is governed by the radius

Here is where you all come in. Making these images by hand is very time consuming. It is also difficult to make the images very complex. So we thought about using a CNC engraver to make the arcs. However the CNC engraver doesn't want the vector art from illustrator it wants to know where all the arcs are.

So what I need is some sort of effect that I could do to the vector art that would establish the density and radii of the arcs along the lines of the vector art.

If you are interested in working on this problem with us please let me know.

thanks for your time.

Mike

[James_E._Talmage@adobeforums.com]

If I'm not misunderstanding your explanation of the desired results, creating the swirls for any path should be a piece of cake:

1. Ellipse Tool: Draw a circle. Black hairline stroke, no fill.
2. Roate the circle 45 degrees.
3. DirectSelect Tool. Select the top segment of the circle.
4. Copy.
5. Paste.
6. Drag the arc to the Brushes Palette. In the resulting dialog, select New Scatter Brush. In the resulting Brush Options dialog, make sure Rotate Relative To Page is selected.
7. Pen Tool. Click, Click, Click to draw a shape. (Try a W).
8. With the W shape selected, Click the Brush you created in the Brush Palette. The little arcs should appear spaced along the W path. The path itself will disappear. All the arcs should be oriented the same relative to the page, not tilting according to the shape of the path.
9. DoubleClick the Brush in the Brushes Palette. Turn on the Preview checkbox. Position the Options dialog where it does not obscure the artwork. Play with the Spacing and Scale sliders to get the desired density.

When you have something that looks right, Okay the dialog. Select the artwork. Expand Appearance. Ungroup. You will see that the original W path is still there, but has no stroke. Just select it and delete it. The individual curves are now paths which the NC plotter can follow.

JET

[dave_friesen@adobeforums.com]

You need to work with the CAD operator to import the designs into their systems.

You can export the Illustrator files into DXF which is one of the languages that some of the CAD systems use.

Some CAD systems may also take straight EPS files.

It's going to take a little effort but it can work. Either that or learn yourself some CAD <sic>...

Or, if you want to make your life easier you can use a flat bed vinyl cutter to etch the designs in with. It uses standard sign cutting software which is usually quite Illustrator friendly.

[Mike_Levad@adobeforums.com]

thanks for the advice. We are going to do some testing and I will check back to let you know how it went.

Mike

[Vectrans]

Hi all,

I am an exhibit developer at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, I need some of this groups special expertise.

Here is my problem. I want to use a CNC engraving machine to make a special kind of art work called a scratch hologram. Here is a link that explains the phenomenon.

<http://www.amasci.com/amateur/holo1.html>

Basically you are making an arc scratch in plastic for every point of the line image. When viewed at the correct angle in the right light these scratches form a floating image in the plastic. The distance that the image floats inside the plastic is governed by the radius

Here is where you all come in. Making these images by hand is very time consuming. It is also difficult to make the images very complex. So we thought about using a CNC engraver to make the arcs. However the CNC engraver doesn't want the vector art from illustrator it wants to know where all the arcs are.

So what I need is some sort of effect that I could do to the vector art that would establish the density and radii of the arcs along the lines of the vector art.

If you are interested in working on this problem with us please let me know.

thanks for your time.

Mike

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