Gimp¶

GIMP is a free and open-source raster graphics editor. I use Gimp to edit photos, mainly to adjust exposure, brightness and contrast and to change to black and white. These operations are often very useful before vectorizing an image with Inkscape. They make it possible to highlight the parts of the image to preserve with the vectorization.

Another interesting Gimp tool is the Newsprint filter. It allows to create an image composed of dots. Once created, it will be possible to vectorize it and use it with laser cutting or CNC machine.

Original image	Modified image

How to do¶

Open the image
Switch to grayscale mode
Adjust exposure (colors menu)
Adjust contrast and brightness (colors menu)
Use the newsprint filter
Set the parameters (1)

(1) It is important to adjust the size of the dots to facilitate the vectorization step with Inkscape.

Inkscape¶

My use¶

At La Machinerie we used to use Inkscape. It has the advantage of being free, multi-platform, and licensed under the GNU GPL license. It can be taken in hand by almost any public for basic uses. It is also very tolerant and can open, import and save many types of vector and raster files. There are many extensions to explore, but one of the most used at La Machinerie is Inkstitch to generate embroidery files.

How to vectorize¶

Import the image (file menu)
Trace bitmap (path menu)
Set the parameters
Final result

How to Crop¶

Align and distribute¶

Fusion 360¶

Make a parametric box¶

When making stuff, they often need to design and make boxes to house electronic cards, decorative objects, furniture … As far as I’m concerned, I would need to design 4-sided boxes to create the 3 containers for my final project. These must be easily modifiable to adjust their dimensions to the users’s needs. Fusion 360 is a parametric design software so it allows this.

Maker case is a box generator and it’s a good alternative to design boxes without 3D modeling software. You just have to set the units, dimensions, material thickness, joint type and it generates the plan (DXF or SVG). With the options you can combine the panel layout, define the kerf and make dogbones for CNC machining.

Step by step method to design parametric box¶

Define your parameters (use no unit for the nbtab)
Draw the base with a center rectangle and define the dimensions (D key) by clicking on the edges, use width and length parameters
Stop sketch and extrude it defining the distance with the thickness parameter
Create a new sketch to draw the fingers on the surface of the base panel
Define the dimensions of the fingers with the thickness and use this formula for the other dimension: length/nbtabL
Repeat for the other dimension and stop sketch
Extrude to cut the finger using thickness parameter as distance
Use rectangular pattern to repeat the previous feature (fingers along the length) and use (nbtabL+1)/2 for the quantity and 2*length/nbtabL for the spacing distance
Use the mirror function to duplicate the fingers on the other length edge
Repeat the three previous steps for the width
Create a new sketch using the plan defined by the side fingers to draw the side panel with a 2 points rectangle
Use the constraints to align the edge of the rectangle and the edge of the length finger edge
Set the height dimension using the right parameter
Extrude this new sketch using thickness as distance to create a new body
Create a new sketch to draw the fingers on the surface of the side panel. Define the dimensions of the fingers with the thickness and use this formula for the other dimension: height/nbtabH
Extrude to cut the finger using thickness parameter as distance
Use rectangular pattern to repeat the previous feature (fingers along the height) and use (nbtabH+1)/2 for the quantity and 2*height/nbtabH for the spacing distance
Use the mirror function to duplicate the fingers on the other height edge
Duplicate the side panel using the mirror function to create the other side panel
Create a new sketch using the plan defined by the length fingers to draw the front panel with a 2 points rectangle
Stop sketch and extrude it defining the distance with the thickness parameter
Use the combine function to cut the side panel using the base panel as tool and repeat for the other side
Use the combine function to cut the front panel using the base and side panels as tools
Duplicate the front panel using the mirror function to create the back panel
Try to change the parameters to see if your job work !