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--- smtstencil [2015/11/24 01:04] – srw7
+++ smtstencil [2017/05/25 16:54] – swalde
@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
   - set velocity to 800 (it will go as fast as it can) and power to 30%
   - carve out
+----
+==Gerber to DXF==
+Okay, but I have a Gerber file (that someone gave me, so, no, I can't re-export from Eagle/KiCAD) and your laser takes DXF and I can't find a free Gerber to DXF converter.  What do I do?
+Simple!  (Not really, but it seems to work)
+I did this all on Linux, so if things work different on Windows, please let me know.
+Use **gerbv** to open the gerber file.  Look at it.  Use the Measure tool to measure some easy-to-repeat dimension.  Write that down.  In **gerbv**, there is an export option.  Export the file as SVG.
+Open that SVG file in **Inkscape**.  Save it as a "Desktop Cutting Plotter (AutoCAD DXF R14) (*.dxf)" file.  (My Inkscape had a different DXF option, but it didn't work for this.)  On the dialogue that pops up, make sure to select "mm" as your base unit.  I also used LWPOLYLINE line output.
+Now, open that DXF in **LibreCAD**. (This step might not be necessary, but follow along for now.)  Remember that dimension I asked you to measure?  Measure it again.  For some reason, whenever I do this, my drawing ends up at exactly 80% scale.  Scale it up by a factor of 1.25.  Save it.  Now, take that file to the laser.  (You could probably do the scale in SmartCarve if you know, for a fact, that it's out by that factor.  I used LibreCAD here because I knew I could use the dimension tool better than in SmartCarve.)

smtstencil.txt · Last modified: 2020/11/04 18:02 by swalde

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