[Plugin] DXF_export v0.0.4 (2011-10-28)

[TIG]

The error report sounds like you are converting vectors from inches to cm when you should not - a vector [0,0,1] is normalized [0,0,2.54] is NOT. Only 'cm-ize' dimensions and leave vectors alone.

[joergber]

Hi,

as mentioned above, the plugin does not export to correct DXF2000 format!
By now (for example) arcs with startangle of 245° and endangle 13° can happen!
I am not sure if this will be interpreted correctly by all importers or Autocad ...
And there is no HEADER or TABLE section or any (ENTITIES only!)
But I'll correct this in a future release!

But I also noticed that my 'orientation-algorithm' was incorrect for arcs with odd number of edges ...
I realized that the z-normal tells me if the arc was drawn cw or ccw ...
Thanks to TIG, which gave me food for thought

Bep:
Thank you for the report!
I'll try Doublecad xt ...!
(or let you generate the reports )

TIG:
Yes, I converted everything although normals shouldn't.
Thank you!

Give me a day or two to

• 'fix' arc-orientation (again ).
• implement export of 3d oriented circles and arcs to lines ...
• support Faces (however )
• respect Components
• not explode everything anymore!

Thanks again to everybody!
Jörg

[derei]

Thank you, Jörg ! Today I had the occasion to use the updated version of the plugin, as I had to export some sketchup drawings as DXF for CNC. Despite it turns some arcs in AutoCAD, they are right oriented in CNC Software, and that is what I'm interested in.
You made me very happy here! Good luck with the improvements

[joergber]

Hi,

new version v0.0.4 available ...
I updated the first post.

Have fun!
Jörg

[Dubman1013]

I imported this plug-in, when I select the items & export, it does not give me any file types to choose from, no DXF. Is there something I'm missing or is there another plugin to make this work? Thanks for any advice!

I just downloaded the new version, but it still does not give the dxf file type to save as. Any suggestion ?

[joergber]

Hi,

@Dubman1013
There is no filetype to choose from!
The Plugin takes the current skp-filename and exchanges '.skp' with '.dxf' thats all!
(For unsaved models the default filename is 'Untitled.dxf')

Just click 'Export to DXF' then choose the folder to save to and save the dxf.
Before saving you may change the filename to your needs!
(But don't forget '.dxf' at the end of the filename)

Have a nice day!
Jörg

[Gumleguf]

Thanks for a great plugin! I just sent a .dxf file to a friend and he could open it perfectly in SolidWorks. Next step is to CNC the part.

Edit: One thing. My friend just mentioned that when he opened the .dxf in SolidWorks it was in Inches even though I made it in mm. He could just change to mm, but still...

[joergber]

Hi!

Gumleguf:
I can not reproduce here ...
The only thing I could imagine is that you disabled the
'Display units format' setting (Window->Model Info->Units) but then there should have been a messagebox saying "Unable to detect the actual unit setting ...\nGenerate Output in inch?" and the whole DXF would have been 'inverted' because the units calculation factor is -1 in this case ...
(will be fixed in next release! )

Pls. let me know if the problem persists!
And maybe you do have a screenshot that could help or the .skp file of your model ... ... ...

Anyway, thank you very much for the feedback

More than 120 downloads and just this few problems/bugs/featurerequests/...

Enjoy,
Jörg

[Gumleguf]

You are welcome, and thank you (!) for the plugin!

Here is an example of a sketchup that he says opens in Inches:

GMaxx_bagplade1_1.skp

[joergber]

Wohooo, that was fast

I exported without any problems ...

Here is my output ...
unitsFactorProblem.dxf
Could you pls. send this file to your friend to doublecheck?
Could you pls. check the setting and try again?

If you select the measure tool in SU ...
is the length displayed like '371,25mm'?

Thank you!

Cheers
Jörg

[utiler]

Hi joergber,
Can you explain how this plugin differs to a standard SU export?

[joergber]

Hi,

utiler:
It might not have come out clearly ...
I'm using SU 8 free (just updated my profile )
And the standard dxf-exporter is for pros only ( as far as I know )

So ...
I don't know how it differs to standard SU export

Is there a specific reason why you are asking?

Respects
Jörg

[utiler]

Only that I'm using PRO and wanted to know the difference; that's all....

thanks for the explain!

[marcomartim]

@unknownuser said:

I also need DXF for CNC milling.

@joergber said:

I did this because I use the DXF with heekscnc to generate milling operations (G-Code).
Milling a circle or an arc is much faster than several lines ...

Thanks for the plugin!
I also use SketchUp to create files for CNC cutting.
There is an excellent plugin to do the right Gcode in Sketchup, Phlatscript (SketchUcam)
For more information, visit the site:

(www.phlatforum.com)

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=38150&p=337062&hilit=phlatscript#p337062

Hugs

[derei]

I just found a bug in the program. As seen in image below, the unit format is disabled (to not show it in dimension lines). But, the exporter doesn't recognize the units that I used and wants to export by default in inch. My suggestion: if there is a program limitation for this situation, to replace the YES/NO message box with a list box with all units available. So, if the exporter doesn't recognize the units, to let the user choose.

Another thing... I selected only the contour lines from a 3d object (the lines that formed one face), the exporter reported "one shape",but in DXF I had all lines exported of the solid. Is it possible to export ONLY what is selected? I mention that I was inside a component when I selected the outer shape of the face.
One more thing: it would be useful to have the possibility to export in XY plane for all 2D shapes, regardless they are oriented on a different plane.

This is the most useful DXF exporter I ever used. Actually, is the only one that is helping me
Thank you.

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[joergber]

dereeei:
I recognized too that my unit detection was not fool proof and added a listbox ...

It seems that we are working on similar tasks ...
since I came across the same problems than you.
Currently the exporter exports all connected entities of the current selection.
So selecting a contour of a object will export the whole thing

I am in the process of developing some kind of peprocessing tools ...
The first one will be a drop tool where you can select any face of a model and it will be copied to z=0 and rotated to ground plane.

But I'm neither familiar with Ruby nor Sketchup toolbars ...
So this will take some time

Thanks again for your feedback!

We read!
Jörg

[derei]

@joergber
Why don't you simply use selected entities to build the dxf? Is more simpler for start... You can iterate trough all selected and check what are they. If there are edges only, use them to build a dxf. If there are also faces, add to dxf the edges that build that face.
Because selecting a face is simple by double clicking. Usually a tool that selects a face, will select only a planar face, not a curved one (like a cylinder). To select that, I think you have to take into consideration the edge smoothing angle. So, I'm guessing that double click on a smooth face is pretty fast to not require a select tool (for now, at least).

Thanks for still working on it

[Gumleguf]

Sorry for the late reply.

No, I haven't disabled "Display units format" and it still opens in inches:

[Gumleguf]

Hi Jörg,

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but here's one problem I have.

1. I create a 100mm x 100mm rectangle with some random circles, see attached file "Untitled.skp".

2. Using your fine tool I export it as "Untitled.dxf".

3. To print out my drawing I open the .dxf file in eDrawings (from Solidworks, version 12.2.0.110) and press the print button. I then see a windows where the drawing is scaled to 1:18.3926?

4. If I change the "Active sheet" setting "To scale (1 to 1)" the result is that the drawing get's massive big - you can only just see a small corner of a circle on an A4 sized paper.

Isn't that strange? And by the way, if I print out from step 3 the actual rectangle on paper is something like 137mm x 137mm and not 100mm x 100mm.

/Greg

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Untitled.skp

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Untitled.dxf

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[cgprosjekt]

Hello Jörg!
Just wanted to thank you for a wonderful plugin. We have struggeled alot with exporting .dxf files with true circle to our CNC machine software. And yours works perfect so far.
You really made my day! Thanks

br
Lars