Inthis Activity Theteacher Will Demonstratehow Toexport/Plot an Object Thathas Beendrawnincadso

SettingUptoExporttoOtherPrograms

Description

Inthis activity theteacher will demonstratehow toexport/plot an object thathas beendrawninCADso it canbeexportedor printed toa variety ofother applications.The intent istoshow

that you can useCADsoftwareto createobjectsthat are moreprecise andsometimeseasier todraw inCADthan inother software.

LessonObjectives

The student willbeableto:

•Review how tocreate alayerand adjust the settingso that it canbeexported toothersoftwarefor printingorcutting

•Explainhowto exportadrawing inadifferentformat

•Have studentsunderstandthatyou canmove between softwarepackagesbyexportingcorrectly

Assumptions

The student will:

•Understandwhatlayers are and howto setuplimits

•Have previouslycompletedthe SettingUp YourModel Spaceactivity

Terminology

Applicationmenu:TheiconinthetopleftcornerofthescreenthatcontainscommandssuchasNew,Open, Save,etc.

DrawingeXchangeFormat(DXF):afileformatthatAutoCADcansaveinsothatotherprogramscanopenthefile.Itisveryusefulwhen you want toopenadrawinginothersoftware(e.g.,CorelDRAW,AdobeIllustrator,CNCplasmasoftwareand/orvinyl cuttersoftware).

Layers:CADlayersarethedigitalequivalentofacetatesinboarddrafting,andarepowerfulorganizationaltoolsfor drawing.CADlayers arealsoreferredtoas levelsindifferentsoftware.

Limits:theextentsof your drawingspace (andof your zoom).Thesecanbemodifiedtosuiteachindividualdrawing.

EstimatedTime

15–30minutes

RecommendedNumberofStudents

20, basedonBCTechnologyEducators’Best PracticeGuide

Facilities

ComputerlabinstalledwithCADsoftware(Google SketchUp, AutoCAD, CADopia,etc.)

Tools

Projector withcomputer and speakers,Internetaccess

Materials

Handoutfor students withinstructions: StudentActivity:SettingUptoExporttoOtherPrograms

Resources

Instructional videos created using AutoCAD 2013:

•1.AutoCADtoLaser

•2.ExportingaDrawing

Teacher-ledActivity

Usea computer with aprojectortodemonstrate and explain the following:

•Make anewlayerandchangethe line colour and lineweight.Thismay beneeded if youaregoing toprinttoa laser engraver.Thesesettingsmayvary.Typically,though, thecolour for a laser engraverto cut isred andthe line thickness will be.001"or 0.05 mm.

•Showhowto export a file usingtheSave As command. Explain thatnotall softwareapplicationswillallowyoutoopen CAD files.TheDXFformatthat CAD software canSaveAs may be opened bymanyapplications such as CorelDraw,AdobeIllustrator, CNCplasmacutter software,and/or signcutter software.

•Demonstratehowto plot to another software applicationthat runs amachine (laserengraver,vinylcutter,etc.).Manyof these machines allow you toplotdirectly outof CADsoftware. Thetrick is to ensureyou havethe correct settings to allowit to plot correctly.

StudentActivity

Initially,studentsmayjust watch the teacher demo howtoexport toanother formatand/or printtothelaserengraversoftware. At a laterdate studentsmay comebacktothis activity toexportorprint.

StudentActivity:

SettingUptoExporttoOtherPrograms

This activity willshow you how to take an existing drawingand either export ittoanotherprogram throughSaveAsor plot thedrawing toother software (laserengraversoftware).

Procedure

1.Open a drawing file youhavealreadycreated, or start a newdrawingusingtheimperialtemplatethat you createdintheCADOrientation activity.

2.Dependingon whatyou are doing with the drawing,youmaywantto changethedrawinglimits atthis pointto matchthe machineto which you’llbeexporting(laserengraverbed size,CNCbedsize,etc.).

3.Layers: Whenexporting anobjecttoanother program,you will most likelywanttoturnoff all layersexcept for the Objectlayer.Thereis no reasontoexport theborder,text, ordimensions ifyou aregoing to cut apartout onalaser,CNC, orvinylcutter.

4.Layersforlaserengraver, CNC plasma, or vinyl cutter: some machinesrequire specific linecoloursand/orlineweightstobe ableto “cut”on the objectlines onceyourdrawing has beenbroughtinto thesoftware. You maywant to createanew layerandchangethe Lineweight

or Color specifications tomatchwhatthemachinerequires.InFigure 1 below, a layer called

Laser Engraverwas created withthe colour red and a lineweightof .05 mm.

Figure1

5.Highlight yourobjectandchange to the laser youmayhaveset up soyou canexport to thenextsoftware.

ExportingaDXFFile

1.A DXFis a generictypeof file thatotherprogramsmay be abletoopen.TosaveintheDXFformat, go totheApplicationmenuandselectSaveAs.Then select Other Formats

(Figure2).The rule ofthumbfor exporting istoalways go withthelowestversionof softwarepossible. As you can seeinFigure 3 under“Filesoftype,”theoneselectedisAutoCADR12/LT2 (*.dxf). By selecting this format you will most likelyhavea format that other softwareapplications will read.

Figure2

Figure3

2.Savethefile.Gototheotherapplication software towhichyouwantedto export andtrytoopenit. Did it work?Remember,notallsoftware applicationswill open AutoCAD files.

PrintingaDrawingFiletoaMachine’sApplicationSoftware

1.Somemachines(laser engraver, CNC plasmacutter,vinylcutter)haveaspecial piece ofsoftwareto which youcanprintdirectly. Ifneeded, makesure youhave theobjectyou wanttoprint onthe layeryou mayhave setup inStep 4above.

2.Open upthePlotdialogboxbygoingtothe Application menuandselecting“Plot”(Figure4).As you can seeinFigure5,thefollowingsettingshavebeenchosen:

Plotter/Printer:thelaser engraver hasbeenselectedfor this example.

Paper size:setto“User-Defined”(matchesthelaser engraver bed of24"wideand12"highin this case).

WhattoPlot:set to“Limits” tomatchthedrawinglimits ANDthebedof thelaserengraver.

PlotScale: set to1:1.Thisisimportant: If you wantyour object tocomeout thecorrectsize (fullsize),makesure thisisset to 1:1.

Figure4

Figure5

3.Click Previewto look atyour object.If it looksgood, printit to yourother software.

4.Openupthe applicationsoftware towhich you printed.Did it work? If so,carryonin thatsoftware.