Vectric PhotoVCarve

PhotoVCarve has been developed to allow CNC machines to carve and engrave in a way that until now could only be done using an expensive laser marking systems.

What is PhotoVCarving?
PhotoVCarve instantly converts photographs and images into high quality toolpaths that can be run on virtually all CNC routing and engraving machines.

What can it do?
The ability to permanently CNC machine pictures onto jobs has been a challenge to many machine users and although there are software products that appear to offer the facility, they often fail to deliver in reality.

PhotoVCarve is also perfect for machining 3D Lithophanes directly from photographs, that make perfect gifts, keepsakes and mementos that will last for generations.

The opportunities PhotoVCarve offers are endless and it can be used by all CNC machine users. From the hobbyists who build their own ‘home brew’ tables to professional engravers running high cost industrial machines, the software offers something for everyone.

Features:

1. V-Groove Machining
PhotoVCarve creates lines of grooves that vary in width and depth to represent the detail in a photograph or image. The quality of the finished result is very dependant upon a high level of contrast between the material surface and the machined grooves. This information is very important to remember when cutting designs using the PhotoVCarve software.

PhotoVCarve machines dark areas in a photograph with wide groove and the lighter areas to have narrower ones. The software automatically calculates the toolpaths based on the cutter selected and maximum depth of groove required.

This diagram shows how the machined grooves get wider over the dark areas of the eye.

2. 3D Lithophane Machining
Lithophanes are 3D photographs that when viewed in normal lighting look a little dull and lifeless. But when back lit transform into stunning 3D pictures with depth and detail that cannot be seen in a flat 2D photograph.

Lithophanes originate from a process developed back in the mid 1800's for mass producing 3D pictures in porcelain. A 3D design was hand engraved into a thin sheet of bees wax that was placed over a lighted candle to show the effect of light passing through the wax. This master design was then used to make a mold for casting designs in porcelain. Varying levels of light to pass through the porcelain depending upon the thickness

3. 3D Grayscale Machining
PhotoVCarve automatically converts a grayscale image into a 3D height map that can then be carved.

The example below shows how the grayscale image for a 3D model can be converted to a 3D height map and machined using a Ball nose cutter.

For more information visit www.vectric.com

Download trial version here

Support

IMPORTANT: Download the Axiom Post Processor: Click here to download

Instructions for installing Axiom Post Processors for Vectric software:

PhotoVCarve v1.1 Download the Post Processor file AXIOM_HHC_CNC_PVC.pp and save this onto your computer, this will either save by default in your browsers pre-set Downloads folder or give you the option to choose a folder location, now you need to move this file to the PostP folder for PhotoVCarve.

The default location for this folder on a 64bit Windows computer is: C:\Program Files(x86)\PhotoVCarve\PostP

The default location for this folder on a 32bit Windows computer is: C:\Program Files\PhotoVCarve\PostP

Click and drag, or copy (Crtl+C) and paste (Crtl+V) the AXIOM_HHC_CNC_PVC.pp file from its download location to the PostP folder. If Windows asks you for confirmation for this operation select OK.

Once you have moved the file AXIOM_HHC_CNC_PVC.pp if the software is currently running you will need to close and restart it before it will appear in the Post Processor list when saving your toolpath/s. The name of the postprocessor in the list will be "AXIOM HHC CNC (mm) (*.mmg)"

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