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What's New in V-Carve Pro 7
A quick start guide for V-Carve Pro upgraders
Vectric Ltd. Document V.1.0
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 2
Contents
CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................... 2
OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................... 3
FILE IMPORTING & EXPORTING .................................................................................................... 4
NEW DRAWING TOOLS ................................................................................................................. 5
Dimensions .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Extend Vectors .................................................................................................................................... 8
Align Objects ....................................................................................................................................... 9
ENHANCED & EXTENDED DRAWING TOOLS ................................................................................ 12
ENHANCED & EXTENDED TOOLPATH FEATURES .......................................................................... 15
MISCELLANEOUS IMPROVEMENTS ............................................................................................. 17
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 3
Overview
Welcome to the What’s New document for the latest version of VCarve Pro. Please note that this
document is intended for existing VCarve Pro customers who have recently upgraded to the latest
version. As such, it only includes details of the incremental changes and enhancements to the
previous version of the software. If you are new to VCarve Pro then this document probably isn’t the
one for you. Instead please take the time to watch the extensive supporting tutorial videos provided
with VCarve Pro to help you get started. Once you are up and running, you will find the Help->Help
Contents menu command will open a full electronic reference to every tool and feature in VCarve
Pro.
This document is broadly divided into two sections focusing on the main areas of VCarve Pro:
Drawing and Toolpaths. In each Section there are separate parts highlighting completely new tools,
and a summary of enhancements and extensions to existing tools that you should already be familiar
with. There is also an additional section on File Importing & Exporting, which details the
considerable improvements to the range of file types supported, and the new streamlined workflow
for importing them. Finally, the Miscellaneous Improvements section documents the remaining
minor changes that have been made, usually in response to specific customer feedback, to improve
work flow and fix problems that have come to light since the previous release.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 4
File Importing & Exporting
The latest version of VCarve Pro includes many new importing and exporting options for working
with 2D vector geometry, bitmaps and files from other Vectric Products as well as enhancements to
the choices available for 3D model formats.
New 2D Vector Formats
DXF and DWG file import has been updated to support AutoCAD’s 2013 file format.
VCarve Pro files can now be imported into an existing VCarve Pro drawing. Selecting VCarve Pro
(*.crv) files through the File->Import->Import Vectors menu command will selectively import the
vectors only from these documents.
Note: Importing files in this way will not retain layer information from the original file. To do this you
would need to export the file in a vector format that supported layers (example: DXF).
The selected vectors from a job can now be exported in Scalable Vector Graphics format (*.svg)
using the File->Export->Export Selected Vectors to SVG menu command
Drag & Drag into the 2D View
Many file types can now be dragged directly into VCarve Pro’s 2D View from Windows Explorer. This
will cause the file to be imported and, if appropriate, positioned at the drop position. Supported file
types are:
Vectors - EPS/AI/PDF
CAD Drawings - DXF/DWG
Vectors - CRV
Bitmap - BMP, TIFF, JPG, PNG, GIF
Toolpaths - V3D
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 5
New Drawing Tools
This latest version of VCarve Pro introduces several entirely new drawing tools and features, which
are fully documented in this section. In addition there are a number of new additions to the 2D View
to simplify and assist common drawing operations.
Virtual mid points for line spans
When in Node Editing mode, all line spans now show a small grey
handle at their midpoint. These are called Virtual Midpoints and
initially they do not affect the line in any way. However, by simply
clicking and dragging any of these points, the line span will
automatically divide into two new spans. This makes the process of
refining outlines and adding detail artwork much faster.
New Snapping Options
While drawing shapes and manipulating the layout of your designs you will notice the automatic
snapping assistance has been greatly enhanced. There are specific new points of interest for
snapping, such as intersections and text letter outlines, but also the snapping is now available in all
drawing tools – including shape transformation and scaling. As previously, you can tailor what is
included by the snapping tool using Edit->Snap Options or by pressing the keyboard shortcut F4.
These changes while quite subtle significantly improve the dynamic layout and editing of vectors
within VCarve Pro.
Paste bitmaps from the clipboard
Any bitmap images in VCarve Pro’s supported formats can now be pasted directly from the Windows
clipboard into an open model inside VCarve Pro. Simply use the standard copy to clipboard
command from your source application – for example in the web browser Chrome you can typically
right-click on an image element in a webpage and select Copy Image. Then select VCarve Pro’s main
window and use Edit->Paste from the main menu, or right-click on an empty area of your model in
the 2D View and select Paste from the pop-up menu. This action will copy the image as a new
bitmap object into the 2D View of your model.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 6
Dimensions This tool allows you to add a variety of dimensioning
annotations to your vector drawing. Unless specified
separately below, the dimensions are created using these steps:
Select the dimension type you wish to measure; length,
height, width, arc dimensions or the angle.
In the 2D View, click with the left mouse button to create a
start point for dimensioning annotation.
Click again to set the end point
Click a third time to set where the annotation text will
appear.
Length Dimension
This first option will dimension a length in any orientation
between the two selected points.
Vertical / Horizontal Dimension
The second two options also allow any two points to be
selected, but the resulting dimension will only reflect the
exact vertical or horizontal distance (respectively) between
the two points.
Arc Dimension
With this option selected you will only be able to select arc
spans with the first click of dimension tool (Bezier curve
spans are not supported). The second click will set the
position of the dimension annotation, which will show the radius of the selected arc span.
Angle Dimension
This option allows any arbitrary angle to be measured. The process is similar to creating a 3
point arc. First you must pick the center of angle you wish to measure – typically a corner
point. The next 2 points clicked will set the extents of the sweep you are measuring. The
final click will set the position of the text annotation.
Font Selection & Settings
This section of the form allows the user to change the settings for the dimension annotation, such as
the font to be used, the height of the text and how many decimal places are required. The Offset
field determines the gap left between the dimension markers and the vectors that are being
measured.
Place Dimensions on Layer
If this check box is set, the resulting dimensions will be drawn on the layer with the name specified
in the Name edit field. If a layer of this name does not exist, it will be created automatically.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 7
Note: Dimensions cannot be edited, to make a change you need to Close the form, delete a
dimension and then re-create it with the required new settings.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 8
Extend Vectors This tool allows you to extend two vector lines to their
common point of intersection. The tool form is rather
sparse, but that is because all the action occurs directly in the
2D View!
With the Extend Vectors tool active, moving the mouse
pointer over the ends of open vector shapes (without
clicking) will highlight a dashed preview extension line from
that shape. The line will change dynamically as you move the
mouse over the end spans of different open shapes. Clicking
with the left mouse button at this point will set it as the
target line to extend and the magenta line will remain visible.
The mouse can now be moved over existing spans along the
length of the preview extension line, or over the end of
another shape to create a second, intersecting, preview
extension line.
Clicking on any of the intersection points indicated by the mouse cursor will extend the initial shape
to that point and complete the operation.
First click creates a preview extension line from the selected vector span.
Moving the mouse over another span will display a second preview extension line to the point of intersection. Click the line to apply this change.
The tool can be closed at any time using the Close button on the form. Right-clicking in the 2D View
will reset the tool so that it is ready to select another target line to extend.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 9
Align Objects The Align Objects tool provides a number of options
for accurately aligning the selected object to other
objects in the selection, or to the available material. The
different alignment options are grouped into three sections:
The first section of icons all work in relation to the
material (job size).
The second section of icons all work with regard to the
selected items.
The last section provides options to evenly space the
selected objects, or to align them inside the boundary
of the last object in the selection.
Align to Material
The options in this section will align one or more selected
objects within the material workspace defined when you setup
your job (the white area in your 2D View).
Center in Material
This option moves the selected items to be
positioned in the middle of the material. The short-cut
key for this is F9.
Center in Material X only
Align items centrally in the material only
moving them along the X axis so the vertical position will not be changed.
Center in Material Y only
Align items centrally in the material only moving them along the Y axis so the
horizontal position will not be changed.
Align to Selection
The different items comprising your design in the 2D View can be aligned relative to one another
using the following selection sequence:
Select the item/s you wish to align / move (use single or multiple selection options)
Hold the Shift key down
Select the final item – this is the object that the rest of the selected items will be aligned to
Click the required alignment option
There are 7 alignment options for aligning the selection to the inside edge:
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 10
Align horizontal center
Align the selected items horizontally centered to the last selected item.
Align Center
Center selected items in the middle (both horizontally and vertically) of the last
selected item.
Align vertical center
Align the selected items vertically centered to the last selected item.
Align Left/Right
Align the selected items to the left or right edge of the last selected item.
Align Top/Bottom
Align the selected items to the top or bottom edge of the last selected item.
There are then 4 alignment options for aligning the selection to the outside edge of the last item in
the selection:
Align Outside Left/Right
Align the selected items on the outside left or right edge of the last selected
item.
Align Outside Top/Bottom
Align the selected items on the outside top or bottom edge of the last
selected item.
Note: If you select multiple items to align to another object then each one will be aligned
individually. If you want the objects to retain their original position relative to each other when they
are aligned you should Group them together before executing the alignment operation.
Space Selection
The final section is different from the preceding two. The tools here evenly space the selected
objects either between the first or last item in the selection, or, if Inside last vector is checked,
within the boundary of the last item in the selection.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 11
Show common tools on drawing tab
If this option is checked, the most common alignment tools will be
displayed on the drawing tab in their own section called “Align
Objects”. This form can still be accessed from the original icon in the
‘Transform Objects’ section (or by pressing F10).
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 12
Enhanced & Extended Drawing Tools
This section details the improvements that have been made to features you will already be familiar
with from earlier versions of VCarve Pro.
Layers
Probably the single biggest overhaul in this release was layer
management. Layers allow you to organize the data in your part and
can offer many benefits even on simple jobs – if you have yet to make
use of layers in your work, perhaps now is the time! VCarve Pro now
has a new Layers tab alongside the Drawing tab. This provides a full
overview of the layered structure of your artwork and direct access to
the properties of each layer. In addition there is a new version of the
Quick Access Layers Control on the Drawing tab itself. This control gives
you nearly all the same layer management options as the full Layers
tab, but in a compact form.
Each layer in the Layers List has three icons to the left of the layer name
that show visibility/locking, layer colour and layer content, respectively.
Simply click on these icons to set the appropriate property. You can
also access a number of layer commands from the pop-up menu that
will appear when you right-click on a layer in the list. To the right of the
layer name there is another icon that will open the same pop-up menu
if you click on it. This menu includes several new layer commands.
Merge Visible will combine all the currently visible layers into one. Select Layer Vectors will select all
the vectors on the layer in the 2D View.
The layer name in the list that is shown in bold is the active layer. This is the layer to which current
drawing or editing operations will be directed. If this name is highlighted in red, this is because it is
currently not visible. It is usually a mistake to be working on an active layer that is not visible. To
remove the red highlight you should either make a different, visible, layer active by clicking on it, or
make the existing layer visible by clicking the visibility lightbulb icon next to the layer name.
You can also activate the appropriate layer for an existing vector by right-clicking on it in the 2D
View and choosing the Activate Layer of Selection command from the pop-up menu.
Create Arc using 3 Points
The Arc tool has been substantially improved with the option to create an arc by defining a start, end
and any other point along its length. This is a very intuitive way of drawing arcs and makes many
drawings faster and simpler to create.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 13
Trace Bitmap Improvements
A new slider control in Trace Bitmap allows you to fade the bitmap image you are tracing in order to
more easily see the traced line. In addition, there is now a Preview button that allows you to quickly
try different settings and review the results before accepting them with the Apply button.
Edit Vector Shape Size by Proportion (%)
A small but significant enhancement to the Set Size form is the option to define size changes
proportionally. This can be useful in a variety of situations, but one example is in the process of
drawing to scale based on a bitmap image. Bitmap image files are often not accurately or reliably
sized in real units when they are imported. If, however, some feature of your bitmap image is of
known size, you can manually trace a vector over it. Now scale this vector to the actual size you
know the shape to be and note the proportional change required for this. Finally you can scale the
whole bitmap by the same proportional scale factor and be confident that you can now trace it at
the correct scale.
New Mirror Form Options
The Mirror command form now offers two more options to define
the mirror plane.
Flip about job center
Previously it was only possible to Mirror objects across the
middle of the job using the short cut keys Ctrl+Shift with H
or V to specify the direction. This command can now also
be accessed from the Mirror form by clicking the check
box to Flip about job center.
Flip about a Line
The mirror tool now allows an additional line vector to be
included in the selection and used to define any plane,
about which the object will be mirrored.
New Filleting Options
The existing Dog-Bone Fillet tool has been extended to include
support for acute corners. An entirely new filleting option has also
been added specifically for plasma or drag-knife cutters. Unlike the
rotating tool of a conventional CNC cutter, these tools have a
specific direction of cut that must be maintained around corners. To achieve sharp corners on the
final part, therefore, loops can be cut into the surrounding waste material in order to re-align the
tool head for the next cut. The Plasma/Drag Knife Fillet option can quickly and easily add these
loops to the existing artwork to significantly speed up its preparation for cutting.
Fit Curves to Vectors Preview
The Fit Curves to Vectors tool now has the option to Preview the results of the settings you
currently have set and compare the fitted curve to the original before accepting the results with the
OK button.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 14
Offset Both Sides
The offsetting tool now allows you to simultaneously offset
inwards and outwards from a single click by choosing the Both
option. In addition, the other two options now support a new
checkbox, Select New, which automatically selects the newly
created offset vector immediately after the operation has
completed. This option simplifies the process of making multiple
offsets, each based on the preceding one.
Array Copy Split into Separate Tools
The linear array copy functionality and the circular array copy
functionality have now been split into their own dedicated forms,
the icons for these are located under the Offset, Array and Nest section of the Drawing Tab.
A Group Copies option has also been added to each, which will automatically group the shapes
resulting from the operation.
Nesting Preview
The results of the current nesting settings for both vectors and Components can now also be
previewed with the new Preview and Reset Preview buttons before accepting the result using OK .
This makes it much easier to try different parameters for the nesting options without having to undo
and redo the results.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 15
Enhanced & Extended Toolpath Features
This section details the improvements that have been made to features you will already be familiar
with from earlier versions of VCarve Pro.
Toolpath Summary Tooltips
As you create toolpaths they will now appear in the toolpath list at the bottom of the toolpath tab. If
you hover the mouse over toolpaths in this list a pop-up window will display extensive information
about each toolpath.
Estimated Machining Times replaced by new Toolpaths Summary form
The old Estimated Machining Times tool has been replaced with a more informative Toolpaths
Summary form. The new form includes all the toolpath time estimation functionality but by hovering
your mouse pointer over the tools in this list each toolpath will display a full summary of its settings
(see above). This form also allows you to edit and add custom notes to any of the toolpaths you
create.
Basic & Advanced views of Profile & Pocketing Strategies
Many customers do not require the increasing breadth of options available in these core toolpath
strategies. To improve the workflow the advanced options for the strategies can be hidden for
normal use. The toolpath forms will remember the last setting used, so you will only need to check
or uncheck this once to set your preference.
Material Setup Summary
The top of the toolpaths tab is now headed with a
Material Setup section. This includes all the salient
information you may need when working with your
toolpaths – material dimensions, datum positions, rapid
gaps and home settings. Using the Set… button in this
section gives convenient access to the full Material Setup form where the settings can be modified.
This form also includes a Show detailed summary on toolpath tab check box that toggles the level
of detail displayed in the Material Setup section of the toolpath tab.
Toolpath Previews
Preview Playback Speed Control
The Preview Toolpaths form includes a new speed
control slider under the toolpath playback tools.
This allows the speed of the toolpath preview playback to be dynamically adjusted in order
to follow individual tool moves in detail.
Interactive Deletion of Waste Material
The ability to delete waste material after running the Toolpath Preview has been
significantly enhanced to allow to you not only delete the material around the outside of the
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 16
part but also to interactively delete fully cut out parts from internal areas of the design. Due
to the interactive nature there is no longer a button to Delete Waster Material. Instead once
toolpaths have been previewed, you can double click on unwanted waste material in the 3D
View to delete it. This allows you to see your finished parts more clearly.
If you remove waste material that touches the edge of preview material block, VCarve Pro
also deletes any other boundary material automatically. This is nearly always the desired
effect, but the automatic deletion of the extra areas can be suppressed by holding down the
ctrl key while clicking.
Note: If the selected area of material has not been fully separated from your parts
by a cut-out pass, for example because you are using tabs or onion skinning to hold
parts in place, then you cannot interactively delete it. You must create a ‘dummy’
cut-out toolpath to completely separate your parts from the waste material before it
can be deleted. This toolpath would be purely for the purposes of previewing and
should not be saved for actual machining.
Undo Last Preview Change
The single most recent change to the toolpath preview material block can be undone using
the Undo Last button on the Preview Toolpaths form. This must be done before you Close
the Preview Toolpaths form.
Note: If the last operation was to Preview All Toolpaths then these will all be undone
when using this operation not just the last one in the list.
Copyright © 2012 Vectric Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Page | 17
Miscellaneous Improvements
Middle Mouse Panning in the 3D View
The middle mouse button can be pressed to change to panning mode when viewing your job in the
3D View – this means you can now use the same panning method in both the 2D and 3D views.
Toolpath Calculation Edit Box Supports Formulae
It is often useful, particularly when creating toolpath templates, to set some toolpath parameters in
relation to the current job, rather than by an absolute value.
Example
A toolpath template for a profile cut-out pass will generally always cut to the full depth of the
material. Typically you might enter ‘z=’ into the Cut Depth field to automatically replace the formula
with the actual value for the Z thickness of the current material. Entering ‘=’ causes the edit box to
immediately evaluate the formula, replace it with the result, and from that point onwards it will
simply behave as a simple value. If, however, you just enter ‘z’, without the final ‘=’, then the
formula itself will now be stored as part of the toolpath definition, and only evaluated each time the
toolpath is calculated. Toolpaths (and toolpath templates) created in this way will automatically re-
evaluate their Cut-depth each time they are re-calculated, even if the material thickness has
changed.
The following toolpath edit fields (where appropriate) support this functionality:
Start Depth
Cut Depth
Flat Depth
Allowance