Export SVG?

[SGoldthwaite]

The workflow for my Full Spectrum Laser is to take an SVG file, open it in Inkscape, and then print from Inkscape selecting my Laser cutter as the printer.  I'd like to do some laser cutting with Fusion sketches as the starting point.  Is there a way to export a Fusion sketch as an SVG file.

[TannerReid]

Hi, Scott,

Currently, you can import SVGs, but you can't export them. You can export a DXF file, however, by right-clicking a sketch and choosing "save as DXF." If I understand correctly, Inkscape does not accept dxf files (I could be wrong, though, so I'd give it a shot if you're not sure), but there are other 3rd party tools (Illustrator, as an example) that can convert.

Let me know if you can't get it working and I'm happy to help you figure out a work-around!

I'll be sure to pass on to the team the need to export SVG files for this laser workflow.

Thanks!
Tanner

[PhilProcarioJr · Accepted solution]

I have a full spectrum laser cutter, and for the record inkscape can import dxf files. As a matter of fact that's exactly how I use fusion 360, inkscape and my laser cutter.

Hope this helps.

[TannerReid]

Oh that's perfect - thanks Phil!  

Scott, let me know if you have trouble with the DXF workflow!

Enjoy,

Tanner

[SGoldthwaite]

I tried export DXF then open in Inkscape and this worked, thanks!

[SGoldthwaite]

I'm trying to export a sketch as a dxf file, so I can open in Inkscape then cut the part out on my laesr cutter.  I right clicked on my sketch and saved it as a dxf, then I opened it in Inkscape, but it's all broken up.  Any suggestions on getting this to work?  See screen shots:

  

Here's a link to my shared Fusion file:  http://a360.co/1Lg7vKr

[PhilProcarioJr · Accepted solution]

Ok autodesk dxf for some reason causes issues in a lot of apps...not sure why but here is the easy fix for getting them into inkscape. Download this app:

http://kabeja.sourceforge.net/

Drag your dxf into the viewport and then click on inkscape button and save the file as an svg, open in inkscape.

It will export splines too...everything.

I hope this helps.

[SGoldthwaite]

Thanks, I just tried Kabeja and it seems to work great.

[PhilProcarioJr]

The reason you were having problems with missing segments was because the translator in inkscape was out of date for dealing with autodesk dxf files.

This app is awesome for getting a good SVG file out of Fusion 360.

[SGoldthwaite]

I'm not sure which version of inkscape I used (I'm not at that computer right now).  Does the most recent version of inkscape work better with dxf files.

[PhilProcarioJr]

When it comes to Autodesk dxf files its completly hit and miss in the latest release of Inkscape, now all dxf files I export from Lightwave, SolidWorks, Modo, and Maya work perfectly in inkscape so I'm not sure exactly what the issue is. Seems to be an AutoCAD and Fusion issue though and the way they define their splines as splines are always the missing part of a dxf. I even tried the spline to polyline export and they still don't show up so I just use Kabeja and all is well.

To be honest the Kabeja app always works (and its free)...well in the last 200+ files I have run through it anyways.

Also any conversions I have done to Fusion 360 dxf exports to SVG always work in my other apps.

I understand this is a work around and the dxf export really needs some work......

Either way I'm glad this works for you and I would like to see some of the work coming off your laser.

[Dennis123D]

I was running into the same problem when trying to send to Inkscape...and Kabeja worked awesome...except it sends it over super tiny.  Is there any way to send it over scaled correctly?  Have you ever run into this problem?  Thank you! 

[PhilProcarioJr]

@Dennis123D

No I have not run into this, but if you share your dxf I will look into it when I get home today. We should be able to easily figure this out. 

Did you make sure you set your units correctly in Fusion before saving the dxf?

[Anonymous]

I'm facing the same issue as @Dennis123D above.

I'm able to export a sketch that contains splines by using the "Export to DXF (Splines as Polylines)" add-in. Then I run it through Kabeja to create an SVG file. (Direct import of the dxf file still leads to splines missing in Inkscape, which I don't quite understand why as they should already be converted to polylines.)

When I then import the svg file into Inkscape, it shows up very tiny, because nowhere in the svg file is it specified what the units are. And Inkscape is just using whatever "user units" instead of inches when importing the svg, even though my document is set up in inches.

Inkscape on my Mac seems to have a defined value of 90 pixels per inch, so a sketch of a 5x5 inch rectangle shows up as 0.056x0.056 inch (5/90) after import. In order to fix it, I need to scale everything by 9000%. My 5x5in rectangle then measures 5.01x5.01 inches in Inkscape. (The 0.01 error is probably due to rounding errors. When I print it out on my inkjet printer, the rectangle measures pretty much exactly 5 inches.) 

In summary, my workflow currently is this:

1) Create part in Fusion 360
2) Export sketch as DXF file with "Splines as Polylines" add-in
3) Convert DXF file to SVG file with Kabeja (Using command line: java -jar launcher.jar input.dxf output.svg)
4) Import svg into Inkscape document (default units and rulers are set to inches)
5) Transform imported object (Shift-Ctrl-M): Scale 9000%
6) Clean up:
6.1) Stroke width is usually 0 after I scale the object
6.2) Remove stray lines. Some control handles for the splines get saved in the dxf file exported from Fusion. (Usually it's the handles I've given a constraint.)

I only started using Fusion360 last week, so I'm not sure whether there's an easier way of doing this. All I want is to place my design on an Inkscape document so I can send it to Ponoko for laser cutting (http://www.ponoko.com/starter-kits/inkscape). So far everything seems to be going great, even though the export step into Inkscape seems unnecessarily complicated.

[PhilProcarioJr]

@Anonymous

Here is the info on scaling SVG's from inkscape.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/post-your-tips-and-tutorials/import-svg-scale/m-p/5950171#M641

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know of ANY 3D modeling software that exports directly to SVG? All that I know of require a third party.

[Anonymous]

Anyone feel like helping a Java noob figure out how to install/run Kabeja on a Mac?  I too am having dxf-to-svg issues, and normally have a pretty easy time navigating through issues like this, but I just cannot get it to go.

Thank you in advance!

[yairoppenheim01]

It would be nice to have SVG export as a native feature.

[Anonymous]

So ... I have been working with fusion 360 for about a year or so .... the problem is that most Chinese Laser Software still work on DXF - R14 or maybe even older ... so , If you guys can't give us the option to save as an SVG, Can you dig in trough previous versions of DXF and just have a drop-down for us to pick a version that is more digestible by the Chineseum software ? 

[Anonymous]

Does this work for MacOS?

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