import a photo into inventor question

[yefimv]

Hello , i have a problem where i have a real world model which i need to recreate in inventor.

As you can see in the photo below its a 3X10 rectangular with certain circles with different diameter and different locations inside.

i need some how to import this photo into Inventor and use it as base in inventor to recreate EXACTLY the shapes in iventor.so i could make solids from them later.

its vary hard to use a ruler there will always be an error.

Is there a way to import a photo in inventor and exactly draw the shapes next to  the imported photo?
Thanks. 

[CCarreiras]

Hi!

yes.

Create a new part

Create a new sketch

Insert the image and re-scala if needed

Create the sketch over the image

[LT.Rusty]

The easiest way to do it is to put your image on a flatbed scanner where you can set the DPI to a known value. For the sake of argument, we'll say you set it to 2000 dpi.

Scan your image. Again: use the flatbed. Do not use an automatic document feeder. That can cause distortion in the scanned file.

Crop your image as needed, and check the pixel dimensions.  Let's say that you find it to be 2000 pixels by 4957 pixels. 

Import the picture into a sketch in Inventor and pull up the dimension tool.

2000 pixels on the image equals 1 inch, if you recall, because that's what the scan was set to. Since one side of your image is exactly 2000 pixels, you can use the dimension tool to set that end of the image to be 1" long. You don't need to dimension the length of the other side- the aspect ratio won't change later. at this point, you can just orient the image however necessary around the origin, then constrain it with angles / dimensions / whatever just like you would any other sketch object.

If the math doesn't come out so neatly--say the image was 4291 x 10546 pixels--you'll have to do a little math. In this case, you'd divide 4291 by 2000, and come out with 2.1455, and that's the dimension that you'd use for the short side of the image. (Or 10546 / 2000 = 5.273 inches, if you prefer.)

[yefimv]

Hello,my photo 210x600 pixels how do i know the size of a pixel so i could know the real dimention?

suppose i set my flatbed scanner to 2000X2000 so i need to measure the scanning area of the flat bed and divide the length of the scanning window by the number of pixels?

Thanks

[LT.Rusty]

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@yefimv wrote:

Hello,my photo 210x600 pixels how do i know the size of a pixel so i could know the real dimention?

suppose i set my flatbed scanner to 2000X2000 so i need to measure the scanning area of the flat bed and divide the length of the scanning window by the number of pixels?

Thanks

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The size of the bed is irrelevant.

Just set it to a specific DPI. (I've included a picture of my scanner settings below. Yours will be different, unless you have the same model as I have.) Really doesn't even matter what it is, just so long as you know what the number is- your drawing doesn't have a ton of precision built in to it. The only thing that matters is that you know how what the DPI setting is.

Then just divide the number of pixels on that side by the DPI, and that's the length in inches of that side of the picture.

Dimension the whole image, not the bit that you drew. You can figure that part out later, once you have the overall image set at the right size.

My scanner settings:

Using the 200 dpi you see there, your 210 x 600 would come out to be 1.05" x 3".

[CCarreiras]

https://www.unitconverters.net/typography/pixel-x-to-millimeter.htm

[LT.Rusty]

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@CCarreiras wrote:

https://www.unitconverters.net/typography/pixel-x-to-millimeter.htm

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If your picture is 96 dpi, then that converter will be correct. At literally any other value, it will be wrong.

[CCarreiras]

Doesn't matter, since the importance is the image to have the correct proportional factor.
If the proportions are correct, after you insert the picture in the sketch, you just have to apply one of the dimensions, and the proportional factor will do the rest.

[LT.Rusty]

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@CCarreiras wrote:

Doesn't matter, since the importance is the image to have the correct proportional factor.
If the proportions are correct, after you insert the picture in the sketch, you just gave to apply one of the dimensions, and the proportional factor will do the rest.

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Sorry, no- that's incorrect, or at least completely irrelevant. Inventor will not change the aspect ratio of the image. The aspect ratio that you import is what you're going to be stuck with.

The only thing that matters is what the DPI of the scan was. If you know how many dots the scanner captured per inch of real-world document (or flat part), then you know the dimensions of the image. Apply ONE dimension to ONE side of the image. Everything will be scaled correctly at that point, and all you have to do is trace the drawing and constrain the sketch.

[CCarreiras]

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@LT.Rusty wrote:

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 Inventor will not change the aspect ratio of the image. The aspect ratio that you import is what you're going to be stuck with.

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Precisely... as long as the aspect ratio is correct, you just have to apply a dimension with the correct size, because, as you said,  Inventor doesn't change the aspect ratio.
DPI will increase the resolution, and it will reflect in a bigger image, but as long as the aspect ratio is correct, we are good to go.

I believe we are in agreement, the difference is you want to have the correct size and the correct aspect ratio.... and i'm telling you that, for me,  the main thing is to have the correct aspect ratio, the rest will solve easily applying one dimension.

[LT.Rusty]

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@CCarreiras wrote:

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@LT.Rusty wrote:

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 Inventor will not change the aspect ratio of the image. The aspect ratio that you import is what you're going to be stuck

 

with.

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Precisely... as long as t

he aspect ratio is correct, you just have to apply a dimension with the correct size, because, as you said,  Inventor doesn't change the aspect ratio.
DPI will increase the resolution, and it will reflect in a bigger image, but as long as the aspect ratio is correct, we are good to go.

I believe we are in agreement, the difference is you want to have the correct size and the correct aspect ratio.... and i'm telling you that, for me,  the main thing is to have the correct aspect ratio, the rest will solve easily applying one dimension.

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The way that you're describing seems to have an awful lot more steps. If you take the file direct from the scanner and crop it then save it, your aspect ratio is never going to get screwed up.

Practical example: I just took a thread gauge for 18tpi and put it on my scanner. The only things that matter about the image are the size (387 x 352) and the DPI it was scanned at (300). Take a look at the part file and image file attached.

Put it into Inventor, dimension the long side at 387/300 (in other words, 1.290"), and then everything else will be fine. If you put a driven dimension on the other side it will come out to 1.173, exactly as you'd expect from 352/300. The hole will be 3/16. The tooth spacing will be .055.