Is there a way to export graphics to dxf?

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Wed, 07/03/2013 - 08:19 am

My goal is to import graphics from Igor into CAD software. At the moment, I am exporting any graphics from Igor as a pdf, then importing that pdf into the open-source program Inkscape and exporting it as a dxf. However, it seems all data is lost during this process because only a blank document appears when opening the resulting dxf in autocad and solidworks.

I'm not sure why this occurs, though. If I download an arbitrary svg file from, say, Wikipedia, import that svg into Inkscape and then export the svg as a dxf, the resulting dxf can be opened without a problem in a CAD program. But, if I export a graphic from Igor to pdf, then, using Inkscape, convert to svg and again convert to dxf, the resulting dxf cannot be displayed.

Any thoughts on why this is occurring? Could it be that I have a fundamental misunderstanding regarding the nature of pdf and svg graphics? The graphics I am exporting to pdf from Igor are either in ibw or jpg format before exporting occurs. Also, is there any way I can export graphics directly to dxf (or at least svg) using only Igor? It would be great to remove as many intermediary programs as possible from the protocol.
jrysocas wrote:
At the moment, I am exporting any graphics from Igor as a pdf, then importing that pdf into the open-source program Inkscape and exporting it as a dxf.

From the "Help" tab in the window that pops up when saving as DXF from Inkscape:

- only line and spline elements are supported


I take that to mean that only the parts of the pdf file that are translated to path elements will appear in the dxf file. The status bar in Inkscape (or the XML editor, or the plain text of the SVG file) will show you what type of element is selected. If it is a group, you can double-click to drill down and select elements of the group.

I tried a simple line plot, created in Igor as follows:
•make test = enoise(1)
•display test
•SavePICT/E=-2

The DXF file Inkscape creates from that has the axes, the tick marks and the trace, but not the tick labels. If I select the tick labels in Inkscape and choose "Object to Path" from the "Path" menu, those labels show up in the DXF file too.

jrysocas wrote:
The graphics I am exporting to pdf from Igor are either in ibw or jpg format before exporting occurs.

JPEG is a bitmapped image format, that is not going to work.

July 4, 2013 at 02:55 am - Permalink