You can use the Vector Doctor tool to identify and remove looped self-intersections in your vector artwork. Looped self-intersections found within vector artwork intended for engraving often cause problems during the manufacturing process.
You can instruct ArtCAM to identify all loops within a selection of vectors less than a specified size, insert a node at the bottom of the loop where the vectors self-intersect, and then trim away the loop.
For example, the 'g' character shown below includes a self-intersecting vector with a loop. You can see the difference in its shape after the loop has been removed:
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Looped vectors before
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Looped vectors after
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To remove the loop in self-intersecting vectors:
- Select
Edit > Select or click the
Select
button.
- Select the vectors you want to check with the Vector Doctor.
- Select
Vector > Vector Doctor or click the
Vector Doctor
button. The
Vector Doctor panel is displayed.
- In the Identify Problems area, select Vector Intersections.
- Click
Identify.
ArtCAM marks all intersections in an individual vector with a red
icon. Any intersections between different vectors are marked with a green
icon.
Tip: To remove these markers from the view, click Clear Markers. - In the Fix Problems area, select Remove vector loops. This displays some additional options.
- In the Keep loops of area box, enter the size of loops that you want ArtCAM to ignore as a percentage of the overall size of the selected vector.
- In the Layer Name box, enter the name of the layer on which you want to create the corrected vectors. If no layer is specified, ArtCAM creates the corrected artwork on the active vector layer.
- Select Keep originals to keep a copy of the original vectors on the active vector layer, or on the layer named in the Layer name box.
- Click Fix Problems to remove all loops in the selected vectors.
Note: Intersections between different vectors must be fixed manually.