How do you stop randomness in Corel?

[Cary Fleming]

Sorry Cary but "COMBINE IS NO BUENO" for this particular file.
I tried to combine by selecting one set of segments that make the circle but "Combine was greyed out. So it thinks that all those segments are a single unit. When I selected both inner and outer rings of segments, the "Combine" text was black and I selected it and all that appears to have been accomplished was that they were now grouped together. When I ran the laser with it there was "No Difference".
Here is the test file. Please test it as it is and see what happens. The lines are Red because I have my Trotec laser set to cut but at 80% power and 20 % speed so it just marks them.

Let me know how it works for you and if anyone can correct it easily.
This would be a great YOUTUBE video. hint hint

I'll run it when I get back to the laser tonight and post my results. It looks like they have already been combined into a single object, so I would think it would laser in a semi-logical manner.

[Cary Fleming]

Sorry Cary but "COMBINE IS NO BUENO" for this particular file.

Let me know how it works for you and if anyone can correct it easily.
This would be a great YOUTUBE video. hint hint

Michael,

Try this file and let me know if it works better. It should start at the top and go around the outer circle and then go around the inner circle. I broke the curve apart. Then I selected the segment that I wanted it to engrave last and I used the Bring to Front of Layer shortcut (Shift-PgUp) and then moved to the segment I wanted to be next to last and brought it to the front of the layer, and so on, and so on, until I got to the segment the I wanted engraved first. Then I selected all of the segments and Combined them. It took 5-7 minutes to complete the whole process, but I think it will fix your problem.

[Mark Winlund]

This is a common problem with Corel. Corel does not automatically join nodes, which is what you need. Flexi-sign pro has a function that will do this, but it is an expensive program. It does it by choosing two nodes that are within a certain distance of each other, and joining them. If there are three nodes that are within the tolerance, it won't work. Combining does not join nodes; they remain as separate sub-paths in one object. Using only Corel means that you have to do it the hard way, joining them one at a time.

The person from Corel was named McKenzie, or something like that.

This is a function that Corel has needed for many years, but has not addressed. You will find many such gaps in Corel; it was designed as more of a "do everything" program including bit map (paint) functions. A true sign making program such as the old Cas-Mate or Flexi-Sign will do a much better job with vectors.

Mark

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Mike

I don't see how you can make anything out of this file. I think you need the inner and outer portions as well in order to do anything.

Hey Mike,
I only posted the segments because those were the problem. The inner and outer circles work fine.

I will try what Cary suggested below but will also try what Mark suggested with Flexisign Pro.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Richard,
Thanks for the post informative post. Sorry about the file not opening but it is an X3 CDR. I will print your post and try your method also.
Thank you and ...

[Michael Kowalczyk]

This is a common problem with Corel. Corel does not automatically join nodes, which is what you need. Flexi-sign pro has a function that will do this, but it is an expensive program. It does it by choosing two nodes that are within a certain distance of each other, and joining them. If there are three nodes that are within the tolerance, it won't work. Combining does not join nodes; they remain as separate sub-paths in one object. Using only Corel means that you have to do it the hard way, joining them one at a time.

The person from Corel was named McKenzie, or something like that.

This is a function that Corel has needed for many years, but has not addressed. You will find many such gaps in Corel; it was designed as more of a "do everything" program including bit map (paint) functions. A true sign making program such as the old Cas-Mate or Flexi-Sign will do a much better job with vectors.

Mark

Hey Mark,
Thanks for the nudge. I forgot all about it. I have FlexisignPro 8.5, just upgraded a month or so ago, and have not loaded it on my laser PC ( a regular old IBM Pentium CPU) yet only on my 64bit quadcore. It sure sings on the quad. That's one bonus of having a USB hasp key version being able to have multiple copies on different PC's but only running one at a time. The major problem is that if the $50.00 usb key brakes or is lost it can be costly.

I hope the laser PC can handle the Flexisign Pro on it. I will probably have to get more Mem.

I will try to join on Flexisign Pro and let you know the results also.

As I mentioned in my 1st post "Sometimes there is more than one way to accomplish the same thing."

I appreciate everyone's help and input and I hope this helps others who may have been struggling with this also or just excepted it to be the "Status Quo" how Corel works on a laser.

[Richard Rumancik]

This is a common problem with Corel. Corel does not automatically join nodes, which is what you need. . . .<Flexi-sign> does it by choosing two nodes that are within a certain distance of each other, and joining them. If there are three nodes that are within the tolerance, it won't work. Combining does not join nodes; they remain as separate sub-paths in one object. Using only Corel means that you have to do it the hard way, joining them one at a time.

Mark, the procedure I suggested might not be as smooth as Flexi-sign but it sure has helped me. ( Start with a path that "looks" like it could be closed; select all nodes in the path, then Arrange ->Close Path -> closest nodes with straight lines. This command string will usually fix up any small gaps in the path and it will join all the overlapping nodes with this single command. No need to select pairs of nodes and join them one pair at a time.)

In some cases, if it is an open curve, I make it closed and then break it apart at the selected nodes if necessary; then delete the redundant segment.

There is no "tolerance" required like Flexi-sign; if you say you want to join closest nodes with straight lines it will look for the nearest node and fill in the gap.

Sometimes it may hiccup if it gets confused about the nearest node. In that case I just undo and fix the problem area manually, then repeat the sequence.

I can't comment if it will work right for the rope graphic as I can't open it, and don't know how the individual pieces intersect/join each other. It is intended to be used when curves are joined end-to-end.

I sometimes move files from one application to another to do edits, but I sure don't like having to do it.

[Robert Ray]

I like to use the group command. I group a chunk at the top left, then top middle, top right, middle right, center, middle left, etc... in a serpentine pattern as many times as needed to make sure all the work is done in a certain area before moving on.

This speed things up considerably.

-Robert Ray

[James Stokes]

Casmate used to have an arange order, I am not sure if Flexi has it or not. It would optimize the cutting order.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

OK Everyone here is the 411 so far. Flexisignpro was not able to change direction or join and I do not think that joining would solve this. I believe that it must start in Corel Draw or whatever program the graphic is drawn in. I went into Corel and selected all the nodes. I noticed a pattern in the segments that the large and small nodes were reversed on each segment, like mark suggested, that was out of sequence. First time I selected "reverse curve" and it switched ALL the segments . So cntrl Z and unselect, then select only segment I want to reverse and then select reverse curve. It is time consuming but in many projects it will save much more time than expended, therefore a net gain.

I will test this again tonight on the laser to make sure I am getting the correct results.

And just to make sure we are all on the same page. What I am looking to do is this. I want the little segments to cut in a 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 order in the same direction the segments are located on the circle not in a randomized order like 1 2 3 7 4 5 12 9 6 10 8 11.

It sure would be nice if Corel would make it an option for us to change direction globally, by layer, or by selected with the click of a mouse.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

The person from Corel was named McKenzie, or something like that.

Mark

Hey Mark,
I found him.
Tony Severenuk (Corel)

His last post was on March 5. I will PM him to see if he knows anything about this or can get it added as a function.

[Mark Winlund]

Casmate used to have an arange order, I am not sure if Flexi has it or not. It would optimize the cutting order.

As most of the old timers know, flexi bought out casmate. There are a number of features common to both. Along with the automatic joining feature (it is there!), they have some very well designed distortion features built in to both. One of the best is a true arc distortion for circular logos. The distortions in flexi are all bezier based... the earlier Casmate converted everything to thousands of short line segments, which raised havoc with some plotters and routers.

Mark

[Richard Rumancik]

Michael, if you have time post the file in Corel 11 format and I will take a look at it.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Richard,
Here is the file and I saved it as CDR 10. I hope you read my post above so we are all on the same page. I would hate for anyone to spin their wheels in the mud without at least getting the correct results.

And I hope everyone has a Happy, Safe and Blessed 4th. Please remember to honor those who make it possible for us to continue celebrating this day of Freedom.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

As most of the old timers know, flexi bought out casmate. There are a number of features common to both. Along with the automatic joining feature (it is there!), they have some very well designed distortion features built in to both. One of the best is a true arc distortion for circular logos. The distortions in flexi are all bezier based... the earlier Casmate converted everything to thousands of short line segments, which raised havoc with some plotters and routers.

Mark

Hey Mark,
I have barely scratched the surface of what Flexisign Pro 8.5XX can do and the last time Mark the Flexi trainer was in town for training, I was in Orlando doing a trade show. So I will have to wait until next time or buy the Training CD's. There is so much to learn and it is an extremely POWERFUL program. I use it for some layout work that Corel can not do.

I also have Casmate 6.5 and it was great for serialization and the "scan and vectorize" feature. I still have the original "Machine Shop" Box with all owners manuals and CD's. Had to dust off about a 1/4" of dust to get at it though.