Font match to CNC?

[Shawn Handley]

Greetings!

Now, I know I am not the only one out there that needs to know this....

Does anyone have a font that they use to match that of a CNC engraver with a single pass text for making labels, tags, ect? Most of what I find is close to the shape but too bold to match.

Thanks!

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Hey Shawn,
A picture is worth a 1000 words. Are you talking about single line fonts?

[Gary Hair]

Shawn,
There isn't a true "single line" font available in True Type because of the way they are created. There are many suitable substitutes but none are truly single line. Corel X5 has a few engravers fonts and here is a link to some that I have used before. The one named eng_helvline works pretty well. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/psfonts.zip

Gary

[Shawn Handley]

Pretty much. I was told that it was called single pass. To match the font with a laser that will raster rather than using the CNC bit, is there a close font to match the laser to the CNC?

Here is a photo of the CNC engraved label that I have to copy and change the text.
http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp280/Shandleyman/Engraving/P1050789.jpg

[Shawn Handley]

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[Rodne Gold]

Google "stickfont" you will find 8 or so freebies somewhere -
TTF true single line fonts some here http://www.mrrace.com/CamBam_Fonts/

[Shawn Handley]

Thanks but I don't think I am explaining myself too well. I appreciate the font files but they are single line CNC fonts. I don't want that. I want a rasterable font that looks very similar to the final product a CNC would make. Perhaps it's in there but I don't see it.

As an example, I use ARIAL ROUNDED MT to get a close call but like I mentioned before, it's too bold.

[Gary Hair]

Google "stickfont" you will find 8 or so freebies somewhere -
TTF true single line fonts some here http://www.mrrace.com/CamBam_Fonts/

They are not really single line fonts, as TTF they can't be. Here is a snip from that link "When you use them they will truly cut in a single line. Your cutter will go over each letter twice, once in each direction, and exactly on the same path no matter what size you engrave". A "single line" font has only 1 line and will engrave in one direction only. True Type MUST be a closed loop or it won't be True Type and you can't have a closed loop on most characters without retracing the character. For rastering that's ok but not for vectoring.

Gary

[Tony Lenkic]

This may give you results you are after

[Shawn Handley]

That's far out, man. Thanks.

[Mark Sipes]

Do you have a CNC or the design software for a rotary engraver??

[Shawn Handley]

I do not have either. I use my Epilog Legend engraver with Corel Draw X3

[Mark Sipes]

Is this what you would like to see as an end result for your needs?

[Shawn Handley]

Not quite. I need a raster font that resembles the single line routing shown in my first photo with a very low percentage of error. I am dealing with yacht owners who are nit picky to the end. They don't mind paying for perfection but they wont accept anything less.

[Doug Griffith]

After typing the desired text you want, why not convert the single line font to outline, stroke to the desired width to match the CNC engraving thickness, then apply rounded corners and endcaps. It would be very quick.

[Mark Sipes]

What is the width of the lettering in .oox" size...... the tips used in cnc are constant and fixed . also need the letter height.

[Shawn Handley]

The letter O width is 0.105". The height is 0.1095"

[Shawn Handley]

Hmm! How do you convert the text to outline?

[Mike Null]

Why don't you try outlining your Arial rounded with a white outline. That'll skinny them down a bit.

The one shown below is 18 pt Arial Rounded Bold MT and the same with a 1 pt white outline.

[Shawn Handley]

Sweet! How do you do that?

[Mike Null]

Just use your outline tool and set the width to whatever pleases you. Use the color white as the outline color.

[Tony Lenkic]

Shawn,

Go to this site and see if any font could match. You can ask them to send you sample for verification before you buy since customer is willing to pay for it.
Check the yellow column.


http://www.lamro.com/fonts/truetype/truetype.htm

[Shawn Handley]

That did 'er! Thanks!!

[Doug Griffith]

Hmm! How do you convert the text to outline?

I'm an Illustrator user and it's as simple as selecting "convert to outline".

I'm sure there's a comparable way in Coreldraw. Bueller? Bueller?

[Gary Hair]

I'm an Illustrator user and it's as simple as selecting "convert to outline".

I'm sure there's a comparable way in Coreldraw. Bueller? Bueller?

select the text and press ctrl-Q

[Mike Null]

Gary's answer is correct--also called converting to curves in Corel. My solution may be causing confusion and it does not need to convert anything to outlines (curves) just use the outline tool to outline the text.

[Kevin Groenke]

Why raster them at all? You could save yourself (well, your laser anyway) a ton of time just vectoring them. AutoCad has numerous on-board single line font, I imagine free and inexpensive alternatives have similar.

[Rodne Gold]

He wants the engraving to match what a CnC machine with a bit would give , the bit has width and the single line font vectored will be uber thin.
The rule of thumb when rotary engraving is that the tip width should be 1/7th the height of the letter , so on a 10mm high letter , you would use a 1.5mm bit (actually 1.4 ) so he would need at least that width of stroke when rastering.
Personally , I would rather have the crisp edges of a lasered font than the rounded look of a CnC machines output ..... Unless of course you have to match existing legend plates.