[Gimp-user] Feature request: Epilog laser engraver/cutter support



To my knowledge GIMP does not support laser engraving machines like
Legend Helix 24 Laser.


The spesifications for Legend Helix 24 Laser:
http://www.epiloglaser.com/legend_helix.htm

There exists a backend named epilog-cups for the legend brand of
engravers/lasers, but it seems fiddly to use and no GUI or PPD files
exists to my knowledge. I think that the epilog-cups backend only
works
with inkscape, but i am unsure because i dont have a Legend laser so i
cannot test it. 

At present state, the user of epilog-cups needs to set up and make a
printer for each typer of material. 

That has some advantages, but the power and resolution and speed
apparently cannot be adjusted with ease. Anyway, it should be
possible to add a suitable plugin with a GUI that can store the
settings for a type of material.  

examples:
1mm beech plywood, cutting.
Ti6Al4V (titanium,polished) engraving
etc..
etc.. 



epilog-cups is located here + some info on how to set it up:
http://www.as220.org/labs/wiki/index.php/Laser_Cutter_Technical_Info_Links
cups-epilog.c is here:
http://aaisp.net.uk/free/cups-epilog.c

The AS220 CUPS-Epilog driver converts postscript input into a .PJL
file, that is sent to the Laser Cutter/engraver. Apparently the Epilog
uses this HP printer control language!
( source=
http://wiki.laoslaser.org/index.php/PrinterDriver#Example_code )

Epilog laser engraver

The Epilog laser engraver comes with a windows printer driver. This
works well with Corel Draw, and that is about it. There are other
windows applications, like inkscape, but these rasterise the image
before sending to the windows printer driver, so there is no way to
use
them to vector cut.

information on cups-epilog follows:

The cups-epilog app is a cups backend, 
so build and link/copy to /usr/lib/cups/backend/epilog. It allows you
to print postscript to the laser and both raster and cut. It works
well
with inkscape.

With this linux driver, vector cutting is recognised by any line or
curve in 100% red (1.0 0.0 0.0 setrgbcolor).

Create printers using epilog://host/Legend/options where host is the
hostname or IP of the epilog engraver. The options are as follows.
This allows you to make a printer for each different type of
material.af Auto focus (0=no, 1=yes)
af optimise vectors (0=no, 1=yes)
r Resolution 75-1200
rs Raster speed 1-100
rp Raster power 0-100
vs Vector speed 1-100
vp Vector power 1-100
ov Re-order vectors to reduce time
vf Vector frequency 10-5000
sc Photograph screen size in pizels, 0=threshold, +ve=line, -ve=spot,
used in mono mode, default 8.
rm Raster mode mono/grey/colour

The mono raster mode uses a line or dot screen on any grey levels or
colours. This can be controlled with the sc parameter. The default is
8, which makes a nice fine line screen on 600dpi engraving. At
600/1200 dpi, the image is also lightened to allow for the size of the
laser point.

The grey raster mode maps the grey level to power level. The power
level is scaled to the raster power setting (unlike the windows driver
which is always 100% in 3D mode).

In colour mode, the primary and secondary colours are processed as
separate passes, using the grey level of the colour as a power level.
The power level is scaled to the raster power setting. Note that red
is 100% red, and non 100% green and blue, etc, so 50% red, 0%
green/blue is not counted as red, but counts as "grey". 100% red, and
50% green/blue counts as red, half power. This means you can make
distinct raster areas of the page so that you do not waste time moving
the head over blank space between them.

It seems to me that the epilog-cups does not support 3D engraving.
3D mode looks at the dots and the dot patterns in a very different way
than Basic raster engraving mode, especially where it concerns either
color, or grayscale images.

In 3D mode, instead of looking at the dots and determining where to
fire the laser based on the dot spacing, Epilog Laser look at the dots
and determine how much laserpower (wattage) to apply to each dot, and
that’s the big difference between Basic raster engraving mode and 3D.
In Basic raster engraving mode, every dot is fired at the same laser
output (wattage). In 3D mode machine have the ability to adjust the
laser output for every dot.

An additional aspect of 3D mode is that, unlike Basic mode, the laser
fires continuously between most dots – even if it is engraving from a
10% fill pattern to a 30% fill pattern. This is by design so there is
a
gradual change in the depth of engraving when the artwork transitions
from one shade of gray to another. The only time that this is not true
is when the artwork changes from 100% black to 100% white (or visa
versa).


Any opinions ?

www.ecpur.com

-- 
ecpur (via www.gimpusers.com/forums)



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