Laser help - Affinity will not export to K40 whisperer.

[John Harris]

Affinity will not export to K40 whisperer. Color is set to FF0000. I have set Affinity to factory settings.

K40 whisperer can only see gray lines when exported (does not see red lines as required to cut on my CO2 laser cutter)

Clearly I'm missing something here. If anyone could help with instructions/pitfalls for exporting to K40 whisperer that would be great. 

John

[firstdefence]

What are your file export settings?

I'm assuming the export file type is SVG.

[thomaso]

By the way: There is no need to start a new thread for modified topic title. Usually we can still edit the title after creating a thread.

To edit a post or thread of yours click the "…" icon in the upper right corner and choose "Edit" from the menu:

[John Harris]

Thank you. Greatful for the advice. 

[John Harris]

My export settings are as follows.

[John Harris]

Is anyone is actually using Affinity Designer with K40 Whisperer? And is working for you?

Should I start a new topic to ask this question of the group?

John

[John Harris]

Here's the screen grab of my colour preferences. They have been re-set recently.

[thomaso]

5 hours ago, John Harris said:

Is anyone is actually using Affinity Designer with K40 Whisperer? And is working for you?

Should I start a new topic to ask this question of the group?

No. For reasons like …
… a separate topic wouldn't solve your "red line" problem.
… a K40 user possibly did not experience your "red line" problem.
… if the answer to your problem can be solved in Affinity it might not be required to be a K40 user.
… you started already two threads to your "red line" problem.

[thomaso]

55 minutes ago, BofG said:

On the SVG export options, check "use hex colours" and see if that works.

If it doesn't, post the exported SVG here.

If I define in APub v1 red as #ff0000 and export with hex colour export selected  red hex.svg then the exported SVG says in a simple text editor:

style="fill:none;stroke:#f00;

… whereas if type in APub "f00" it results in a black "#000F00". – So, maybe it helps to change in the exported SVG the text to "#ff0000".

 

@John Harris, this thread or forum could be interesting, too: https://forum.makerforums.info/t/cut-lines-do-not-show-up-on-k40-whisper/84715
or this: https://www.reddit.com/r/lasercutting/comments/7pdtfs/k40_whisperer_not_svg_formatting_issues/

[thomaso]

4 minutes ago, BofG said:

Affinity seems to be doing some form of padding that defies all logic when typing into the hex field. It does read the SVG correctly though.

Thanks, good to know.

So a next question could be: Does K40 process the three-digit colour code in an incoming SVG file as expected, @John Harris ?

[v_kyr]

On 7/16/2023 at 7:11 AM, John Harris said:

Clearly I'm missing something here. If anyone could help with instructions/pitfalls for exporting to K40 whisperer that would be great. 

Show us a (some) valid SVG file code (attach it here in the thread) one that the K40 whisperer software has no problems with. Also show us what you've SVG wise exported from ADe for SVG code comparisons.

Other than that see also the FAQs in the K40 Whisperer Manual ...

• https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/k40w_manual.html

Quote

Why are there errors on SVG import and how do I fix them?

Here is a link to a blog post covering this issue: Input SVG File Errors

 

[David in Яuislip]

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

Tried using 72dpi and K40 wouldn't accept it

K40works.afphoto

[John Harris]

16 hours ago, thomaso said:

Thanks, good to know.

So a next question could be: Does K40 process the three-digit colour code in an incoming SVG file as expected, @John Harris ?

Unfortunately, no k40 doesn't process three-digit colour code..

[John Harris]

9 hours ago, David in Яuislip said:

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

Tried using 72dpi and K40 wouldn't accept it

K40works.afphoto 484.51 kB · 0 downloads

In this example you are using Inkscape - which is recomended for K40. Normally I use Adobe illustrator.

I am a 67 year old artist with the passion for laser driven artwork. And I really appreciate the help that everyone on this forum has offered. Fact is that I'm out of my depth. 

The question is : has anyone actually successfully used an iMac running Affinity to successfully export to K40 Whisterer. Anyone?  

This does works : iMac 12.6.5 + Adobe Illustrator 27.5 exporting to K40 Whisperer Vo.46

This DOES NOT work : iMac 12.6.5 + Affinity designer 2.1.1 exporting to K40 Whisperer Vo.46

Until someone else has the same set-up  - then there's no way of knowing if Affinity actually works.

With much appreciation - JH

 

[John Harris]

12 hours ago, David in Яuislip said:

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

Tried using 72dpi and K40 wouldn't accept it

K40works.afphoto 484.51 kB · 0 downloads

 

[John Harris]

Here is the .SVG file - exported from Affinity.

Test One.svg

[David in Яuislip]

K40W needs Inkscape installed, see https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/k40w_setup.html para.3
My example above was created in Photo V1 as stated
It does handle #f00 as red - open Test One.svg in a text editor and note style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"

Work at 300dpi with Affinity programs and select that when opening in K40W

[John Harris]

13 hours ago, David in Яuislip said:

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

Tried using 72dpi and K40 wouldn't accept it

K40works.afphoto 484.51 kB · 0 downloads

Just to clarify - are you saying that I should have Inkscape installed on my PC in order to read a Affinity file?  Actually K40 works with Adobe Illustrator without Inkscape installed. 

[David in Яuislip]

13 minutes ago, John Harris said:

are you saying that I should have Inkscape installed on my PC in order to read a Affinity file?

I am merely quoting the K40W instructions. That it works with Illustrator files without Inkscape available is a mystery
A screenshot of your K40W window showing a loaded AI file would be interesting

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, John Harris said:

Here is the .SVG file - exported from Affinity.

Test One.svg 2.34 kB · 4 downloads

That SVG file is a pretty mess in terms of unneaded structuring & grouping, further it doesn't use flattened transforms and probably the wrong color setting way for that K40W software.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 1789 1738" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" xmlns:serif="http://www.serif.com/" style="fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;stroke-miterlimit:10;">
    <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,-404.953,-864.546)">
        <rect id="Artboard1" x="404.953" y="864.546" width="1789" height="1737.45" style="fill:none;"/>
        <g id="Artboard11" serif:id="Artboard1">
            <g id="Furniture" transform="matrix(4.16667,0,0,4.16667,498.439,925.847)">
                <g transform="matrix(-0.99957,-0.0293309,-0.0293309,0.99957,184.602,289.472)">
                    <path d="M-2.91,-198.393C-57.613,-198.417 -102.117,-153.933 -102.121,-99.23C-102.126,-44.527 -57.613,0.008 -2.91,0.033C51.793,0.057 96.297,-44.417 96.301,-99.13C96.306,-153.843 51.793,-198.358 -2.91,-198.393Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"/>
                </g>
                <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,192.98,336.7)">
                    <path d="M0,10.93C5.92,7.5 4.34,-1.82 -2.5,-2.93C-5.99,-3.47 -9.59,-1.51 -10.79,1.83C-13.27,8.2 -6.07,14.4 0,10.93Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"/>
                </g>
                <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,52.43,113.32)">
                    <path d="M0,-0.01C0.01,6.9 8.95,10.22 13.38,4.8C15.61,2.02 15.71,-2.11 13.41,-4.85C9.08,-10.23 0.03,-7.07 0,-0.01Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"/>
                </g>
                <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,325.52,119.95)">
                    <path d="M0,-11.07C-5.94,-14.48 -13.23,-8.47 -10.77,-2C-9.49,1.28 -5.99,3.41 -2.5,2.79C4.27,1.75 6.04,-7.56 0,-11.07Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"/>
                </g>
                <g transform="matrix(-1,0,0,1,190.42,380.34)">
                    <path d="M0,-379.84C-104.89,-379.84 -189.92,-294.81 -189.92,-189.92C-189.92,-85.03 -104.89,0 0,0C104.89,0 189.92,-85.03 189.92,-189.92C189.92,-294.81 104.89,-379.84 0,-379.84Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:#f00;stroke-width:1px;"/>
                </g>
            </g>
        </g>
    </g>
</svg>

 

I would clean that up, remove unneaded artboards and grouping, flatten transforms, and don't use hex color generation in exports for tryouts and testing here ...

... so the SVG code will be generated instead like this on export ...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 1789 1738" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" xmlns:serif="http://www.serif.com/" style="fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;stroke-miterlimit:10;">
    <path id="little-circle-bottom" d="M897.57,1509.76C922.237,1495.47 915.653,1456.63 887.153,1452.01C872.612,1449.76 857.612,1457.93 852.612,1471.84C842.278,1498.38 872.278,1524.22 897.57,1509.76Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:rgb(255,0,0);stroke-width:4.17px;"/>
    <path id="little-circle-left" d="M311.945,533.426C311.986,562.218 349.236,576.051 367.695,553.468C376.986,541.885 377.403,524.676 367.82,513.26C349.778,490.843 312.07,504.01 311.945,533.426Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:rgb(255,0,0);stroke-width:4.17px;"/>
    <path id="little-circle-right" d="M1449.82,514.968C1425.07,500.76 1394.69,525.801 1404.94,552.76C1410.28,566.426 1424.86,575.301 1439.4,572.718C1467.61,568.385 1474.99,529.593 1449.82,514.968Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:rgb(255,0,0);stroke-width:4.17px;"/>
    <path id="outer-circle-red" d="M886.903,63.384C1323.94,63.384 1678.24,417.676 1678.24,854.718C1678.24,1291.76 1323.94,1646.05 886.903,1646.05C449.861,1646.05 95.569,1291.76 95.569,854.718C95.569,417.676 449.861,63.384 886.903,63.384Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:rgb(255,0,0);stroke-width:4.17px;"/>
    <path id="inner-circle-red" d="M899.027,441.508C1126.86,448.094 1306.78,638.803 1300.11,866.635C1293.45,1094.47 1102.61,1274.51 874.777,1267.93C646.943,1261.34 467.025,1070.67 473.695,842.802C480.36,614.928 671.192,434.969 899.027,441.508Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke:rgb(255,0,0);stroke-width:4.17px;"/>
</svg>

• test_two.afdesign

... try out this SVG file here ...

• test_two.svg

 

If that doesn't work, then show an SVG file (the SVG code of some AI file etc...) which works for comparisons!

[John Harris]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:38 AM, David in Яuislip said:

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

David - It turns out that I do have Inkscape on my little Windows machine.

I'm really can't get my head around this problem - it's just too much of a mind f***.  Eventually, Affinity might come to the rescue, but only when there are others who use Mac + Affinity + K40. 

Thank you for your help - very much appreciated.

K40works.afphoto 484.51 kB · 0 downloads

Color setting are FF0000 - export setting as suggested. Unfortunately neither Affinity or K40 can't recognize the file. Affinity file is a mess - not surprised.   I'm the only one on God's green earth who wants to use Affinity with K40. In a way, that makes me feel special

Here's a fact - Affinity is not usable software for laser cutting on my Co2 cutter. Never mind - on on . . .

Thank you v_kyr -John

[firstdefence]

As V-kyr has asked, upload an SVG that does work so he can compare and explain the differences in formatting the SVG Code.

In the meantime this file is a recreation of your afphoto file, it's set to RGB colour not CMYK although I can do one in CMYK if needed.
Test from Illustrator 27.5 2023-01.svg

[Hangman]

34 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

In the meantime this file is a recreation of your afphoto file, it's set to RGB colour not CMYK although I can do one in CMYK if needed.

Though your file uses classes which are not supported in Affinity apps so opening the file in Designer doesn't honour the red stroke applied using the cls-8 and cls-10 classes and a black fill is added to the red, green and blue boxes owing to the same lack of css support...

The K40 manual would appear to suggest colours are set using RGB values, as per @v_kyr's amended file...

"The colour for vector cut should be (255,0,0) red=255, green=0 and blue=0. The colour for vector engrave should be (0,0,255). The colours can be incorrect by a value up to 9 so (246,9,9) will still register as vector cut."

[John Harris]

On 7/18/2023 at 1:38 AM, David in Яuislip said:

I used https://www.scorchworks.com/K40whisperer/K40_Whisperer-0.64_win64.zip
Unzipped it into a folder, ran it, told it where Inkscape is
Loaded a simple file created in Photo and it appears like this

David - It turns out that I do have Inkscape on my little Windows machine.

I'm really can't get my head around this problem - it's just too much of a mind f***.  Eventually, Affinity might come to the rescue, but only when there are others who use Mac + Affinity + K40. 

Thank you for your help - very much appreciated

K40works. 484.51 kB · 0 downloads

"The colour for vector cut should be (255,0,0) red=255, green=0 and blue=0.

I've tested red=255 - no luck

 

[v_kyr]

23 hours ago, v_kyr said:

... try out this SVG file here ...

• test_two.svg

If that doesn't work, then show an SVG file (the SVG code of some AI file etc...) which works for comparisons!

Show the SVG of a valid & working example file here!