PANELS BY DUG
Photo to Carbide Create
Lay a flat part on a sheet of paper, take one photo from above, and get a true-scale .c2d with the outline and holes on their own layers. Add toolpaths in Carbide Create as usual.
STEP 1 Photo
How to take the photo
- Lay the part flat on a plain sheet of known size (letter or A4). All four sheet corners must show.
- Leave at least 1/4" of clear paper around the part.
- Shoot straight down from 2–3 ft with the camera zoomed to 2×. That keeps the part's edges from leaning.
- Use soft, even light with no hard shadows. A shadow traces as part of the part.
- Shiny or white part? Put it on dark construction paper and enter that sheet's size under Custom.
STEP 2 Sheet corners
Drag the four dots onto the corners of the sheet. A zoomed view appears while you drag.
STEP 3 Trace
Cutout layerHoles layer
If you caliper the overall width, enter it here and the whole drawing scales to match.
STEP 4 File
The zip holds .c2d for Carbide Create, plus SVG and DXF copies for other programs. The file opens with the Shapeoko 5 Pro selected and no toolpaths. Check critical dimensions with calipers before cutting.