Importing a DXF
File > Import DXF… (Ctrl+I), or chipload import part.dxf -o part.chipload, makes a new
project from a DXF. File > Open… also opens a .dxf directly. chipload inspect part.dxf
shows what Chipload sees in a DXF without making a project.
Dropping files on the window:
- A
.chiploadproject opens (after asking about unsaved changes). - DXFs and pictures are added to the open project: each DXF as another drawing, each picture through its image window, one after the other. With no project open, the first starts one.
- The hint while you drag says which will happen.
What is read
- Read: lines, arcs, circles, polylines with arcs (bulges), splines and ellipses (turned into arcs within 0.01 mm), and blocks inserted with a move, turn or scale.
- Not supported: DWG files. Save as DXF in your CAD program.
- Layers are kept, and you can select by them: right-click a shape on the canvas selects its whole layer. In DXF, layer names don’t care about upper or lower case.
- Closed shapes are read as drawn: a closed polyline, a circle or a closed spline is one closed contour, even where other shapes touch it or share its edges. A pocket drawn against the part’s outline leaves both whole.
- Joining: loose lines and arcs whose ends meet (within 0.001 mm) are joined into
contours, only with others on the same layer:
- closed, for profiles, pockets and V-carving;
- open, for follow path; profiles and pockets skip them with a note.
- Outer and hole: each closed contour is an outer (outline) or a hole (inside another), which sets the default side of a new profile.
- The project keeps the geometry itself. The DXF isn’t needed afterwards, unless the drawing changes (Updating from a new DXF).
The import report
Chipload reads the drawing as drawn: as little repair as possible, and nothing dropped
without saying so. The report under the canvas (and from inspect) lists:
| Issue | Meaning |
|---|---|
duplicate | a line, arc or shape drawn twice on top of itself on the same layer; one is kept. On different layers both are kept |
zero_length | a line or arc of no length; left out |
nonzero_z | the drawing has Z values (3D); they are ignored, the drawing is read flat |
entity_skipped | an entity Chipload doesn’t read (text, dimensions, hatches, …), or one with a coordinate beyond 1 km or not a number, which only a broken file has |
block_depth | blocks nested too deep; the inner ones are skipped |
open_contour | a contour that doesn’t close: profiles and pockets skip it |
branch_point | three or more loose lines on one layer meet at a point, so the contour’s path is ambiguous |
invalid_contour | a closed contour that crosses or folds back on itself: it can’t be cut until fixed |
units_chosen | the DXF didn’t say its units; this records your choice |
Crossing contours are fine. Two shapes that cross, such as a pocket cutting through a part’s outline to make an opening, are separate shapes, each cut on its own. Chipload never merges them.
Centre lines and other open lines on a cutting layer don’t stop a profile or pocket on that layer: they’re skipped, with a note.
Units
If the DXF doesn’t say whether it’s in mm or inches, Chipload asks (command line:
--units mm or --units inch). See Units and coordinates.
New project defaults
The stock just covers the drawing, 10 mm thick:
- its bottom-left corner sits at the drawing’s origin when the drawing lies right of and above the origin;
- otherwise it is centred on the origin.
The machine and tool come from your default machine profile and tool if you have them. Otherwise you get GRBL, a safe Z of 5 mm, and a 6 mm endmill at 18 000 rpm.