Creating a Sketch from an Image in SW 2008

[Darryll83]

I am looking to add my company logo to the model of a part.
Ideally, I'd like to draw a sketch of the logo and extrude it.

Unfortunately, none of the text is in a standard font. Therefore the "Text" sketch feature is of little use.

So far the best method I can come up with is to add a Sketch Picture (thru Sketch Tools) and trace it with splines. However this as you can imagine is time consuming.

Anybody have any better ideas?

Thank you,
Darryll

 

[Eltron]

Nope. That's the way to go.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

If the font used is True Type, SW should be able to use it.

You could also try to use the Auto-Trace function or WinTopo to convert the image to vector.

 

[rgrayclamps]

Hi, Darryll83:

I would use sketches made of lines and arc segments rather than splines. Although it takes a little longer to create, sketches made of lines and arc segments are much more efficient. Better still you can turn them into blocks for reuse purposes.

Best regards,

Alex

 

[ArtemTat]

You can also do this using one of the vector graphics applications.

For example using the Adobe Flash I can do the following:

1) Import the bitmap to Flash
2) Trace it using standard tracer.
3) Export traced image as AutoCAD .dxf format.
4) Import this .dxf to SolidWorks as the Drawing document.
5) Copy-Paste the entities from drawing to part.
6) Extrude if needed.

Artem Taturevich, CSWP
Software and Design Engineer
AMCBridge LLC

http://www.amcbridge.com