AURA

Layout in curves: a contour from a picture at size for a milling machine and a laser

The «Layout in curves» button in the «Cutting layouts» tool of an order traces a picture with curves at the item's size, 1:1 in millimetres: you can frame the part of the picture you need, choose the outer contour, all contours or the centre line of a stroke (for example for a 6 mm neon tube), add an underlay as a rectangle or along the outline, stretch the drawing to both sizes without changing the profile, split the item into parts and export every window of the frame on its own. The file is downloaded as PDF (opens in CorelDRAW and Illustrator), SVG or DXF for the machine, or added straight to «Cutting layouts». Free, no AI, the picture is not kept.

Learn more: Help · Features.

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How to use it

  1. Open the order, the «Prepare for the workshop» stage, the «Cutting layouts» tool, and press «Layout in curves». The same window opens from «My studio»: the «My cutting layouts» list, the «Layout in curves» button, then the choice of the order.
  2. Drag a picture into the upload zone or click it: PNG, JPEG or WebP up to 10 MB. AURA traces the picture with curves at once and shows them over it.
  3. Enter the width, height or both in Item size, mm. With both dimensions, the drawing stretches to them exactly by default. Untick Stretch to both sizes to fit the drawing inside the dimensions while keeping its proportions; one side may then be smaller.
  4. Choose what to cut: «Outer contour», «All contours» or «Centre line» (for a welded frame the line width is the tube profile, the 20…100 buttons set it), and whether an underlay is needed: «No underlay», «Rectangle» or «Along the outline».
  5. If the picture has something extra, switch to «Frame a part» and draw a frame with the mouse around the part you need, for example one detail or a lettering without its background. «Take the whole picture» brings the whole picture back.
  6. If the item is cut in parts, set the number of parts in the «Split into parts» block and press «At the dips of the contour» or «Equally».
  7. If the drawing has closed openings inside, a «Windows of the frame» block appears under the picture with the size of every window left to right: they can be exported one at a time or all at once in the «What to export» field.
  8. In the «File at 1:1 size» block choose the format (PDF, SVG or DXF) and what to export, then press «Download» or the button that adds the file to «Cutting layouts» with the cutting method, the material and the thickness.
  • TestFlight 68 supports preserved thin outlines, exact size from two dimensions and a visible contrast threshold for opaque images.

The picture: a part, edits and the threshold

  • AURA finds the drawing by its difference from the colour of the picture's edges, so light neon lines on a dark curtain and a black lettering on a white sheet are traced alike. If the curves follow the background, tick «Swap the object and the background».
  • «Frame a part» crops the picture before AURA traces it: the item's size refers to the framed part.
  • «Edit the picture» opens an eraser and a brush: wipe a highlight, a shadow or someone else's lettering, paint over a break in a line. After every edit the curves are built again; the original file is not changed.
  • The automatic threshold separates the object from its background. The contrast threshold is always visible for opaque images; changing it switches to manual mode. Adjust it when thin lines or letters disappear or merge. Transparent PNGs use their alpha channel and have no contrast control. Smoothing is applied to the curves without erasing thin strokes from the source mask. Use Skip details smaller than, mm to remove small noise.
  • «Skip details smaller than, mm»: contours smaller than this on both sides (in «Centre line», lines shorter than it) stay out of the layout, the largest contour always stays. So a pattern or vines on a picture of an arch do not become contours next to the frame; under the preview it says how many small contours were skipped. 0 keeps every contour.

What to cut: a contour or a centre line

  • «Outer contour» traces a shape from outside without holes: good for an underlay along the shape or a silhouette.
  • «All contours» trace both the outer edges and the holes, as in the letters O and B: good for letters and details with cut-outs.
  • «Centre line» draws one line along the middle of a stroke, like a neon tube, and builds a pocket of the given width around it, for example 6 mm. In the file the line axis (green, layer AXIS) is the path of a cutter of the same diameter, and the pocket (blue, layer POCKET) is its edges.
  • For a welded frame of profile tube choose «Centre line» and set the line width equal to the profile: the «Profile» buttons 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 80 and 100 mm set it. Then the pocket (layer POCKET) is the bed of the tube on a milled template, and the axis (AXIS) is the middle of the tube.
  • The centre line is built from the picture: on a blurred photo or with highlights it can get extra tails. Wipe the extra in «Edit the picture» or move the threshold.

Underlay

  • «Rectangle» makes an underlay exactly at the item's size, for example 2200 × 800 mm. The drawing stands in the centre and stays out of «Margin from the edge to the drawing, mm».
  • «Along the outline» traces the drawing with an offset («Underlay offset from the drawing, mm»). Close letters merge into one underlay, distant ones get their own.
  • With an underlay the drawing becomes a pocket (blue, layer POCKET), and the cut along the underlay's edge is red (layer CUT). Without an underlay the drawing itself is the cut.

Stretch to both sizes: the profile does not change

  • Stretch to both sizes is enabled by default: when width and height are filled, the drawing takes those exact dimensions. With a single dimension, the proportions stay unchanged. Untick it to fit inside both dimensions while keeping the proportions; one side may be smaller. Check the result label and the dimensions in the exported file.
  • In «Centre line» the line width is set in millimetres and stays the same after stretching: a sketch of a 20×20 tube frame stretched from 1500 to 2200 mm is still a frame of 20 mm tube, only the tubes get longer. This is the automatic fit of the profile: the thickness needs no fixing by hand.
  • In «Outer contour» and «All contours» the drawing itself is stretched, line thickness included: this suits an underlay or a silhouette. For a frame with a constant profile choose «Centre line».
  • Under the picture AURA says that the picture is stretched and the line width did not change. In template drawings («Drawings»: an arch, a backdrop) the thickness of the posts, the band and the profile is a separate field and does not change with the width or the height either.

Splitting into parts

  • «At the dips of the contour» puts the dividing lines where the contour narrows at the top (between the leaves of an arch) or where there is empty space between details. If there are no clear dips, AURA splits into equal parts and says so.
  • In «Split direction» choose «Vertical» (parts side by side, from left to right) or «Horizontal» (a lower and an upper part, for example a sheet taller than the machine). AURA puts horizontal lines where the side of the outline narrows or steps in, and in the gaps between pieces standing one above the other. A horizontal line is dragged up and down with the mouse or moved with the up and down arrows. When the direction changes, the lines are placed again.
  • «Equally» splits the item into parts of equal width, «Do not split» removes the lines.
  • A dividing line can be dragged with the mouse. When a line is chosen with the Tab key, the arrows move it by 10 mm, with Shift by 100 mm.
  • Under the picture the size of every part is shown. In «What to export» choose «All parts» (in PDF each part is on its own page, in SVG and DXF the parts stand side by side 50 mm apart) or one part.

Windows of the frame: inserts and a print for every window

  • A window is a closed opening inside the drawing: between the tubes of a welded arch in «Centre line» or a hole of the figure in «All contours». An arch drawn as three overlapping arcs gives three windows: left, middle and right. AURA numbers the windows left to right, writes the numbers on the drawing and shows the size of each in the «Windows of the frame» block.
  • The outlines of the windows lie in the separate layer WINDOW (purple). In «What to export» choose «Window 1», «Window 2» or «All windows»: the file holds only the outline of the window at full size, with zero at its lower left corner. This is the file for a plastic insert, for a print for the window or for a milled template of the opening. «All windows» in PDF give a page per window; in SVG and DXF the windows stand side by side.
  • A window appears when the lines of the drawing meet. If an opening is not closed (a break of a line on the sketch), the window is not in the list: draw the break over in «Edit the picture» or lower the threshold, and the curves are built again.
  • This is how a photo of a sketch becomes a flat drawing of an arch for welding: «Centre line» with a profile, for example 40 mm, gives the bed of the tubes and crossbars on the template, the windows give the inserts and the print files, and «Split into parts» cuts the frame into leaves if it does not fit the machine. A 3D model of the same arch is built separately with «3D from a picture» in «3D parts».

Files: PDF, SVG, DXF, CorelDRAW and Illustrator

  • All files are 1:1 in millimetres and hold curves only, with no texts or frames. The cut is red, the pocket blue, the line axis green, the windows purple.
  • PDF: a page the size of the item or the part with a 10 mm margin on every side. Open it in Illustrator or import it into CorelDRAW and the curves are at their real size. A PDF page cannot be larger than 5 m on a side: split such an item into parts or download DXF.
  • SVG also opens in CorelDRAW and Illustrator in millimetres. DXF (units mm, layers CUT, POCKET, AXIS and WINDOW) is read by programs for milling machines and lasers.
  • AURA does not write CDR and AI files: there are no open formats to write them. Open the PDF in CorelDRAW or Illustrator and save it in their format.
  • The button that adds the file to «Cutting layouts» puts the chosen file into the order with the cutting method, the material and the thickness: the workshop sees it in the «Workshop task».

Frequent questions

  • How does «Layout in curves» differ from «From a picture to a layout»? «From a picture to a layout» makes a contour up to 600 mm, joins letters with bridges and can make a part for 3D printing. «Layout in curves» makes curves at the item's size up to 20 m, an underlay, a centre line for neon and splitting into parts.
  • How to make a drawing of an arch for welding from a photo of a sketch? Upload the photo into «Layout in curves», choose «Centre line» and the tube profile, give the size (with two sizes, with the «Stretch to both sizes» mark), then download the whole template and export the inserts and the print by windows.
  • How does a layout in curves differ from a drawing? A drawing shows a structure or a 3D model in front, top and side views with the sizes for assembly. A layout in curves is a contour for a machine without dimension lines. The cutting DXF in the «Workshop task» lays rectangular parts out on sheets of material.
  • Does AURA keep the picture? No: the picture is only needed to build the curves. Only the file added to «Cutting layouts» stays in the order.
  • How much does it cost? It is free: AURA builds the curves with no AI and no paid calls.

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