Product

Pandora^® 1.2

Operating system

Macintosh^® & Windows^®

Symptoms

Adobe^® Illustrator^® can export die files in DXF format, which Pandora can then import. However, Pandora does not support the entire DXF file format (for example, the 3D modeling features are not supported).

Cause

There are some issues with Illustrator-generated DXF files:

1. Bezier curves are encoded as splines (3D elements), which are ignored by Pandora. Perfect circles work correctly because they are encoded as arcs in the DXF file.

2. There is no way to set rotation for die stations. All die stations will have a rotation angle of 0 in the DXF file. Pandora 1.2 allows you to pre-rotate art in the JIV so that it snaps to the die station correctly.

3. Fills and non-stroked elements are ignored by Pandora. Any element in the Illustrator file that you want to use in Pandora must be stroked.

4. Die stations must be defined as groups in Illustrator. Any group that contains stroked elements will be encoded as a "block" in the DXF file, and be recognized as a die station by Pandora.

Solution

Following is a procedure to convert Illustrator 9 die files into DXF files that Pandora can use. You can record an Illustrator action to automate Steps 1-4.

1. Open the file in Illustrator.

2. From the Edit menu, select Select All.

3. From the Object menu, select Path > Add Anchor Points.

Click to enlarge

4. Repeat step 3 (from the Object menu, select Path > Add Anchor Points).

This step determines how accurately curves are represented as lines and is similar in principle to the "flatness" setting in PostScript. Repeat this step again to improve the accuracy of Snap to Die in Pandora. Note: This also lengthens the die import process in Pandora.

5. From the Object menu, select Path > Simplify.

Click to enlarge

6. Under Simplify Path set the Angle Threshold to 0.

7. Under Options, select the Straight Lines check box.

8. Click OK.

Click to enlarge

9. For each die station, select the lines that define the station and group them (from the Object menu, select Group.

10. From the File menu, select Export.

Click to enlarge

11. In the Export dialog box, select Format: AutoCAD Interchange File (DXF).

12. Name the file, and then click Export.

Click to enlarge

13. In the DXF/DWG Options dialog box, click OK to accept the default settings.

To use the DXF file in Pandora:

1. From the Edit menu, select Preferences.

2. Under Locale, set the DXF default measure to millimeters, and then click OK. If you do not perform this step, you may see a message indicating the die is too large.

Click to enlarge

3. From the File menu, select Import > Die.

4. In the Import Die dialog box, navigate to the DXF file, and then click Import.

Click to enlarge

5. Place the die in the JIV.

6. De-select the die in the JIV, then place the artwork in the JIV (if the die is selected, it will snap to the die).

7. Using the Control palette, rotate the artwork to match the rotation of a die station.

Click to enlarge

8. Select the artwork and the die station(s), then from the Object menu, select Snap to Die.

This step works only in Pandora 1.2 and later. Versions earlier than 1.2 rotate the artwork back to 0 degrees to match the rotation setting in the die station.

Click to enlarge

9. Repeat steps 5-7 for each die station that has a different rotation.

Technical contact(s)

Mat Gessel

Submitted by

Mat Gessel

Date submitted

07 Jan 2002