Afternoon All,
Need help with a dilemma, please…
I downloaded a heart shaped 51 piece puzzle…
It shows a solid line between all the pieces, but when I trace it to create cut lines, it has separate lines for each piece… when I run the job it cuts each piece out individually which leaves too much room between pieces to have a picture on it and is very sloppy… I want to make the puzzles for my grandauters…
How can I create or where can I find a heart shaped puzzle with only single lines between the pieces? And, yes, after I traced it, I did ungroup it… didn’t help…
thanks in advance for some creative advice…
blessings,
Bill
What you want is called “center line trace” and LightBurn currently does not do it.
More graphics-oriented programs can do a center-line trace. Inkscape, in particular, seems to work well, is Free Software, and can export the resulting SVG vectors for use in LightBurn.
What kind of format is it?, If you “bought” it as puzzle it should be a functioning puzzle.
If it is a graphic you have found on the web, it must be after -worked manually after you have traced it. As @ednisley writes, there are these export import solutions, or manually processing. If you go this way and need help, we will be happy to help. Start by sending the drawing of your puzzle.
However, I will go another way and draw/construct this puzzle myself in the lightburn. It is also a little work but will be a welcome exercise in Lightburn.
I recommend using a puzzle generator that will generate an SVG file. That should be much easier. There are generators that let you define the outside shape, like your heart. I listed them here: Links and Media - Diode Laser Wiki
Simply because I have the links to my wiki itself on shortcuts and don’t know which link exactly it is. I would have to search myself there, I listed like 20 or more generators. All I came across Some work can also be done by the OP
On my mobile, it would take quite some time for me to search through all of them
Then it’s manual work in LightBurn to adapt the puzzle to the heart shape. It’s probably not the prettiest or easiest way I’ve done it, but it’s quick and you can adjust as needed
Maybe you can use my file as a starting point for your own project, it’s not that difficult.
Let me ask a question everyone seems to be avoiding for the sake of simplicity…not that I disagree…but here goes anyway…
How important to you is the fit between interlocking pieces?
You say this for a child, so a loose fit may be beneficial and the above methods entirely appropriate.
If that’s not the case; If you require a traditionally tight fit, none of the above puzzle patterns will produce it. Any pattern showing an assembled puzzle will create a gap between pieces equal to your laser beam width (aka, kerf). This could be anywhere from about .1mm (.004") to about .25 (.010"), depending on various factors.
I only ask because knowing your specific requirements can GREATLY alter the design process. Going about it wrong can cost time and money, as well as create confusion and frustration if you’re unaware of the causes.
Can’t this be done using the Remove Overlapping Lines option in Cut Optimizations and set the distance on that option to slightly larger than the spacing between the lines?
I haven’t tried it for this sort of solution but if it works as the name and distance option implies, it should do the trick.
I don’t think it affects intersecting lines, only parallel lines and curves. I did a little test with some doubled up Olympic rings style circles with a 0.02mm spacing and the overlap distance at 0.025. It drew each circle once and no anomalies at the intersections.
Some work can also be done by the OP 
