.png vs .svg for shading- newbie question

[dendenden (den murphy)]

Hi,

This is my first foray into laser cutting / etching.
I have a design created on Google Drawings. I have exported it as an .svg file
On importing it into LightBurn, I can see the paths, but not the shaded areas
I have imported the design also as a .png as a comparison.

Obviously, I would like for my design to incorporate the shading (like with the .png)
I’m no doubt missing something- I’ve checked the documentation but can’t see where I’m going wrong.
Could someone point me in the right direction so when I import the .svg files they maintain the shaded areas.
Link to image
Thanks very much in advance.

[clark (Clark Leach)]

If you want shading you’re pretty much stuck with raster file types (png, jpg) and may even need to use a dithering algorithm depending on the material you plan to engrave.

[dendenden (den murphy)]

Clark, thanks for that. Much appreciated.

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) include three kinds of ‘file’ types, vector graphics (straight lines and curves), bitmap graphics and text.

I don’t find bitmapped graphics much help as Lightburn can ‘dither’ the image as good or better than most.

Notice there is not much ‘shading’… as @clark stated you will have to use some type of other graphic file.

Good luck

[dendenden (den murphy)]

Thanks Jack, much appreciated!