Recommended test
- Choose File → Import PNG/JPEG artwork and select a high-contrast image with at least one internal white hole.
- In 3D, choose the destination sketch plane when prompted. In Sketch mode, the active plane is used directly.
- Set the physical width, choose Dark artwork, and adjust Threshold until the preview follows the intended black shapes.
- Use Minimum detail to discard dust and Curve smoothing to fair pixel stair-steps without erasing fine ornament.
- Add the trace to the drawing, move or scale it if needed, then prepare it as Filled artwork / V-carve in CAM.
- Check the 2D toolpath, Simulate animation, Material result, G-code review, and final export.
01 · CONTROLLED VECTORIZATION
Trace what the cutter should understand
The physical width defines the exact placed size in millimetres; height remains locked to the image aspect ratio. Dark/Light polarity chooses which side of the threshold becomes material to engrave. Threshold selects the luminance boundary, Minimum detail removes isolated pixel regions by physical area, and Curve smoothing fairs and simplifies the sampled pixel boundary.
Tracing runs in a cancellable background worker. Changing a control replaces the previous request, so a complex bitmap cannot hold the interface hostage while settings are adjusted. The optimized sampled boundaries remain identical across CAD preview, SVG/PDF output, topology checks, and CAM preparation.
Ignore page-edge region removes a selected background connected to the bitmap border. This is especially useful when tracing light artwork from a white page. The preview overlays the original image and the resolved compound fill so mistakes are visible before CAD geometry is created.
WidthExact placed millimetresThresholdDark/light separationDetailSmall-region cleanupSmoothingBoundary fairing and simplification02 · ONE ARTWORK PIPELINE
The trace becomes ordinary filled artwork
Cadivari stores the result as one grouped compound vector object using even-odd fill semantics. Separate islands remain separate regions, while nested white areas remain counters. The original pixels do not become cutter moves and are not needed after tracing.
The potentially expensive filled-artwork V-carve preparation runs in a cancellable worker. Its resolved result is reused when the operation is created and invalidated when source geometry or the tool library changes. If a browser cannot run the preparation worker, Cadivari automatically falls back to the local preparation path instead of leaving the operation blocked.
The same resolved vectors drive 2D preparation, variable-depth V-carving, 3D animation, material removal, time estimation, Shapeoko/GRBL G-code, project Save/Open, verification, and export. Moving, rotating, or scaling the CAD artwork rebuilds its linked CAM operation just like imported SVG artwork. Connected medial branches are ordered into the fewest safe continuous trails; genuinely disconnected artwork still requires separate retract and plunge moves.
The tracer prepares geometry, not safe cutting parameters. Verify physical size, the selected V-bit, maximum width and depth, feed and plunge rates, Safe Z, workholding, and the final G-code before machining.
CURRENT SCOPE
High-contrast filled artwork first
- PNG and JPEG files up to the guarded file and image-size limits
- Dark-on-light or light-on-dark threshold tracing
- Multiple filled islands and nested counters
- Physical cleanup and smoothing controls
- No grayscale depth, halftone, photographic relief, or automatic centreline extraction
- Fine details smaller than the chosen cutter and cut-width limit cannot be machined faithfully
- JPEG compression noise may require stronger cleanup than a lossless PNG source