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Tools of the trade / New Silohuette Cameo
Jesus
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Messages - jesuscf
Jesus
2
Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
Would you mind if I added g2g_gui.py to my Github repository (suitably credited)?
Peter[/quote]
Hi Peter,
I'll be honored if you add g2g_gui.py to your Github repository!
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
@ jesuscf
should we all be using the latest version of the script? (or only if we need a Linux/Mac compatible script?)
Any reason the Windows users should grab/use the latest version?
thanks[/quote]
There is not functional difference on Windows for the two scripts. The second script (the one that works on Linux) is just the first script with a bunch of "if os.name=='nt':" added to account for the small differences when running commands on Linux. For example, to send file to the cutter:
Code: [Select]
if os.name=='nt':Jesus
os.system("copy /B "%s" "%s"" % (src, dst))
else:
os.system("cat %s > %s" % (src, dst))
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
Please give this script a try on Linux (it should work also on W7 and WXP). I tested it on Debian with XFCE. I had to install python-tk (sudo apt-get install python-tk) in order to run it. Also you have to chmod it (chmod a+x g2g_gui.py, or using XFCE file properties thing) before running. Of course you need gerbv and pstoedit installed in your system as the script uses these programs.
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
do I need to reboot the machine perhaps? (I havent been)[/quote]
Wait a minute! My fresh installation of pstoedit on Windows XP has no drvmagick.dll:
Code: [Select]
Directory of C:Program Filespstoedit
06/01/2013 10:05 AM <DIR> .
06/01/2013 10:05 AM <DIR> ..
04/28/2013 08:27 PM 640,512 drvlplot.dll
04/28/2013 08:27 PM 294,400 drvswf.dll
12/03/2004 10:55 PM 315 examplefigmap.fmp
08/13/2001 07:44 PM 211,231 latex2e.fmp
08/13/2001 07:44 PM 296,447 mpost.fmp
04/28/2013 08:27 PM 495,104 pstoedit.dll
04/28/2013 08:27 PM 8,192 pstoedit.exe
04/28/2013 08:18 PM 78,129 pstoedit.htm
08/10/2009 04:37 PM 3,772 readme.wri
04/28/2013 08:27 PM 462,848 stddrivers.dll
11/01/2001 10:10 PM 1,096 svg.fmp
06/01/2013 10:05 AM 1,709 unins000.dat
06/01/2013 10:05 AM 716,126 unins000.exe
04/28/2013 03:43 PM 143 unix.fmp
08/13/2001 07:44 PM 615 wemf.fmp
04/28/2013 03:43 PM 146 windows.fmp
16 File(s) 3,210,785 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,336,655,872 bytes free
C:Program Filespstoedit>
Some forums suggest removing that dll to get rid of the error.
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
;C:Program Filespstoeditdrvmagick.dll to the environment variables panel too..
at this point.. Im lost as to how to fix this error.. :) I didnt even get to the point of the MSVCR100.dll error message yet..
[/quote]
";C:Program Filespstoeditdrvmagick.dll" is incorrect. It should be only ";C:Program Filespstoedit".
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
'C:Program' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Problem during opening C:Program Filespstoeditdrvmagick.dll:The specified pro
cedure could not be found.
[/quote]
After installing Windows XP in VirtualBox I was able to test the script. I did encounter the "'C:Program' is not recognized" error. For some reason os.system() in python works differently in XP and 7 if called from a GUI. I had to create an intermediate batch file first (_tmp_gerber.bat) with the gerbv and pstoedit commands, and then run the batch file. I updated the script in the previous post with the required changes. I didn't encounter the second problem but I got a MSVCR100.dll not found error. After installing the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package (X86) the MSVCR100.dll not found error was resolved.
Also, added double quotes to all files and fixed a bug while selecting the output file.
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
I did find out (last part of my previous post), that I cold NOT have a space int he file name (using a random gerber file "I" didnt create or name as a test).. found out fixing the space also fixed the error of not getting a.pdf created..etc..
[/quote]
Oops! I forgot to add some double quotes here and there to account for filenames with spaces. Here is the fixed script.
Edited: made some changes to g2g_gui.py so it runs also on Windows XP.
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
the gerber file you choose HAS to have the .g extension? not that I mind.. just curious.. I am having to go back and change the extension so the GUI will use the gerber I choose/pick..
[/quote]
Not really. Both the Gerber file and the output file can have any extension. You can always show all the files in the open file dialog box by typing "*.*" in the "File name:" field and pressing the Enter key. If you prefer you can change lines 180 and 185 or g2g_gui.py to allow for any extensions you would like. For example, you can change line 180 to:
input_filename=tkFileDialog.askopenfilename(title='Select paste mask Gerber file', filetypes=[('Gerber File', '*.g*'),("All files", "*.*")] )
In Altium and Traxmaker the Gerber file extensions start with 'g'. What program are you using? What is the default extension for the paste mask?
[quote author="xl97"]
also.. I am seeing this in the command window: (Im on Windows XP)
Problem during opening C:Program Filespstoeditdrvmagick.dll:The specified procedure could not be found.
[/quote]
Sorry, I don't have an XP computer available now. Something you can try is adding C:Program Filespstoedit to the path. Instructions are all over the net. For example:
http://http://geekswithblogs.net/renso/archive/2009/10/21/how-to-set-the-windows-path-in-windows-7.aspx
[quote author="xl97"]
here is my GUI settings by the way (again Im on Windows XP.. notice the no (x86) in the pathing..
[/quote]
To make sure you are cutting the right file, provide a full path for the output: Instead of just 'result.txt' use 'C:/gerber-files-to-cut/result.txt'.
[quote author="xl97"]
this will save me TONS of time and money is prototyping!!
[/quote]
:) I think the stencils are also adequate for small production runs. Even it the stencil breaks, they are so cheap and fast to cut... I have applied solder paste to four PCBs with the same stencil using a metal spatula. After cleaning the stencil with isopropyl alcohol, it still looks like new.
[quote author="xl97"]
I also am noticing.. I dont see a new .pdf file being created .. hmmm......
[/quote]
The temporary files used by gerber2graphtec (_tmp_gerber.pdf and _tmp_gerber.pic) are created in the current active folder. For g2g_gui.py they should be in the folder where the script is installed.
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
Wow, a gui front end -- I can't test it yet, as the cameo is at the office, but that's frickin-awesome. Thanks!
It seems to only want to open .txt files, but it's easy enough for me to change xyz.spt to xyz.spt.txt.
gil[/quote]
No problem. After just a few weeks I already forgot how to do the whole thing with gerber2graphtec and I had to check my own instructions in this thread. Hopefully this simple GUI will help with that in the future. I used the .txt extension for consistency with earlier posts. You can use any default extension(s) you want by changing line 185 in g2g_gui.py.
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
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Select a Gerber solder mask file, select an output file, make sure the paths for gerbv and pstoedit and the shared name of your Silhouette cutter are correct. Change the options as desired and click 'Create Graphtec File'. To send the newly created file to the cutter click 'Send Graphtec File to Silhouette Cutter' and hopefully you'll end with a good stencil.
Edited: Get the latest g2g_gui.py from here:
http://http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=5341&start=90#p52539
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
Jesus had his files all in one place, but I put g2g in a subfolder, shortened the name, and wrote a little batch file so I could just double-click it and type in the filename of the gerber (plus remind myself to set blade depth etc).
gil[/quote]
Python supports open/save file pop-up windows! I added that functionality to the attached modified version of gerber2graphtec.py. I wonder if dialog boxes can be also added for the different options?
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Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
thank you for your reply, i finally got some transparency´s and already tested it :). The G2G is really working with FANTASTIC results... I used the "improved" optimize.py file from this thread here.
Here are some pics from the first test:
Tobias[/quote]
Tobias, your stencil cuts have excellent corners. What kind of transparency (brand/type) are you using?
Jesus
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Tools of the trade / Re: Cutting mylar stencils with a silohuette cameo
I solved my recent problem with the Cameo (see ~2 pages backwards), not cutting every area of the stencil correctly.
I did so, by modifying the optimize.py of the gerber2graphtec tool.
The tool by default adds *plenty* of "knife-positioning" cuts just outside the area of the stencil. This takes a lot of time, and also needs to move the cutting mat back and forth again and again. Somehow (??) my cutter messed up with that, and made the cuts not straight...
I modified the python code to just do a single "training" cut per cutting angle that is used in the file, and then do all cuts with this angle in a row. This needs the mat to be moved completely only once per angle.
I don't know, whether Peter (author of gerber2graphtec) added this by purpose or not (already contacted him), but for me it works reasonably faster and better without the zounds of training cuts in between.
Please find my modified version attached - maybe it is useful for some of you.
Cheers
Andre[/quote]
I just cut a test stencil using the modified version of "optimize.py" posted by Andre. The results are almost as good as with the original script file (except for very minor distortions). The advantage of the new script is how fast it produces a stencil. It took only 25 minutes compared to 1 hours 40 minutes before! Thanks Andre, I'll be using the modified script from now on.
(By the way Andre, check that the blue lever inside your Cameo is all the way up. It is the only thing I could think of it may have caused your original problem.)
Jesus