HP-GL demo

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rabtrfld
Newbie Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:06 pm

HP-GL demo

Post by rabtrfld » Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:26 pm

Need HP-GL editor for laser marking. Laser still running MS-DOS program! So need to create and edit HPGL at different workstation.
QCAD/CAM demo mode only seems to export a useless 68-byte .PLT file.
Am I doing something wrong, or is this a demo limitation?
I'm ready to pay as soon as I see evidence that it will work.

The DXF is OK, a free online DXF-to-HPGL converter made a file that works with the laser. But we still need to edit the file.

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andrew
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Posts: 9037
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:07 am

Re: HP-GL demo

Post by andrew » Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:55 pm

The HP/GL post processor of QCAD/CAM only exports toolpaths. I.e. you'd have to create toolpaths first:
https://qcad.org/en/tutorial-qcad-cam#C ... e_Toolpath

Alternatively, you could use the legacy export which just exports everything (no tool radius compensation, etc.):
CAM > CAM Legacy Export
Configuration: HPGL

rabtrfld
Newbie Member
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:06 pm

Re: HP-GL demo

Post by rabtrfld » Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:28 pm

Thanks. "Legacy Export" does what I want (HP-GL text output for laser engraver). So I paid up for the full version.
If I had to "generate toolpaths" for the text, I can't find any way to do this, but at least the "legacy" method works.
Now I just need to control the number of decimal places. My laser only reads integers. But I will post another thread for that.
Thanks again.

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