File :-(, x, )
Anonymous delivers! Anonymous
A short while ago (in a thread now deleted), someone requested the outline version of this image converted into either an obscure file format or the slightly less obscure HPGL format. He wanted it for engraving onto a zippo.

Well, anonymous is all powerful and sometimes beneficent. Anonymous has generated an HPGL of the outline paths of this image. The attached image is the HPGL converted into a png so anonymous knows it worked.

Now, while anonymous is all knowing and all powerful, he does not know if the requester still wants the HPGL file, and if so, where he wants it uploaded.

Also, anonymous believes internets were promised. When can anonymous expect delivery?
>> Anonymous
This would make a bitchin' tatoo. Sauce?
>> Anonymous
Vagrant Story. a fantastic action RPG deal back on the ol' PSX.
>> Anonymous
>>74059

I thought it looked familiar. I just couldn't place it.

Many thanks, anonymous.
>> Anonymous
Anonymous is still waiting for the original requester to tell him where he can upload the HPGL file of this outline for the requester's engraver friend.
>> Anonymous
>>74064
Anonymous is shocked beyond words! I'm coming to your house to deliver a truck full of internets!
Sorry if i made you wait, almighty anonymous... I was working! upload it wherever you want: Megaupload, Rapidshare,Torrent,Yousendit... It's all good! many Thanks again, Mr.A!
>> Anonymous
req .AI
kthxbye
>> Anonymous
>>74124

The HPGL is in a zip file at:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V0ZUAE67

Let us know if the HPGL file works for you. It's rotated 90 degrees, and probably mirrored, but your engraver friend should be able to deal with the rotation (just rotate the zippo before engraving), and the mirroring shouldn't matter on this image.

Also, you now have a moral, ethical, even biblical obligation to scan or photograph the engraved zippo in high res and post it here.

Finally, anonymous is still of the opinion that an acid etch of the image would look much better.
>> Anonymous
can i have a Plt file of this? Thankies!
>> Anonymous
>Also, you now have a moral, ethical, even biblical obligation to scan or photograph the engraved zippo in high res and post it here.

QFT
>> Anonymous
>>74185
Just came back from the engraver... Without engraving!!! Anonymous was so mad at the old engraving software! he didn't recognize the HPGL file. He then changed the extension to PLT, which was promptly recognized... but the software crashed saying "Wrong HP-GL plotter version" or something similar... The glorious anonymous made an HPGL or an HPGL/2 file? BTW, if i use any plt viewer the image shows up just fine.
>> Anonymous
Any engraver worth his shit should have been able to vectorize that image on his own. And any shop which is still using machines that don't import or run directly from modern standard file formats needs to upgrade ot shut down.
>> Anonymous
>>74366
Surprisingly, people don't actualy need competence to make money.
>> Anonymous
>>74392

Granted, but frustrating. When I was engraving if I couldn't convert every obscure format brought to me into something the equipment could use, I couldn't get through my day. And if I couldn't vectorize bad art I'd have lost a whole lot of business and disappointed lots of people.

The engraver friend, do you happen to know the machine he was using and what software he had to run it? Don't know that I can offer any help without having used the equipment in question, but it would be interesting to know.

Also, as someone mentioned, acid etching would look better. Or sandblasting. Or using a laser with a compound called Cermark. Drag etching would be my last choice. Check around your other local shops. If you supply the lighter and the art it shouldn't be too horribly expensive. Especially if you find a hobbyist who doesn't actually know how to price to stay in business.
>> Anonymous
>>74352

> The glorious anonymous made an HPGL or an HPGL/2 file?

I have no idea why your engraver friend was having such difficulty. It's plain old generic HPGL. In fact, it's not even particularly intelligent or crafty HPGL; just a whole lot of short straight lines. Take a look at it in a standard text editor. Here's the first few lines:

IN;SP 1;RO 90;
PU 0,0;
SP 1;
PU 4541,4458;
PD 4563,4446;

Translated into human, this means:
INitialize; Select Pen 1; ROtate coordinates 90 degrees;
Pen Up and move to the origin (0,0);
>> Anonymous
>>74339

> can i have a Plt file of this? Thankies!

Just change the extension from .hpgl to .plt.

That will be one internet, please.
>> Anonymous
>>74352

I think I might have figured this out for you. At the beginning of just about every .plt file, before the HPGL code starts, there are usually a whole string of ESC sequence codes used to tell the plotter to wake the hell up, use hardware or software flow control etc, and set up a bunch of other parameters before starting on the plot data. These codes are sometimes very plotter specific. That's is why I used the .hpgl extension; the file I generated contains only HPGL code and no plotter specific control codes.

HOWEVER, it is very possible that the fools who designed the engraver software your friend uses intended for it to emulate a specific model of plotter. As such, it expects to see the ESC control codes specific to that emulated plotter at the beginning of every .plt file your send it. If it doesn't get them, it rejects the plot file as being for the "Wrong HP-GL plotter version", even though it contains valid HPGL data.

Again, try examining a .plt file that actually works. See if there are any ESC characters and other junk in it before the actual HPGL code starts. If there are, try copying them into the begining of the HPGL file I sent you.

Also, were you trying to engrave directly off the HPGL file I generated? That probably won't work because it is scaled for a letter sized sheet of paper. The data in it will need to be scaled and rotated to fit on your zippo before it can be engraved.
>> Anonymous
You guys make /hr/ awesome.

>Granted, but frustrating.

I hear ya.
>> Anonymous
Here's another question for the person who wants to engrave this onto his zippo:

Is the final engraved image going to be just on the lower body of the zippo? Or is it going to be as large as possible, and therefore span between the zippo body and the lid?

If it's going to be partially on the lid, then your friend will need to have a very good engraver. Otherwise, everytime it drags its tool across the gap between the zippo body and the lid, the tool point will catch in the gap and track along it for a short distance (especially on oblique paths). This will distort the final image, and might just mess up your friend's engraver.

There are was to compensate for this, such as modifying the plot data to do the image in two separate sections, with a Pen Up and Pen Down every time the engraver crosses the lid / body gap, but your engraver friend will _really_ need to know what he's doing.
>> Anonymous
this will probably need to be done with a laser engraver...
there isn't a track to run for a hand or machine operated engraver.
>> Anonymous
>>74542

> this will probably need to be done with a laser engraver...

Or with an acid etch, or sandblasting, or whatever. There are a dozen ways to do this thing properly. We've already been over that.

The problem is, the original requester doesn't have a laser system, or a sand blaster, or etc. (he could easily get the materials to do an acid etch, but that's already been covered as well).

All he has is a friend. His friend has an engraver of indeterminate design, and apparently no clue about how to actually use the thing.
>> Anonymous
>>74525

The former engraver here. Never had that problem. Tape the lid shut nice and secure and use either a spring loaded collet or a spring bit. This keeps the pressure nice and even, and the little nitch shouldn't interupt the path.

If the guy can't covert the file so it works, and he can't vectorize it to begin with, he'll never manage to split the artwork.
>> Anonymous
>>74581

I dunno. I'm looking closely at my current zippo for the first time right now, and I can't help but notice that they aren't making them to anything like the tolerances or quality that they used to.

The case is made of much thinner metal than my last zippo, the case sides aren't very flat, and the lid/door does not fit very closely to the body. According to my mic, the cover is a minimum of 0.029 of an inch wider than the body. That's almost a 32nd of an inch, and is a bit of a large step for even a spring bit to climb to travel from the body to the cover.

Granted, my current zippo is a cheap one, and I didn't have engraving it in mind when I bought it (I was more thinking about lighting fires with it). They may make higher quality lighters specifically for engraving or whatever. But for my lighter, that 32nd of an inch is more of a step than I'd want to climb with a cheap or decrepit engraver (which is what most "friend" engravers have).