I would like to take a design made under DeltaCad, and get it cut into a brass plate. None of the local engravers can handle the job (they just do little plaques for sports trophies). The only local millwright does not have computer controlled cutting machines. The local signwriter can accept electronic designs, but only if they're in PrintShop Pro format, and they can't do engraving or etching, only silk screen.
My current plan is to send the design away to a company that can do computer controlled cutting, but I've still got the problem of file formats. Assuming that .DXF file would be a universal format, I saved a DeltaCad drawing as a DXF and reloaded back to DeltaCad to check the results. Sadly, the copy no longer matched the original. It seems that either DeltaCad does not process DXF correctly, or that the DXF standard does not cover fancy drawing attributes. The width of lines in the copy did not match the original, text was altered because the font information was lost and the orientation reverted to horizontal. Should I approach millwrights, engravers, or do I need specialists such as instrument makers? Is there a standard file format for controlling cutting machines? What is the conversion path required to get a DeltaCad drawing into that format? Steve
