can a 3d drawing in illustrator be imported into soldiworks

When creating your models in SOLIDWORKS at that place may be occasions when you desire to make use of a logo image in your design. For case you might want to accept your company logo engraved or embossed on your model, or create a 3D model of your logo for sales and marketing.

The challenge is converting a bitmap prototype file (could be a JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, or some other type of bitmap) into a vector file that you can generate sketch entities from and then create a solid or surface body.

In this example I'chiliad going to embrace a couple of methods I used to convert our corporate logo, a PNG image, into a 3D model.

Javelin logo converted into a 3D Model

Method #ane: Trace your bitmap in SOLIDWORKS

In a previous postal service we demonstrated the SOLIDWORKS Autotrace Add-in, which allows you to insert a bitmap picture into your sketch and so automatically trace over information technology to create your sketch entities. Hither is a quick summary of how to practise that:

1. Start a new role
2. Insert a new sketch on a plane i.e. front end plane
3. Insert a new sketch moving picture from Tools > Sketch Tools > Sketch Picture
4. Select your bitmap file, in this instance I'll select the Javelin logo PNG file

Import sketch motion picture

5. Then select F on the keyboard to fit the image into the brandish
6. In the Sketch Picture Property Manager select the correct arrow in the upper-right corner
7. Then under Trace Settings selection a selection tool, in this example I selected the Use to select colour (dropper icon) and and so selected the white groundwork of the paradigm
8. Select the Begin Trace push button and you'll see an outline of the paradigm as sketch entities
9. Use the sliders to adjust colour and recognition tolerance and repeat steps 7 and viii until yous are happy with the outline
10. And then select Apply

Autotrace Sketch

In this instance the results were not that nifty, you lot can see in the image below that the sketch outline has captured the basic form of the logo and the sketch is comprised of lines and splines. So some tidy up and aligning to the sketch is required.

Notation: You tin also apply the sketch trace over multiple passes if it makes sense, due east.thou. to capture the internal surface area of objects. Learn more near using AutoTrace effectively in this blog mail »

Traced outline

An alternative method that will likely produce better results is to catechumen your bitmap to a vector image.

Method #ii: Import your bitmap as a vector prototype

There are ii main vector formats that you lot tin import into SOLIDWORKS, these are:

• AI/Adobe Illustrator — in order to import/open an Illustrator file you actually need Illustrator installed on your machine!
• DWG/DWG — this is the Autodesk propriety file type associated with AutoCAD, and you don't need a license of AutoCAD or DraftSight to use information technology in SOLIDWORKS, and then I'll be using this type of vector file as an case

Stride A: Converting your bitmap to a DXF (vector) file

First matter to do is to convert your bitmap into a vector file, this can be done with an online converter tool. I typically use the Convertio website to convert bitmaps into DXF:

1. Go to Convertio.co
2. Select Choose Files
3. In the open up dialog select your bitmap file eastward.g. javelin-logo.PNG and option Open

Choose files to catechumen

4. For the to selection, you tin select CAD > DXF

Convert file to DXF

5. So selection Convert and the file will be generated after a few seconds
6. Selection the Download push to obtain the file

NOTE: it is ever a expert idea to run a virus browse on any unknown files you obtain from the cyberspace earlier you use information technology.

Step B: Import DXF into a SOLIDWORKS Sketch

Now that yous accept your logo vector DXF file you can now import information technology directly into SOLIDWORKS. This is a unproblematic footstep as SOLIDWORKS has a wizard for importing DWG/DXF data:

1. Select File > Open up and choose your DXF file (you might need to filter the file type to select it)
2. In the DWG/DXF Import Magician dialog:
   • Select import to a new part equally 2d sketch
   • And uncheck the Import equally reference choice
3. Select Finish (to skip the next wizard stride)

Import DXF

The DXF will now be imported into a Sketch, and every bit y'all tin see in the example beneath there are more reference points and a better representation of the logo bitmap file than using the Autotrace:

Imported DXF sketch

Step C: Clean up your SOLIDWORKS logo sketch

Depending on how you lot are going to utilize the SOLIDWORKS logo sketch some cleanup might be required, in this example I've extruded the sketch to produce a model and you tin see that the curves of the letters are comprised of smaller curves and points rather than single curves. This ways I take additional faces than required.

DXF 3D Model

To solve this I just edit the sketch, delete the curves, and apply a spline using the reference points. Then colour the model and the pattern is complete:

Javelin SOLIDWORKS Logo Completed

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Source: https://www.javelin-tech.com/blog/2020/09/converting-a-logo-bitmap-image-file-into-a-vector-sketch-for-solidworks/

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