vpypetools

Deduplicate Plugin

Source: https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/deduplicate

pip3 install tqdm
pip3 install git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/deduplicate.git#egg=deduplicate

 

Filter

Filter paths according to specified criterion. When an option is provided (e.g. --min-length 10cm) the corresponding criterion is applied and paths which do not respect the criterion (e.g. a 9cm-long path) are rejected. If multiple options are provided, paths will be kept only if they respect every corresponding criterion (i.e. logical AND operator). See https://vpype.readthedocs.io/en/stable/reference.html#filter. Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

Similar extension to Filter By Length/Area

grafik.png grafik.png

Line Merging (Combine Paths)

Merge lines whose endings and starts overlap or are very close. By default, linemerge considers both directions of a stroke. If there is no additional start of a stroke within the provided tolerance, it also checks for ending points of strokes and uses them in reverse. You can use the --no-flip to disable this reversing behaviour and preserve the stroke direction from the input. By default, gaps of maximum 0.05mm are considered for merging.  Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

See https://vpype.readthedocs.io/en/stable/reference.html#linemerge

Similar extension to Chain Paths, Join Paths / Create Tabs And Dimples, Close Paths

Similar to default function "Path → Combine" (CTRL + K)

inverted function is Split All

Warning: Can mess your paths because it does not delete overlapping duplicate line segments!

grafik.png grafik.png

Draw some paths and attach the path node ends with each other

grafik.png

Run the extension and get the result

grafik.png

Line Sorting

grafik.png grafik.png

Example

Before conversion After conversion (showing the same lines sorted plus traveling lines + conversion statistics)

grafik.png

grafik.png

grafik.png

 

Multipass

Add multiple passes to each line. Each line is extended with a mirrored copy of itself, optionally multiple times. This is useful for pens that need several passes to ensure a good quality. See https://vpype.readthedocs.io/en/stable/reference.html#multipass.  Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

grafik.png grafik.png

Occult Plugin (Hidden / Superimposed Line Removal)

This plugin command removes lines hidden by polygons. It acts like a trimmer to receive a clean set of visible paths only. It does not remove common lines between opened paths, but for closed polygons. You need to install occult plugin for vpype. See vpypetools documentation.

It's a great helper for optimizing cutting jobs. It is really powerful in conjunction with Line Sorting. Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

Key phrases: remove overlapping lines, superimposed lines, remove duplicated lines, purge redundant lines, purge doubled lines, remove common edges, remove occulted lines, hidden line removal, retrace edges, chain paths, clean paths

This extension is similar (but superior) to 

Also have a look at Purge Duplicate Path Nodes if you only want to remove duplicate knot handles in a path.

grafik.png grafik.png

Troubleshooting / Upgrade extension

If the extension does not generate any output and you cannot explain why, please check if you have the latest version installed. Sometimes exceptions are hidden which show up when running from console instead.

Typical error like this:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "c:\users\tomate\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages\click_plugins\core.py", line 37, in decorator
    group.add_command(entry_point.load())
  File "c:\users\tomate\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages\pkg_resources\__init__.py", line 2450, in load
    return self.resolve()
  File "c:\users\tomate\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages\pkg_resources\__init__.py", line 2456, in resolve
    module = __import__(self.module_name, fromlist=['__name__'], level=0)
  File "c:\users\tomate\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages\occult\occult.py", line 7, in <module>
    import pygeos
  File "c:\users\tomate\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages\pygeos\__init__.py", line 1, in <module>
    from .lib import GEOSException  # NOQA
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing lib: Die angegebene Prozedur wurde nicht gefunden.

You can remove and reinstall the following way:

#failed
#pip3 install --upgrade git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/occult.git#egg=occult
 
#worked
pip3 uninstall git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/occult.git#egg=occult
pip3 install git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/occult.git#egg=occult

Simple example

Draw some rectangles

grafik.png

Layout edges above each other (simulate having common edges)

grafik.png

Run extension to remove common edges

Move the paths to some other directions to see how the edge removal was worked out

grafik.png

grafik.png

Relooping

Randomize the seam location of closed paths. When plotted, closed path may exhibit a visible mark at the seam, i.e. the location where the pen begins and ends the stroke. This command randomizes the seam location in order to help reduce visual effect of this in plots with regular patterns. Paths are considered closed when their beginning and end points are closer than some tolerance. See https://vpype.readthedocs.io/en/stable/reference.html#reloop. Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

grafik.png grafik.png

Split All

Split all paths into their constituent segments. This command may be used together with linemerge for cases such as densely-connected meshes where the latter cannot optimize well enough by itself. This command will filter out segments with identical end-points. Note that since some paths (especially curved ones) can be made of a large number of segments, this command may significantly increase the processing time of the pipeline.

The inverted function is Line Merging (Combine Paths)

Split All extension might be really slow on large documents. Maybe you can go get some coffee while it performs.

Create some paths

grafik.png

Run the extension

grafik.png

Get the result

We can move all lines separately now, like this:

grafik.png

Trimming

Trim the geometries by some margin. This command trims the geometries by the provided X and Y margins with respect to the current bounding box. Also check out vpype Free Mode which can do the same and more.

grafik.png grafik.png

Draw some paths

grafik.png

Run the extension and get result

grafik.png

vpype Free Mode

This extension mode for vpypetools allows to execute one up to five command sets in the given row. It works on the current selection of paths, or if nothing selected it applies to all paths in the document. You can do exactly the same like in Filter, Line Sorting and so on, but you are freely more versatile entering combinations as you like. Free Mode allows to enter different units, like "trim 1mm 3cm"

grafik.png grafik.png grafik.png

vpypetools Intro

grafik.png

About vpype and this extension

vpype is a command processor working with SVG files. It can do a lot of productive steps to optimize files for different purposes like pen plotting, laser cutting or the generation of creative artwork. vpype is really powerful and helps to extend Inkscape feature capability. vpype contains a lot of functionality which is included natively within Inkscape. The extension "vpype for Inkscape" does not deal with all features but with a set of important commands like linemerge, linesort, linesimplify, occult, etc. We can use it to shorten tool path lengths, remove hidden lines and so on.

vpype converts all elements into simple SVG elements like svg:line, svg:polyline and svg:polygon. They can be displayed properly in Inkscape, but they have no knot handles to edit (see https://alpha.inkscape.org/vectors/www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopicb51d.html?f=16&t=32562). We need to convert those elements to svg:path using key combination CTRL + SHIFT + C ("object to path"; do not use "stroke to path" because it will duplicate your outline with inset and outset contours). Our extension allows to do this conversion automatically.

Caveats of vpype

(Info) Source code → https://github.com/abey79/vpype

Preparations (Installation of vpype)

At first we need to install vpype and occult extension. It was tested successfully...

We use vpype 1.7 (2021-06-10)

vpype Changelog: https://vpype.readthedocs.io/en/stable/CHANGELOG.html

Linux / Windows Python modules

pip install vpype
#pip install git+https://github.com/abey79/vpype.git
 
#or by using pipx
pip uninstall vpype
pip install pipx
pipx ensurepath
# restart your shell
pipx install "vpype[all]"
 
#extra module occult
pip install git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/occult.git#egg=occult
#or
pip install vpype-occult
 
#extra module deduplicate
pip install git+https://github.com/LoicGoulefert/deduplicate.git#egg=deduplicate

Special inclusions and similarities to existing Inkscape extensions

Overview by docs

Feature exclusions

As mentioned vpype has a lot of features, but we do not need all of them. We decided to exclude or handle the following functions more strictly because a lot of stuff is integrated in Inkscape natively. You can try to use vpype Free Mode to use these.

category comments
Primitives 
arc, circle, ellipse, line, rect
Block control 
begin, end
Operation 
crop         # we use trim feature instead 
layout       #Inkscape:  CTRL + SHIFT + D 
pagesize     #Inkscape:  CTRL + SHIFT + D
reverse      #Inkscape:  Path > Reverse
Generators 
frame  #see "Bounding Box" extension
random

See Bounding Box
Block processors 
grid, repeat

Native functions inside Inkscape
Layers 
lcopy, ldelete, lmove

This is too generic to make use inside Inkscape
Input 
script

This is too generic to make use inside Inkscape
Transforms 
rotate, scale, scaleto, skew, translate

See  Scale To Path Length, Scale To Real, Scale To Size (Replaced by default transform scale) and native functions like path effects and transformations
Filters 
squiggles
Text 
text

See Hershey Text Alternative

Troubleshooting

Problem:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Roaming\inkscape\extensions\mightyscape-1.2\extensions\fablabchemnitz\vpypetools\vpypetools.py", line 17, in <module>
    import vpype_viewer
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\__init__.py", line 6, in <module>
    from .engine import *
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\engine.py", line 13, in <module>
    from ._painters import (
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\_painters.py", line 9, in <module>
    from ._utils import ColorType, load_program, load_texture_array
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\_utils.py", line 9, in <module>
    from PIL import Image
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PIL'

Solution:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Roaming\inkscape\extensions\mightyscape-1.2\extensions\fablabchemnitz\vpypetools\vpypetools.py", line 17, in <module>
    import vpype_viewer
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\__init__.py", line 6, in <module>
    from .engine import *
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\engine.py", line 13, in <module>
    from ._painters import (
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\_painters.py", line 9, in <module>
    from ._utils import ColorType, load_program, load_texture_array
  File "C:\Users\tomate\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\lib\site-packages\vpype_viewer\_utils.py", line 9, in <module>
    from PIL import Image
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PIL'