# Can true 3d carvings be accomplished with Vcarve Pro and 2d image? **URL:** \ **Category:** X-Carve\ **Created:** [February 19, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088 "2018-02-19T16:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JosephSpenard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@JosephSpenard](https://community.inventables.com/u/JosephSpenard)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088/1 "2018-02-19T16:58:49Z")
I am trying to create a 3d carving with Vcarve Pro. I’ve seen numerous videos using GIMP, Blender, etc. to create greyscale images, but whenever I try to create a greyscale of this image it never seems to workout. Is there a step by step tutorial for the newbie that can show how to get good results or do I need a different software to achieve what I want? This is the image I am trying to carve. Thanks in advance. ![Quartermaster3](https://cdck-file-uploads-canada1.s3.dualstack.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/b/3/b37ca8f3a2540649c8c30b925afa0033bd42bca0.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![MarkA.Bachman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MarkA.Bachman](https://community.inventables.com/u/MarkA.Bachman)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088/2 "2018-02-19T17:23:55Z")
Search gray scale. I thinks a contributor (Jeremy maybe) has posted something related that looked very promising. ---
**Author:** ![JeremySimmons](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/user_avatar/community.inventables.com/jeremysimmons/32/68212_2.png) [@JeremySimmons](https://community.inventables.com/u/JeremySimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088/4 "2018-02-19T19:28:08Z")
@JosephSpenard You’ve just asked how to do CNCing… [http://www.vectric.com/support/intro-to-cnc/workflow.html](http://www.vectric.com/support/intro-to-cnc/workflow.html) I understand you specifically want to know how to go from image to a machined workpiece. Here are the specific steps. 1. start with a higher resolution image. here’s a good one.[http://web.vmc3.com/projects/bufs2016/branch/army/logos/bw%20275%20Quartermaster%20Corps.gif](http://web.vmc3.com/projects/bufs2016/branch/army/logos/bw%20275%20Quartermaster%20Corps.gif) 2. run the image through the app @PhilJohnson mentioned. [Releases · jeremysimmons/heightmap2stl-gui · GitHub](https://github.com/jeremysimmons/heightmap2stl-gui/releases) to produce an STL file if you like this software you can always 🍺[buy me a beer](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=jsimmons@jeremysimmons.net&lc=US&item_name=Donation+for+heightmap2stl-gui&no_note=0&cn=&curency_code=USD&amount=5.00&bn=PP-DonationsBF:btn_donateCC_LG.gif:NonHosted) 3. import the STL file into Vectric or another CAM software to produce toolpaths [VCarve〡Vectric](http://www.vectric.com/products/vcarve/process.htm) 4. carve your toolpath using your favorite g-code sender (Easel, UGS, cncJS) and X-carve The app makes assumptions that black represents a low-point in the model. ![quartermaster](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/6/7/67c3a0b2e105385a500d3e9eb2b335d3fc98fbc4.gif) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/8/7/874c9987ee80cfe6f217bb6fbd69c81be5cc0ff8.jpg) You’d want to invert the colors. ![quartermaster_inverted](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/8/8/88ec84a5729f093a45484d1830e68057b01256fa.gif) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/0/c/0ca9f26b709effd1ea4895a1d2ecc7d455407936.jpg) Which looks like this when you import into vcarve ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/uploads/inventables/original/3X/1/9/194d55042dc3c0c18f654a32defc0197499998e4.jpg) but honestly, that source file is terrible… you need to start from a better input. ---
**Author:** ![JosephSpenard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@JosephSpenard](https://community.inventables.com/u/JosephSpenard)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088/5 "2018-02-19T21:01:01Z")
Tried to run your heightmap program, but it could not be opened after extraction ---
**Author:** ![JeremySimmons](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex009/user_avatar/community.inventables.com/jeremysimmons/32/68212_2.png) [@JeremySimmons](https://community.inventables.com/u/JeremySimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://community.inventables.com/t/can-true-3d-carvings-be-accomplished-with-vcarve-pro-and-2d-image/51088/6 "2018-02-19T21:03:17Z")
@JosephSpenard what is the message you receive? can you send a screen-shot?