VISOLATE(1)

📦 version 3.1.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💅 VISOLATE(1) — the manual, but make it cute

okay bestie, welcome to the General Commands Manual, page one and only: visolate. no cap, this is the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

visolate — a tool for engraving PCBs using CNCs 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

visolate [options] [file]

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so like, this manual page documents the visolate command briefly, which is giving "we're not gonna over-explain, we trust you" energy. 💅

Here's the tea: visolate reads the gerber files that describe printed circuit boards and converts them into the G-code (RS-274 code) you need to engrave that layout into a board using a CNC machine. 🔥

And it's not one-note either — you can get precise renditions of the original layout, or you can get voronoi fillings of the original layout, which shortens the toolpath. two looks, both iconic. 👑

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

a lil summary of options is included below, mwah.

  • -a, --auto — turns on auto-mode. when auto-mode is on, visolate will load the file you gave it, follow the usual steps (fix topology, generate toolpaths), save the toolpaths, and then exit. it's a whole "do it and dip" situation. ✨

this is primarily intended for use in scripts, iykyk — but be aware that visolate still needs a connected X display and a graphics card to do its calculations. yes bestie, even in script mode. it's still gonna need the whole setup. 😭

  • -absolute — use absolute coordinates instead of relative. and note: relative is the default, so this is the "switch it up" flag. 💫
  • -d, --dpi DPI — do all calculations with a resolution of the DPI parameter. precision, periodt. 🎀
  • -o, --outfile OUTFILE — set the default output location to OUTFIle. 🫶

this is particularly useful in combination with --auto. like, they're besties fr fr.

  • -x, --flip-x — flip the input file's X coordinates (reflect across the Y axis). mirror moment. 🪞
  • -y, --flip-y — flip the input file's Y coordinates (reflect across the X axis). the other mirror moment. 🪞
  • -h, --help — show summary of options. help a girl out. 🙈
  • -version — show version of program. ⭐

👑 AUTHOR 👑

visolate was written by Marsette Vona and Marcus Wolschon. legends, honestly. 💜

This manual page was written by chrysn <chrysn@fsfe.org>, for the Debian project (and may be used by others). shoutout to chrysn for the docs. 🎀

🌟 and that's the whole page, bestie — go engrave something gorgeous.

dated 2010-10-27, from the Debian project's copy of VISOLATE(1) — stay slay, stay engraved. 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from