Hmmm, where to start?
I removed the image because it looks like CNC art and we just can't display, copy or use that here without serious liabilities.
And I will be moving this to graphics issues - since it is not a viable request.
Having a billion lines is not necessarily an error, if the computer can handle it and the machine can cut it then that's how a lot of people do it.
My first thought is, doesn't torch mate have built in image tracing features? Does that not work as good or better than inkscape? At least by not crashing?
My second thought is, you could figure out all the same things drawing a rounded rectangle much easier than using a complex artistic image.
I don't use Inkscape or TorchMate, so I'm only vaguely familiar with either.
I know Inkscape exports DXF with splines, and apparently Torchmate converts splines into lots of line segments, like many CAM programs do. I know Torchmate has an import option called polyarcs that sounds like it ought to convert splines to arcs which should help but not sure what it does really. And it has a convert to curves command in the Arrange menu, which I assume should convert segments to arcs, but I don't know, and that won't help if you can't open the file....
I know there are inkscape DXF plugins like
better dxf export
and
better better dxf export
and
Big Blue Saw's DXF Export
but they appear to break the curves into line segments in place of splines (like torchmate), if they do better or produce fewer segments, I don't know.
my approach is to use V-carve pro to convert from EPS to DXF with arcs (instead of smal line segments) and that works great but it costs like $700, even though it is an excellent CNC program (for CNC routers) it is overkill for plasma cutters
apparently sheetcam will convert line segmented curves into arcs, for less than $200, but it doesn't handle splines correctly, so to use that with inkscape you'd need the Inkscape DXF plugins first, I guess.
or there are tracing programs that create DXF with arcs, but all the one's I've tried produce messy files that need too much clean up for my needs.
I suppose you may be able to export a few shapes (parts of the picture) at a time from inkscape, and torchmate should be able to handle the smaller files, then put them all together after cleaning them up....
ultimately you will have to experiment to figure out what works best for you, there is no single ideal solution that works for everybody
it will take a book to explain fully why DXF usually has splines and segments when arcs work better, maybe some day....
