File Preparation

Laser Functions

The laser cutters perform three main functions.

Cut the laser beam travels along a path burning through the full depth of a material.

Engrave the laser beam travels along a path burning through the surface layers of a material, creating a superficial mark. Engraves range between 15 -40% of the full depth of a material

Engraving is suitable for:

• Fold or Score Lines

• Guidelines

• Outlines (eg. streets and footprints on a site model)

• Outlines - text

Etch A concentrated laser beam travels across an area, burning through the surface layers creating a recessed area. Etching is much shallower than engraving.

Etching is a very time-consuming process and should be substituted with engraving wherever possible.

Creating / Modifying a Document for Laser Cutting

All files for dFab's laser cutters must be created in / exported to the Adobe Illustrator .Ai format. This ensures accessibility for all students regardless of their CAD proficiency. Adobe Illustrator is preloaded onto all dFab laser PC's

Artboard Size & Colour Mode

New Document

Artboard Size

Set the Units to Millimeters and make the Artboard either;

• the size of the laser cutter bed (Lasers 1&2: 800x500mm, Lasers 4-7: 1000x700mm)

or

• your sheet size (recommended to ensure laser does not fire directly into vector tray)

Colour Mode

Select Advanced Options and set the Colour Mode to RGB Colour

Existing Document

Artboard Size

Select the Artboard Tool(Shift+O) and modify the size of your artboard to either;

• the size of the laser cutter bed (Lasers 1&2: 800x500mm, Lasers 4-7: 1000x700mm)

  or

• your sheet size.

Colour Mode

1. Change File Colour Mode to RGB

   File -> Document Colour Mode -> RGB Colour

2. Convert all existing paths and objects to RGB

Highlight your Artwork Ctrl+A / Cmd+A and select the Paint Pallette, click more options and check that all elements in the Artwork are RGB.

If the option for RGB is greyed out, you must open a NEW document, set the Colour Mode to RGB Colour and then copy your artwork across to the new document.

Assigning Laser Functions

The laser cutters only recognise a limited range of colour and stroke values. Any deviation from these values will result in unexpected or undesirable machine behaviour including but not limited to

• Material not fully cutting through

• Damage to the laser optics

• Laser cutter not initiating a job

Function	Stroke Colour	Stroke Weight	Fill Colour
Cut	R: 255 G: 0 B: 0	0.01mm	No Fill
Internal Cut	R: 0 G: 255 B: 0	0.01mm	No Fill
Engrave	R: 0 G: 0 B: 255	0l01mm	No Fill
Etch	No Stroke	No Stroke	R: 0 G: 0 B: 0

All objects within the illustrator document must be vectors. Any images must either be converted to vectorised versions or alternatively etched using a raster method. This method is not included in Level 1 : Laser Training.

Ensuring files will cut correctly

The following should NOT be present in any laser cutting file;

Groups

Clipping Masks

Dashed or Dotted Paths

Superimposed, double or duplicate paths

Artwork exceeding the artboard area

Type Objects

Incorrect Colours

Incorrect Strokeweights

These elements can interfere with the print driver and result in unsuccessful and unexpected results.

We recommend reviewing the File Preparation Checklist before laser cutting.

If you are unsure if your file has been created correctly, ask a dFab staff member to review your work. The majority of laser cutting issues originate from incorrect file setup.