Your laser should have some options to determine the order in which lines are cut but one way for you to control that is to put different cuts on separate layers on to turn the print of each layer on and off in the order you want.Ģ. While you can put everything on one layer here are some advantages to using layers.ġ. Most graphics programs allow you to create different layers and then to turn them off and on. The easiest way to do this it to put different parts of you design on different layers in a file. Several of the tricks I'm going to talk about require being able to print only part of a file or design at a time. Then I can see if I need to increase or decrease the power before I run the final cut. I create a small circle or square (about 1/4" or 1/2" wide) and cut out in corner or on some scrap material. Nothing is worse than taking the material out of the laser and finding that it didn't cut all the way through.
#Hidden flowers stephanie etching full
Test cuts: Even when I have a preset for cutting a material I usually try to run a test cut in it before I run the full job. Be sure to name them something that makes sense so you can easily find them That way the next time you need to engrave on leather or cut 1/8" thick acrylic, you can just find the preset for that material. You should also be able to load these settings into your computer or laser and save them as presets. Presets: Your laser should have some suggested settings for cutting or engraving different materials and different thicknesses. I use this a lot if I'm engraving on leather. After running the engraving just peal the masking tape off. The masking tape won't decrease the power of the laser much (bump up the power a bit if you feel it needs it) and the masking tape will protect the material around the engraving from the smoke.
If you don't want that cover the surface with masking tape to protect it. Masking: If your going to engrave on something be aware that the smoke for the the engraving can stain the edges of the engraved surface. For several of my tricks you need your file to be a vector file for the trick to work.īefore we get to tips for cutting and engraving, lets start with some good ideas for preparing to cut or engrave. You can engrave with either vector or bitmap files. With the Epilog laser (and I'm assuming other ones) you can only cut with a vector file. This included digital photos, Adobe Photoshop files, JPGs etc. Bitmap files are collections of individual pixels.
These are created by programs like Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, AutoCAD and Corel. Vector files are mathematical formulas defining lines, circles etc. Note: For several of these tips it is important to understand the difference between Vector files and Bitmap files. I'm going to try to write in general terms so you can use what ever laser and program you want to. The laser I work with is an Epilog Helix and the program we use to run it is Corel Draw.
#Hidden flowers stephanie etching how to
As a result, I've learned a few tricks for how to set up jobs to get the best results, and in this Instructable I'm going to pass them on to you. My job is to take in customer's projects, set them up and run them on the laser. Hello, I'm Geordie and I currently work at ADX Portland running the Laser Cutter and Engraver.
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