Design tips for laser cutting

Before you start: what the file should look like

Before even getting into the details of the drawing, there are some requirements that the file must meet in order to be worked on correctly.

  • Accepted formats: DXF, DWG, AI, SVG, EPS, PDF.
  • Unit: millimeters, at a 1:1 scale. A scaled drawing will be cut to the size it was saved at.
  • colors: è il colore a determinare la lavorazione, e i valori vanno in RGB, non in CMYK. Il blu 0, 0, 255 taglia; il magenta 255, 0, 255, il verde 0, 255, 0 e il rosso 255, 0, 0 incidono rispettivamente leggero, medio e profondo; i grigi, dal 230, 230, 230 al nero, incidono a riempimento.
  • Line thickness: Vector cutting and engraving lines must be set to hairlines (0.01 mm). A thicker line is interpreted as an engraving area, not a cutting line.
  • Texts: should always be converted to paths before exporting. A font that is not converted will not be interpreted correctly.
  • Images: vengono lavorati solo i vettori, le immagini in .jpg, .png, .bmp e simili sono ignorate. Per usarne una va ricalcata in vettoriale, e ogni software ha un comando che lo fa: come usarlo è nella guida del tuo.
  • Construction lines: removes support layers, dimensions, references and anything that should not be cut or engraved.

In our guides and templates You can find step-by-step instructions for the software you use: AutoCad and DraftSight, Adobe Illustrator, Rhinoceros, Inkscape, CorelDraw, Affinity Designer, Canva e Autodesk Fusion.

How our templates work

I nostri template sono in millimetri e in scala 1:1, uno per ogni formato standard e uno per ogni software. Sono la tavola su cui disegnare: aprire quello del formato che ti interessa è il modo più rapido per vedere quanto spazio hai davvero e con quali proporzioni, senza impostare nulla a mano.

Ogni template è segnato da due perimetri arancioni. Quello esterno è il formato effettivo della lastra, quello interno è l’area utilizzabile: tutti gli elementi, tagli e incisioni, devono stare dentro il perimetro più piccolo. Sul P1, per esempio, la lastra misura 191 × 191 mm e l’area utile 181 × 181 mm, con 5 mm di margine per lato.

Le linee arancioni sono RGB 246, 146, 30, un colore che il nostro sistema ignora: non entrano nel calcolo del preventivo e il laser non le esegue. Servono da riferimento e a confermare che il file è in scala, quindi non vanno cancellate prima del caricamento. Nei template il livello che le contiene è bloccato, e il suo nome cambia da software a software: lo trovi nella guida del tuo.

Nei template per AutoCAD, DraftSight e Rhinoceros anche i layer di lavorazione sono già pronti, con i colori e gli spessori giusti: disegni sul layer corrispondente alla lavorazione che vuoi e non devi impostare nient’altro.

The prototype

It is not easy to create the perfect product on the first shot. Usually you need a prototype or two to get an object as you wish.

This means it's best to start small. You may want to focus on the most important elements and try to make them before manufacturing your entire project. This is especially true if you plan on using dovetail joints for your object.

A good compromise is to make the prototype in an inexpensive material, such as vegetable carton or the’MDF, of the same thickness as the final material: joints and tolerances behave in a very similar way.

After a couple of tries, you will have familiarized yourself with the design process and know how to design for laser cutting on different types of materials.

Print your drawing on paper!

Don't underestimate the benefits of good old paper! Print your drawing: you can think of it as a cheap and instant first prototype. It's the perfect way to spot sizing errors at a glance, see if, for example, you've drawn holes large enough, and get an overall picture of how your finished project will look.

To take full advantage of this trick, before printing, adjust the line thickness/weight in your file to match the laser's thickness (about 0.2 mm, refer to each material's data sheet). This will allow you to identify areas that are too small or too detailed to achieve a good result.

Remember to reset the lines to 0.01 mm before uploading the file.

Optimize the design and save

The price of laser cutting depends on the overall length of the lines to be cut, the material, and its thickness. The machine cuts different materials at different speeds: cutting thicker materials generally takes longer than cutting thinner ones. The laser is also faster at cutting straight lines than curved ones. In general, the more lines the design contains, the higher the production cost.

An excellent way to reduce your manufacturing costs is to share cutting lines. If you have two or more objects in your drawing with parallel lines, you can position them so that they are adjacent and remove one of the two lines that will overlap. This literally means cutting two pieces at once!

The second most effective intervention is to eliminate double lines: it often happens that a drawing contains perfectly overlapping paths, invisible on the screen but cut twice by the laser. You can find in our starter kit Tips on how to eliminate them:

When you choose to use the filling raster engraving, it is advisable that at the time of drawing the file you keep all the parts to be engraved as close as possible to each other. This is because to engrave fills the head of the laser cutting machine will still have to pass several times in the empty spaces between one incision and another. Placing the raster incisions here and there can therefore unnecessarily increase manufacturing time and cost.

Attention: Sharing cutting lines is only valid for non-metallic materials. In laser cutting of metals the lines must always remain separate.

Is it necessary to use polylines in the drawing?

The laser does not consider different lines and polylines. However, for curves, for a more precise cut, it is preferable to use Bezier curves whenever possible rather than polylines: a curve approximated by many straight segments produces a slightly faceted edge and lengthens cutting times. Both Corel Draw that Inkscape they work using bezier curves and not breaking up the arc into segments.

If you export to DXF from 3D software, always check the result: the conversion tends to transform curves into very dense polylines.

Formats and maximum dimensions

Through the site you order standard formats, which correspond to the template Downloadable: up to 800 x 800 mm. Not all materials are available in all sizes, so check availability for the format you're looking for. For pieces larger than this size, a separate quote will be required, as processing must be agreed upon along with the design cut and shipping.

  • P1: usable area 181 × 181 mm (plate 191 × 191 mm)
  • P2: usable area 384 × 384 mm (plate 394 × 394 mm)
  • P3: usable area 790 × 384 mm (plate 800 × 394 mm)
  • P4: usable area 790 × 790 mm (plate 800 × 800 mm)

We recommend that you check the availability of the material in the size you are looking for in the materials catalog and use the most suitable template among those available.

For larger format jobs, or for thicker materials more suitable for CNC milling, write to usLet's evaluate the best solution together.

How to obtain smooth and precise edges in the slabs of material

Il perimetro arancione esterno dei template è la dimensione della lastra che ricevi. Quella dimensione può variare leggermente, perché le macchine che sezionano il materiale in questi formati non sono accurate come il laser. Per la stessa ragione il bordo della lastra può non essere uniforme e non avere la rifinitura liscia che lascia il laser.

So if your outer edge of the plate is relevant to your project, if you want to be sure of the size and finish of the edges of the ordered material, we recommend that you draw a cut line all around the white area of ​​the template. This means that the material will be exactly the required size and will have the edges finished by laser cutting.

Avoid unnecessarily detailed parts

When cutting, the laser burns approximately 0.2 mm across the vector line. This means that if the cutting lines are drawn too close together, i.e., closer than 0.5 mm, depending on the material, that area could be completely burned away. Likewise, any gap smaller than 1 mm will definitely be brittle.

Likewise, parts that are too small, with a side less than 5 mm, can fall into the laser and be impossible to retrieve. If you need to cut very small elements, we recommend leaving tabs along the cutting line to ensure these pieces remain anchored to the sheet and not cut off completely. It's sufficient to break the cutting line by 0.5 or 0.7 mm, depending on the material and the geometry of the part.

Joints and tolerances

The 0.2 mm removed by the laser is also the reason why a slot designed exactly to the nominal measurement is loose. If you design a slot as wide as the declared material thickness, after cutting it will be about 0.2 mm wider and the part will have play.

Also keep in mind that the actual thickness of the panels has its own manufacturing tolerance: 3 mm plywood can measure 2.8 or 3.1 mm. Therefore, when the joints are a critical part of the project, it's always a good idea to first cut a small test piece with two or three different slots and choose the one that provides the desired fit before placing the full order.

Improves engraving results

The engraving options are so many that it can be hard to know which one will do for you. There's nothing better than running a prototype of at least a couple of options first, but we've tried to make all the material available to help you choose.

The basic distinction is between vector engraving, where the laser follows a line at reduced power and leaves a thin groove, and raster engraving, in which the head sweeps the area line by line and produces a fill. The first is fast and ideal for outlines, fine text, and graphic details; the second is slower and more expensive, but allows for solids, gradients, and logos.

L’incisione vettoriale ha tre livelli, leggero medio e profondo, che si impostano dal colore della linea e hanno tutti lo stesso tratto sottile: cambia l’intensità, non lo spessore.

La scala dei grigi dell’incisione raster

Nell’incisione raster la profondità dipende dal grigio del riempimento: il nero dà l’incisione più marcata, il grigio chiarissimo la più leggera, il bianco nessuna incisione. Qualsiasi grigio intermedio va bene, purché i tre valori RGB siano uguali. I tre livelli di riferimento sono 230, 230, 230 per la leggera, 128, 128, 128 per la media e 0, 0, 0 per la profonda.

La raster leggera è superficiale: altera il colore del materiale senza andare in profondità. I valori di profondità delle tre incisioni sono nella scheda “dettagli tecnici” di ogni materiale in catalog e non cambiano con lo spessore della lastra, salvo dove indicato nella scheda.

Usa riempimenti pieni a tinta piatta, non pattern né texture. Per ottenere un bordo netto attorno a un’area incisa a raster, combina il riempimento con una traccia di incisione vettoriale. Sui dettagli molto fini il risultato dipende dal materiale: se il dettaglio è critico, chiedici una prova prima della produzione.

Prima di scegliere

Assicurati di aver visto le foto d’incisione relative ad ogni materiale in catalog. If engraving is the main element of your project, also check out the engraving service. laser engraving and marking.

Burns and finishing

On some materials, especially wood, cardboard, and fabrics, the cut edge shows traces of burning. This is a characteristic of the process, not a defect: in materials catalog you will find photographs showing the actual result for each material.

If the project requires it, the marks can be softened by gently rubbing with sandpaper of the type most suitable for the material. Plastics, such as plexiglass or the PETG, do not suffer this type of burns and return a shiny and finished edge.

Other frequently asked questions

On the page FAQ You will find answers about the price of the laser cutting service, the maximum dimensions, the burns and the materials. If your project concerns metal or high thickness, consult the sections dedicated to metal laser cutting and to the CNC milling.

When the drawing is ready, upload it here to receive the quote.