Laser script cut/hole/engrave/hole engrav

[parrenthorn]

Hi guys, im trying to find out exactly what the different options are in the software. Ive obviously worked out what cut does!!! but not so sure on the difference with hole??? and Whats grade engrave??? Can you please help me understand what the different options actually do. Ive been having issues with an area I want to engrave, but has text in the centre, which i want to be left, so in essence its box with text in, the box will be engraved and leave the text raised. Every time I try it though the box engraves and doesnt leave the raised text, so i though hole??? would solve the issues but its not.. Help guys, cheers

[Daven]

Hi.

Grade engrave is used to slope the edge of the engraved item - mainly used to support items like the dot over a letter i on a rubber stamp. I have seen it used decoratively on wood though.

Hole would be to cut a perforated line.

Bit new to LaserCut myself so not sure if there is a way of doing what you are trying in Lasercut itself - I would draw the text in paint or similar drawing package and import it

Best

Dave

[parrenthorn]

Cheers for the reply. Im trying to lasercut an illustration of an old tape. Its been done in illustrator, but I just cant get my head round it engraving sections out and leaving the text standing proud, as in not touched. Maybe i will try the text and engrave section on same layer as im all confused by it.. cheers. will let you know how I get on!

[Daven]

Are you using Corel to control the laser or doing it in Lasercut? What is the file type you are using?

If it raster then its black engrave, white doesn't so you may need to make the image a negative. If you want to post it up here or email me the image I'll have a look and post back the way I would do it

Best
Dave

[Spooky]

Hiya,

Add a second box on the same layer as the engraving to make the machine reverse the raised/valley items. Put the second box over the top of the cut out box. LaserCUT engraves anything inside the engrave layer until it hits another polyline on the same layer.

best wishes

Dave

[parrenthorn]

DAVEN, SO, are you saying that you can control the laser with corel??? and not just laserscript sofware as I thought it was only possible with laserscript. Would be cool if there was a plugin within illustrator to control it?? Spooky, ill have a go at what your saying and let you know.. cheers guys.

[Daven]

Maybe controlling the laser was the wrong term but yes you can send jobs from Corel to the laser from what I understand (I dont use Corel) here is a handy overview of it

Cheers
Dave

[Matrix]

Maybe i will try the text and engrave section on same layer

Yes, that's the way to do it. Items that are on separate layers are treated as if they are completely independent 'jobs'; so when each layer gets 'processed' it is totally unaware of what shapes you might have on the other layers.
Like Spooky says, if you have shapes 'nested' inside each other on the SAME layer, then the engraving is worked out automatically - the outermost shape is taken as the area to engrave, and any shapes inside that area are reversed out; shapes within the shapes within the shapes engrave, and so on...
You can check whether LaserCut has got it right by running the simulation mode - this will show you on screen exactly how the engraving is going to work (Tip: turn up the simulation speed first, otherwise the 'preview' can take ages to generate!).

[richardofswansea]

In contrast to Daven, I do use Coreldraw (Version X4) and don't use Lasercut (apart from the Coreldraw plugin) so I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of that software (and pretty new to Coreldraw to be honest).

The way it works in Coreldraw is that you create your design in Coreldraw, then click an icon in the top bar to launch a plug-in. The dialog boxes switch from Canadian English to Chinese English and I think the next bits are the same as if you'd done the whole design in Lasercut. Each colour in your original design is listed so you can sort them into the order you want them executed and give each colour the settings you want (ie cut, engrave, power, speed etc).

Using my setup I'd deal with the problem you're having (if I understand it correctly) by combining the vector drawing of the outline with the vector of the text. That would make the text reverse as you want it to. If you select the combined curve and give it a fill (temporarily) you can see how it's going to come out. I don't know if Illustrator works the same way as Coreldraw but expect it's similar (and that Spooky's solution will have the same effect).

I'm a bit confused by what people here mean when they refer to 'layers' in Laserscript. Is that the different colours that you can sort into order of execution and give differnt settings? Coreldraw has its own layers as well, which makes the terms confusing.

Richard

[PhillyDee]

Yes, the colours in LC are layers. Same as on CAD. It keeps the same layers as a dxf.