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spacedocumentation:lasercutterinkscape

Using Inkscape with the Laser Cutters

It is no longer necessary to go through CorelDraw to get a drawing from Inkscape to the laser cutter. Thanks to Akai and Tony W. for the following procedure!

  1. Open Inkscape and create a new document that is the size of the laser bed (24“ x 18” for the 60w, 24“ x 18” for the 40w, and 16“ x 12” for the 30w)
  2. Under Stroke Style, set Width to 0.001in (or 0.025mm) for all of your lines.
  3. Make sure your line colors match one of the supported colors on the laser cutters (see wall chart on laser cutter room wall for the list). Look at the hex code at the bottom of the Stroke paint tab to verify.
  4. Save your document as a PDF, selecting 'restrict to PDF version' PDF 1.4, 'convert text to paths', and 'rasterize filter effects'.
  5. On the laser cutter PC, open the PDF using Adobe Reader.
  6. Print the document from Adobe Reader, setting the print properties per the Laser Cutter HOWTO.

Alternate System

Here is a different path that worked better for me - Lance

  1. In Inkscape, prepare your image (like above)
  2. Save your document as a PostScript Level 3 file.
  3. import the image into Corel Draw
  4. Follow the normal printing process through Corel (you may need to verify line widths)
spacedocumentation/lasercutterinkscape.txt · Last modified: 2017/06/14 00:57 by tony3