Creating files for laser cutting in Adobe Illustrator

Please ask a member of staff if you need help with this part of the process.

It is assumed that you have set up Adobe Illustrator ready for use.

1. Open a new document. Set the artboard size to match the size of the material you will be using. Try to use offcuts before you start cutting into a new sheet of material.
2. Set the measurement units. Change the ruler units to millimeters. This keeps the size of the design consistent with the bed size.
3. Draw or place the design. Draw new artwork directly in Illustrator, or copy and paste an existing file on the artboard.
4. Set stroke colours for each cut type. Assign one colour per cut type, we will use these later to “split by colour” in Epilog Dashboard. Make sure that the colours are all exactly the same – check the RGB numerical values in the colour swatch window.
   • Red stroke: through cut.
   • Blue stroke: score line, no through cut.
   • Black stroke or fill: raster engrave.
5. Set all cut and score lines to hairline width. Set the stroke width to 0.025 mm for every cut and score line. A thick stroke can cause a double pass or an inaccurate cut.
6. Remove fill colour from cut and score paths. Select each cut or score path, then set the fill to none. A filled path can cause the laser to attempt a raster engrave over the whole shape.
7. Check for duplicate lines. Select all, then check the Layers panel for overlapping paths. A duplicate line causes the laser to cut the same path twice.

Vector vs Raster

Vector artwork is built from mathematical paths, not pixels, so the laser can follow them as a continuous line. This is the only format suitable for cutting. Use the pen tool in illustrator, or build geometric shapes using the rectangle, circle, and line tools.

Raster artwork is pixel-based, so the laser can’t trace a line, it burns dot by dot. This means raster is fine for engraving but no good for cutting – convert anything you need cut into vector paths first using the Image Trace tool.