Design help
Helping you design great CNC production files
The principles behind the design of computer files compatible with CNC production are very familiar to any signmaker.
If you cut vinyl lettering on your own equipment you already have the facilities to create CNC ready design files.
The rules to follow
These simple guidelines show you exactly how to create the files we need to
ru
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through our CNC systems.
- Line thickness need to be set to hairline or minimum
- Overlapping and intersecting lines need to be avoided.
- If you are exporting your file to a DXF format choose a low version of Autocad as your export standard- for some reason these work better.
- Don't apply fills of any kind
- Don't try to position your work onto a sheet sized layout- we use special software to maximise material use- you won't be able to match the results.
As you can see there are not many things you need to do. If you know how to create vector based files for your vinyl cutters you can send the same files for CNC production.
What you do if you don't have CAD or are not sure how to create the right file.
If you don't have CAD facilities we can create the right computer files for you. To do this we need some kind of accurate drawing- paper based of a PDF.
We take your general drawing and turn it into a suitably structured vector design.
If you aren't sure what you need to do in order to generate the right kind of
file the best course of action if for you to
contact us so we can give you specific guidance and
walk you through the steps you need to take.
If you have any of these sign design packages you do have the facilities needed to generate the right files.
- Corel Draw
- Adobe Illustrator
- Sign Lab
- Sign Wizard
- Easy Sign
- Flexi Sign
All these package are vector based design programs and are capable of generating the right file formats.
A quick note on material usage
As mentioned previously we use a special piece of software to mathematically calculate the best fit for all the component parts that need to be machined.
This makes best use of sheet material and allows us to keep wastage to the absolute minimum.
The image above shows the letters we need to cut. This is a manual layout and we now need to work out the most efficient use of sheet material.
After running the same file through our special panel optimisation software we can now be confident that the computer has positioned every letter in the "best fit" location. We use the least amount of material possible and you know you aren't paying for material waste.
When cutting panels it is important to bear in mind that unlike saw based cutting systems we don't go right up to the edges of sheet panels.
A border or shoulder is needed to stop the whole sheet sliding under cutting pressure. This is an inherent feature of CNC machining.
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