Recommended free cutting engraving software?

[roig12]

Hey Guys,

New here

I have a 50W CO2 laser on the way.

I will be cutting mostly 2-4mm acrylic (just simple squares) for my business (building boxes) and would like to have a super easy software that lets me draw rectangles and set their size in millimeters.
Do I need two softwares like in 3D printing? one for the design and one for setting the profile (material, thickness etc)?

Also, for the fun of it, I would like to know how to engrave on acrylic.
Is there a software that prepares photos for that? like turning them black and white, changing the contrast or something like that? I think I saw something like that in my google searches...

Also, will I know easily how to let the machine know what to cut and what to engrave if I just design some simple text? for example engrave the text and then cut a rectangle around it.


Thanks

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[engraving_hub]

Your new laser will come with software, it should be easy to use. It will engrave a b&w jpg.


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[roig12]

Oh awesome, thanks alot

[Blackened]

If it's the type of laser that interprets g-code, then the easiest way to cut different sizes of rectangles is to draw up and post process your first program in something like Fusion 360 (or whatever comes with your machine). Then once you have the bones of the program, simply edit the gcode to the size you are after. A rectangle, even with corner radii would be child's play to modify.

[cinematic2]

...8W laser can cut 8 mm of dark acrylic and wood / plywood with several passes.

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