Lasercut 5.0 & coreldraw problems

[durtydogg]

I have lasercut 5.0 & have loaded into coreldraw. Everything seems to work except when I do text. Whenever I do text it appears distorted, almost as if it is double engraved text.Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it? also bitmaps do not seem to work either..have to import into lasercut as well

[sdgalloway]

If you do not get a solution contact me off line. sgalloways@swbell.net

[SkipW]

Originally Posted by durtydogg I have lasercut 5.0 & have loaded into coreldraw. Everything seems to work except when I do text. Whenever I do text it appears distorted, almost as if it is double engraved text.Has anyone else had this problem or know how to fix it? also bitmaps do not seem to work either..have to import into lasercut as well

I've found I get better results if I don't even try to use the Corel controls for running the laser. It's a extra step, but anything I want to vector cut is saved as an .ai file in Corel, then I import it into LC5. Same with engraving text. I convert it into a bitmap in Corel and import it into LC5. Perfect results.

Where you trying to vector cut letters or were you trying to engrave text?

[dmeyer]

When you do lettering in CorelDraw you must first convert lettering to curves and export this as a DXF file. Also some software has a hard time converting multiple rows of words and I found that I must do wording one line at a time.

[Pilon_1]

I have been using Corel Draw for many years now in the sign making field. With my plotter I have to convert text to curves, reduce nodes, and groupe lines together. Sence I have been using later versions of Corel, especialy 13, work must be free of outlines or it distorts or double cut.

[dmeyer]

It seems that the odd versions 7, 9, 11 work better than the even versions when you clean up artwork. Sometimes I go back to 'ol reliable 7.0. I've never had a problem with this version. I too made signs and had to convert as a .cmx and open it in two other softwares before I could cut....whew. Some things have improved. We use Inventor, Solidworks etc... at my school but I still use Corel for simple artwork if possible.

[Pierke]

I use also Coreldraw for signmaking for many years. Its a great progr. If you want to export a text, then first you fill the tekst with a color (not using white color!), then convert to curves, then export, there is probably no more problems.
Pierke

[SkipW]

Since this thread was about LaserCut, I thought I'd post something that I just realized yesterday. If you type text in LaserCut, you can either vector cut it or engrave it, your choice.

I was probably the only one who didn't know this. I thought that since the text in LC5 always appears as vector outlines, you could only vector cut it, and to engrave text it had to be imported as a 1 bit bitmap from Corel or some other program. Silly me....

Any other LaserCut5 users have any tips and tricks to share?

[jmg]

So then.....how do you make it (LaserCut5) do either vector text or engraving text? Is it when you have to select whether it's going to be TrueFont or SHX when the dialog box pops up?

Also, on a similar yet different note, have you ever had a job where you had a vector dwg (like AutoCad) for cutting, but also wanted to include an engraving? (for example: cutting a part outline with maybe a few holes in it, plus an engraved photo). If so, do you mind sharing how?

One last question. If I want to engrave a photo on a piece of wood, how do I get rid of the outline (box made up of lines around the bitmap). I guess what I need is a way of "washing out the edge" of the photo.

Thanks,
jmg

[SkipW]

Originally Posted by jmg So then.....how do you make it (LaserCut5) do either vector text or engraving text? Is it when you have to select whether it's going to be TrueFont or SHX when the dialog box pops up? Also, on a similar yet different note, have you ever had a job where you had a vector dwg (like AutoCad) for cutting, but also wanted to include an engraving? (for example: cutting a part outline with maybe a few holes in it, plus an engraved photo). If so, do you mind sharing how? One last question. If I want to engrave a photo on a piece of wood, how do I get rid of the outline (box made up of lines around the bitmap). I guess what I need is a way of "washing out the edge" of the photo. Thanks, jmg

I'm using LaserCut 5.0 and not Corel with the print driver. To either vector cut or engrave text, select the text icon (A) and choose the text size and I always choose TTF, then type the text, then OK. If it looks like what you want, press and hold CNTRL then also press P. (or click the printer icon at the top). This opens the Laser Output window with the Layer tab selected. If you haven't assigned the text a different color, you'll see a black square. Double click it and the Set Work Mode window comes up. Choose Cut or Engrave and set the speed/power/(and scan gap if you chose engrave). Then click OK.

You can close the Laser Output window now if you want, and press CNTRL and hit B to simulate. If you chose engrave, it should fill the text. If you chose cut, it should show you the cut path.

I know what you mean about wanting to engrave an object, then cut it out. I haven't figured out a good way to import vector drawings and bitmaps all in one shot. Like when I make those small music boxes like is shown on the Epilog Sample Club site. I have to import the vectors to cut, then separately import and place the bitmaps. I give the bitmaps each a different color (select one and click a color from the bottom of LaserCut), then in the Laser Output window, you can move the colors up or down so you can engrave them in the order that you want. The top color engraves or cuts first, the second color is second... etc. (also, you can click on the colors to adjust speed and power and scan gap) I usually leave the vector cut lines black and put black as the last color, unless there are holes I want to cut out before it cuts out the perimeter, then I make the holes a different color and put them next to last on the color list. I believe though that the software is smart enough to do inside cuts before outside cuts, but I color the inside cuts and place them before the outside cuts just to be on the safe side.

I haven't had a problem with engraving anything and having it engrave a box around it. Maybe before you engrave a picture, can you open it in a photo editor and run an eraser around the edge and fade it like you mentioned?

One more thing, I have that LC6090 from WK Laser. I didn't like the laser going back to home all the time. I wanted it to stay where I left it when I shut it off. I went into the machine options and unchecked the Auto Datum check box. After I did that, I couldn't send files to the laser anymore. I guess there is a bug in the software that is maybe fixed in LC 5.1? I emailed WK about it and they told me to set the start speed to 8.0 instead of what it was (don't remember now...20.0 maybe?) and that fixed the problem.

So now when I import anything into LC, I tell it to Center To Table and it always puts stuff right in the middle of the LC screen on the computer. If you are just doing one piece that you want to vector cut and engrave something in the middle of it, The vector is centered and the imported bitmap is centered. And wherever I move the laser head on the laser, that's the center point of where it's going to start. I really like that "Test" feature on the laser also because after you send the file to the laser, you can hit test and easily check the material alignment. That's probably not the best or smartest way to do things, but it works for me right now doing one of's. If I was doing multiple items in a jig, I'd probably start from the home position.

HTH,
Skip

[jmg]

Hi Skip,

Firstly, let me say thank you for your in depth response!...it's much appreciated. (and it helped me out!)

I should have mentioned what I have: it's a Rabbit HX1290SE laser with LaserCut5.0. I also use CorelDraw12, and AutoCad 2004.

I've found that with AutoCad I can send vectors out to the laser through the LaserCut (LC from now on) driver in AutoCad. I can't send any text though.
Similarily with Corel I don't use it for drawing (mechanical items, for example drawing a gasket, or a flat bracket, etc.) so after much time (several days of trial and error) I now have a system for drawing using Corel/AutoCad and then sending it through LC to the laser. I haven't had any problems thus far except for the ones I asked you about. I got the one with the box around the photo resolved. Tomorrow (I'm too tired to keep going now) I'm going to try a combo vector plus engraving (raster) file. I think it can be done, however I'll know for sure once I put it to the test.

Somewhere here at cnczone, there is a terrific writeup (it might have even been you that wrote it) about understanding the "gap" number and how it affects the final product when engraving.

Thanks for the tip on centering the files, it's certainly a time saver.

Does your machine have a red laser for lining up the start point (origin) of your work?

jmg

[SkipW]

Hi jmg,

Glad to be of some help.

No, that wasn't me who so thoroughly described the scan gap. It was glintid, and for those who missed it, it's here in post #4. That really helped many of us, I think.

For a long time I used to type text in Corel, convert it to curves, then convert it to a bitmap, then import the .bmp into LC. It engraved great that way but it was like taking the long way to the shortcut.

I think I have version .01 beta of the red dot from WK. It's just a red diode mounted onto the side of the laser head tube at about a 45 degree angle, and it pivots. It works great when and if I use the 100mm lens that I have, because the nozzle is farther away from the work piece. Using the 50mm lens though, it's not mounted in an ideal location.

Yes, if you figure out how to import a vector and bitmap in one shot, please fill us in.

Take care,
Skip