Laser Machine DXF distortion

[laserartist81]

I work for a graphic tiling company, and we use a laser engraver to burn images and patterns into colored glass tiles, granite, and other ceramic tile types.

We don't use DXF for anything other than shape art and other patterns. But, for the patterns we have tried so far, most we got from istock, only a few work. We haven't been able to figure out why only a few patterns work, but the rest get distorted. With Seamless Wallpaper Patterns, I usually make the background a solid white vector, and hte shapes of the pattern seperate black shapes. I also merge overlapping shapes to get rid of invisible lines, just in case the laser machine might use them. I have followed the same steps we take for ones that do and don't work. Mainly, I edit the pattern or design in Illustrator CS3, in vector format, and save it as an EPS. Then I import it into CorelDraw X3 with a special Macro tiling tool our company uses. When I import the design, I always select "with curves", size it to the prefered sized, macro it, Save it as DXF.

It's a little more involved in somes steps I take, but the main thing is I am tryign to have all patterns work as DXF for faster lasering speeds. FOr now we do all patterns in JPG format, which is a bit slower.

[Huahahahahaha]

just try using ai format.
then import it to laser software.

btw what kind of laser machine do you use?

[laserartist81]

Im not sure if its a well known brand. But its a LTM 100 Plus.

As far as using AI format, I was told it doesn't work. We also can only use a macro in Corel draw that breaks the image into tiles, and saves them as JPG, BMP, or DXF.

[jemmyell]

Hi, try the DXFTool at Candcnc.com to see if it can improve your processing.

-James Leonard