Laser cut an outline

Hi all
I have been playing with the 1600mw laser and one thing i have noticed is that i cant use it to trace an outline.
I mean that it will always cut across the chosen axis in lines rather than control both the X and Y axis to folow an outline. Am i missing something?

Cheers Hugh

I guess it depends on the image format you are using:

  • raster images (png, jpeg, bmp, etc) the “slicer” will try to reproduce the image, so it will ‘cut’ where it is black (or partially burn if doing grayscale)
  • SVG (vector images) - the laser will follow the paths on the svg (which you could think as the outline).

There are many ways to convert between formats.

What kind of image are you trying to engrave/cut?

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I’m trying to cut thin plastic to make a solder paste mask for a PCB. I think i can export the image as an SVG which will make a whole lot of difference i guess.
I will give it a go

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Well here it is. Pretty pleased with the results.

One home made PCB stencil ready to be used.

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Am I understanding correctly that, if we want the laser to follow the path of the shape rather than to just cut across the x or y axis, we need to use SVG for it to follow those shape paths? Seems simple enough.

Using vector with an svg is your best way. But if you take a png from the same svg file and use vector it will also cut along a path.

-S

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