Reduce cutting and engraving time

[Tim Baude]

Hello everyone,
I am trying to cut and engrave the attached file out of 1/4" wood. Wording engraved, all else cut. The outside edge is a used edge, so no cutting. I had to draw each line separate to make the shapes, however by doing this, the cutting is not all at once....it jumps from spot to spot. Even with the color mapping. Any suggestions? 2 pages on attachment.
Thank you
Tim
179889

[Richard Rumancik]

Tim, I think you need to use the "Combine" command. Select the parts that you would like cut in a contiguous path, then click Arrange -> combine.

Oh - just noticed you had some parts grouped - it must be ungrouped first before you combine.

[Mike Lassiter]

See if this will help you. I combined and joined the lines and sorted them. They are all grouped together in object "Sorted Cutlines" I changed the color to black on all cut lines and deleted layer 2. I use red typically for vector cutting, but you already had red lettering which would raster. Anyway I sorted the vector lines in an order that made sense to me. I do not let the laser driver sort as I find it will wander around much more on complicated files if left to decide for itself.

[Tim Baude]

Thanks....I will try these out as soon as I get back from Disney....head out for 9 days. Fly out at 6 am tomorrow.
Tim

[Michael Hunter]

Ungroup the parts if they have been grouped.
Select all the lines for one part, then use the "Close Path"/"Closest points with straight lines" command under the Arrange menu.
For the ones on the edges, close the path and then break it at the outside corner and delete the nodes that form the outside lines.

The parts should then cut completely before it moves on to the next one.