Eliminating randomness of engraving when using RDWorks v8

[Roger Lueck]

I'm using RDWorks v8 01.24

I know that grouping like objects together in a color group will cause the objects in that color group to be engraved together

What I would like to know:
How can objects be sequenced within a color group to reduce what appears to be random engraving/cutting which results in needless movement of the laser head and ultimately wasted time?

Thank You,
Roger

[Nick Hale]

Do you have independent output selected in the layer parameters? Try that if its unselected.

[John Lifer]

Edit Cut order. Near center of the icons at the top. But if it is a busy layout, that you are running once, I've found it takes me more time to do this than just let it run.

[Roger Lueck]

Nick and John,

Thank you for the replies. "Independent output" is not selected and I've used "Edit Cut Order" also, you are correct John, it can be very time consuming, especially for "one off" projects.

I was hoping there was something that could be done during the early stages of creating the image in CorelDraw or when groups are being used to keep "like kind" parts together that may cause cutting/engraving to be more efficient.

Thank You Again,
Roger

[John Noell]

You might look at Lightburn. It may or may not closer to what you want in ordering things, but it does a lot that RDWorks does not and has a nicer interface. The developer is very responsive and frequently adds new features on request.

[Doug Fisher]

>>I'm using RDWorks v8 01.24<<

You really ought to upgrade. Not too many new features but it seems they have worked on some bugs. 8.01.26 is the official release on the English language website but 8.01.29 is available on the Chinese language website.

One shortcoming of LightBurn at the moment is that it does not allow you to manually set/select the start/end point of a cut. I have found that the majority of the time with my files it selects a point on a curve versus in a corner which I don't understand. It should look for a corner first.

[Kev Williams]

You might check into vinyl cutting software-- since one of the objectives while cutting vinyl is to move the vinyl as little as possible, most vinyl software has a sort function. My 27 year old Casmate was designed for vinyl cutting, and to this day if I have many items to vector in the laser or engrave on a tool machine, I'll run the job thru Casmate to sort it. Takes a few seconds, then I just export it as a dxf to be used anywhere else. The only catch to the sorting is, if you have say, 40 squares by 40 squares, it will sort the first column of 40 squares, then move to the next-- BUT, the first column of squares can be sorted out of order- this is because they're in exactly the same place within the axis you're sorting, and it won't necessarily pick the closest square in the other axis-- The easy fix for this: rotate the entire job 1/2 degree, then sort. Doing that make every next box just a snick farther away in the axis, so then every square in the column will sort in order, then repeat. When sorting is complete, rotate minus 1/2 degree and your done..

Newer software may do this automatically, I don't know. And I have no idea what's out there as far as software brands- the important thing, aside from it must have a sort function, is to allow importing and exporting of files..

I have no idea why Corel has no specific sort function, especially since Corel KNOWS it's used by nearly everyone with a laser engraver in the western hemisphere... ?