Different recommendations for stroke width for cut lines

[Brett Cooper]

Hello Everyone,

I am new to the forum and to laser cutting in general and have something to ask that has been bothering me for a while about laser cutting and stroke line width for cut lines:

We are free to choose any vector graphic software we like (Inkscape, Gravit, AI, etc.) for the laser cutter. But every laser cutter is slightly different and comes with its proprietary control software which may have different requirements (I just got an old Full Spectrum, 40W, 20"x12" which comes with its proprietary control software called Retina Engrave).

The stroke width of the lines/shapes I create with Inkscape or AI seems to matter in terms of how the control software interprets the lines, either as cut lines or as engrave lines. But I am confused because some say that the stroke width for cut lines must be 1PT, others say 0.001PT, others say that the stroke width does not matter at all as long as the control software can see the lines and it will interpret them as a cut line. Other suggest hairline which seems to be a very very small stroke width, almost to small to be seen....

If the stroke is larger than a certain size (does that width depend on the control software?), will the line be interpreted as an engrave line to raster instead of cutting it? Or does the line stroke not matter at all? If so, why so many diverging opinions?

Thanks!

[Kev Williams]

If the stroke is larger than a certain size (does that width depend on the control software?), will the line be interpreted as an engrave line to raster instead of cutting it?
Yes and Yes...

Corel's "hairline" is it's basic 'low point' that *most* laser software determines to be a vector line as opposed to a to-be-rastered line. But I found out, just yesterday, that Corel allows for a .001" outline, which is actually thinner than 'hairline'! A customer sent me a Corel file for a cut project, and I noticed his lines were thinner than my hairlines!
on the left is a hairline width line, on the right is the .001" line that was in my customer's Corel file.
He had to have entered it manually as it's not an option, but Corel drew it as thin as a wireframe view line...
463322

I'm not familiar with other 'Corel' type programs, so I don't know those programs terminology to define a cut line width v a raster line width. But yes, it does matter to the laser and/or it's software!

[Brett Cooper]

Yes and Yes...

Corel's "hairline" is it's basic 'low point' that *most* laser software determines to be a vector line as opposed to a to-be-rastered line. But I found out, just yesterday, that Corel allows for a .001" outline, which is actually thinner than 'hairline'! A customer sent me a Corel file for a cut project, and I noticed his lines were thinner than my hairlines!
on the left is a hairline width line, on the right is the .001" line that was in my customer's Corel file.
He had to have entered it manually as it's not an option, but Corel drew it as thin as a wireframe view line...
463322

I'm not familiar with other 'Corel' type programs, so I don't know those programs terminology to define a cut line width v a raster line width. But yes, it does matter to the laser and/or it's software!

Thank you Kev Williams. Thanks for confirming that the line needs to be "small", hairline or smaller to be registered as cut lines. What laser cutter make/model do you have? Some laser cutters, I believe, don't even care about the thinness of the lines. Do you have experience with other laser cutters and their control software?

Also, isn't it hard to draw in Corel Draw with such small lines, visually?

[roger wiegand]

I use Illustrator, but I tend to draw with lines I can see easily and then go back at the end, select them all, and set the width to 0.001 pt. Or do it section by section in a more complicated pattern.

[Brett Cooper]

Thanks Roger Wiegand. What laser cutter model do you have? Is the 0.001pt width something arbitrary of something that your control software strictly requires?

[roger wiegand]

I use an Epilog Mini 24 that is at the museum where I'm a volunteer. I think the control software (a print driver in Epilog's case) interprets any value 0.01 pt or under as a vector cut and anything over that as a raster, those power and speed parameters being separately settable in the print dialog

[Kev Williams]

I have 2 Gravograph machines, a 40w LS900 and a 35w (47w actual) LS100, a GCC/Explorer 30w, all of which are 'metal' RF lasers,
and a big 1390 Chinese Triumph running an 80w RECI 'glass' DC laser...

The metal lasers all consider Corel's "hairline" the vector 'standard'. You can manually enter any value in Corel's outline function, but the machines seem to only receive the closest value entered to Corel's default line widths. These vary based on the dimensions used, and there's lots of dimensions available.

Points, inches and mm are the most common, and the next-larger-than-hairline values are
Points, .5pt
inches, .007",
mm, .1mm

Any of these sizes my machines will want to RASTER engrave them. And since Corel considers .001" thinner than hairline, I have no clue of the actual thickness hairline is! However, the thicker hairline may be only used for on-screen visual purposes.

It can be confusing. The best way for you find out what your machine considers raster thickness is to simply draw a short vertical line as .001" or .1mm or .1pt, (whichever you're using), and see if the machine vectors it or rasters it. If it vectors it, just keep adding to the thickness in small increments until it does raster it...then make note of it :)