How to engrave first then cut?

[Kim Vellore]

I have been using the Epilog driver and I could not find a easy way to engrave first then cut. I should be missing something obvious because why would anyone want to cut first, have the object move and then engrave. I have been getting around by making multiple layers and enabling one at a time but last night I made a mistake and messed up by cutting again
I am sure this has been asked in the forum but with such common words almost all the threads have these words.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Kim

[Gary Hair]

I don't know about the Epilog driver, but my GCC driver allows me to select speed, power, dpi and ppi per color. If I need to engrave then cut, I'll make them both a different color and put the cut at the top of the object manager. I always use red for cutting, consistency makes it easier to remember...

Gary

[Brian Robison]

Hi Kim,
You can combine which will raster and then cut or, like I do, just raster it first and then send it to the laser again to cut. When I combine I almost always forget to turn on the air assist.
Are you engraving using hairlines?

[Kim Vellore]

I am engraving with hair lines. I use Red for cutting, Black for engraving (cutting lightly) I want to engrave first then cut. The object placing works only for the same color objects. When I send a print job with 'combined' option it rasters first, then cuts then engraves. I want it to engrave and cut last.

Kim

[Stephen Beckham]

Kim,

Which version driver are you using (how old)? When in combined mode, my Epilog always rasters first then follows up with the engraving. I've never had it cut first unless chose in Vector Mode only.

Steve

[Mike Null]

Both my old ULS and my Trotec allow me to use a black raster color and a red cut color without doing anything else to the settings.

I have Corel set to make red outlines and black fills so it's pretty much a no brainer.

[Brian Robison]

OK, you should be able to do that by setting up your layers. Object Manager, add a layer, Red layers on top, black on bottom. I'm not sure about the vector sorting in the driver.

[Howard Garner]

I am engraving with hair lines. I use Red for cutting, Black for engraving (cutting lightly) I want to engrave first then cut. The object placing works only for the same color objects. When I send a print job with 'combined' option it rasters first, then cuts then engraves. I want it to engrave and cut last.

Kim

Most are missing the point of what I think he is trying to do.
Three steps
Raster a design
Engrave with vector (mark but no not cut)
and then Cut with vector.

This may entail changing colors so the are processed in the order you desire.

Howard Garner
VersaLaser VL300

[Nancy Laird]

Both my old ULS and my Trotec allow me to use a black raster color and a red cut color without doing anything else to the settings.

I have Corel set to make red outlines and black fills so it's pretty much a no brainer.

Me too. I've never had a problem with cutting first.:confused:

Nancy (87 days)

[Kim Vellore]

Thanks Howard, I think my post was a little confusing between rastering and engraving.

Here is what I am trying to do

I am using Vectors only
My drawing has red lines to cut and black lines to engrave (Score lines)
I have been using different layers for both and printing them one at a time
I want to find a easier way to do that with only one print command.
The object properties help in defining which line gets printed first but works only within each color set. ie: it cuts all the Red first according to the list in the object properties and it scores all the black according to the list in the object properties.

The problem I have with this is after cutting I have a few cut parts floating around on top of the object and after cutting the part falls and is slightly disoriented. I have a lot of lines to engrave, so when it engraves after cutting the lines are missing at some points where cut pieces are on top of the part and at an angle to the part that has moved.
I am surprised no one has this as an issue.

The driver version I have is 6.01

Kim

[Eric Allen]

Why not just swap your colors? Use color mapping, make your vector engraving lines red and your cutting lines green? You'll have to change them in your drawing so they match, but that should be a simple matter. Just make sure you use RGB colors so the driver recognizes them properly. You can specify the speed and power for each. I use this frequently in testing parts, just ran all 6 that way today in vector. I use vector a lot, so I find this method very convenient.

[Stephen Beckham]

Kim - missed that one - sorry.

I'm in the same boat as Eric. When I recently did a job as you seem to be doing (traced an outline of a Dulcimer on 1/8" and then went back just a 1/6" larger to cut that shape out). It was vectoring in the reverse of what I wanted. It's got something to do with that vector sorting box. Can't figure that one out either.

What I did as a result was combined all my objects that were the same and then swapped the colors of the physical objects. I know there is an easier way, but I couldn't get them to swap in the print driver - so I changed the color of the objects. Backwards I'm sure - finished though!

Someone might have the easier way of swapping the colors in the color mapping window or explaining the Vector Sorting Box a bit better for you.

Good luck...

Steve

[Mike Null]

Kim

Does your driver offer the option of rastering a vector line; that is a hairline. Depending on your drawing rastering may be faster anyway and your machine might default to a raster/vector order.

[Nancy Laird]

Kim, I'm not sure that this will apply to your machine, but on the ULS, CorelDraw tells the laser to do the colors in order from the top down when you set print parameters - black, then red, then green, etc. If you are wanting to raster the black, set it to raster only, then if you have hairlines in red you want to raster, set them in red as raster only; then set your vector lines in green for vector only. That should solve the problem...I think.

Also, in the "advanced" tab, be sure to set it for "Enhance and Sort", and it will do them in order...or should.

Nancy (87 days)

[Darryl Hazen]

Kim,

It may be easier to change the size of the lines in the artwork than to assign different values in the driver. The Epilog driver will raster first and then cut next as long as the only cut lines are "hairline". Change any lines in the artwork that you do not want cut to something wider than hairline. I set my driver to "Combined" and Vector Sorting" and adjust the power settings accordingly. I do a lot of badges with these settings. The laser rasters all the artwork first and then cuts out all the badges last. To make it easier to setup the artwork I have the hairline color set to red in Corel. That makes it easy to spot them when you're working on the artwork. Hope this helps.

[James Stokes]

To do what you want you have to uncheck the sort vectors in your advanced driver box. Then it needs to be set up in object manager the way you want it to cut. It cuts from bottom up in object manager

[Gary Gilbert]

Does it go in the order of those listed in the driver? Red first, and so on?

[Larry Bratton]

I have been using the Epilog driver and I could not find a easy way to engrave first then cut. I should be missing something obvious because why would anyone want to cut first, have the object move and then engrave. I have been getting around by making multiple layers and enabling one at a time but last night I made a mistake and messed up by cutting again
I am sure this has been asked in the forum but with such common words almost all the threads have these words.
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Kim
Kim:
Maybe not the fastest, but it's accurate.In the Corel Object manager select the objects you want to raster. Simply select multiples by holding down the control key and clicking each one in turn. Then set up the driver to raster only and be sure and have "selection" checked. The follow the same procedure for the vector.