Newbie issues with LaserSoft 7.2 and Triumph 50W

Hi folks!

After years of using an Epilog 45W at our local FabLab I have finally managed to purchase my own machine. that being a Triumph TR-6040 50 Watt Co2. It came with LaserSoft 7.2. Up until now my normal workflow has been Inkscape on my macbook then PDF sent over to the windows machine that connects to the Epilog. Simple and straight-forward. Cutting lines 0.2mm and everything thicker gets Engraved. Now I must adapt to a different flow, but my first hurdle is that LaserSoft does not seem to work with any of my inkscape SVG files. It has SVG in the list of supported file types. It says "No import data!" and then attempts to import with nothing appearing in the end. I can however import DXFs created in InkscapeAttachment 475458Attachment 475459.

Has anyone here had success with importing SVG files into LaserSoft? Just for fun, attached is one small design as both dxf and SVG, in case anyone fancies trying to import it into their LaserSoft. I had to disguise the SVG as a PDF file so please change the extension to .svg before importing. Maybe some of you have different versions which might actually work.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

Vinny // Iceland

I've been using LaserSoft for 8 years, however, virtually every file I've ever sent to the machine originated in Corel and exported thru Corel's plugin, so I'm not much help--

When I get a few spare minutes I'll give exporting a DXF a try-- I've never worked with any SVG files, but I'm pretty sure I can create one, or use yours and see what happens...

That would be greatly appreciated Kev! I have been using Inkscape and the Epilog laser for about 7 years, and you know how it is when you get used to a certain workflow. My SVG files have a number of layers and I thought maybe that could be the issue, but it still doesn't import anything from an SVG file with just one layer. I'm going to try LaserSoft 7.22 now to see if there is any improvement...

Small update here; I realised that the LaserSoft that came with my machine on USB stick is V.7.2, while the latest version on the Triumph site is 7.22. I downloaded and installed 7.22 and now my svg files are importing, albeit about 3.5 times bigger than they should be! I can now import my cutting lines as a DXF and it is to scale, but I still remain with the issue of importing my engraving layer. I tried to import as a png. It is to scale but now I gotta get my head around how this program and it's thresholds and image processing work. Guess it's gonna be a loooong night eh! :-)

So, I'm using version 7.01-- I've installed every newer version, and I like most of them, BUT, my backlash settings, circle speed settings, etc etc, that I have saved in 7.01 don't work in ANY of the newer versions. And I spent DAYS tweaking this machine (Triumph 1390) until it's engraving quality nearly equals my much costlier metal lasers. So I just using what works :)

So that all said, I opened it up and couldn't find SVG in my list of importable files-- SO, I just went ahead and tried importing a DXF file--

Took me a minute to break some old habits, mostly the fact that I need to export in MM not inches! Anyway, just using the import function it came in fine, looked and acted like any Corel file I export thru the plugin--

--you'd already posted up before me so I'm just now seeing it--

as to cutting vs engraving, you can make ANY closed object on screen engraveable OR cuttable, or both-- you need to color objects you want engraved different than those you want to cut. Generally, black = engraved and red = cut, but it's up to the user--

in my screenshot here, I drew 2 simple boxes, and made the right one red... double clicking the color menu on the right opens the engraving menus, where you set practically everything; speed, power, scan-gap, cutting, or engraving, or both, or 'hole' (not sure what that is!)-- anyway, it's the 'grandaddy' menu--
Attachment 475488

TO CHANGE AN OBJECTS COLOR is easy, to select an object to change, you just need the mouse pointer to just TOUCH the object while just barely moving the mouse, when it's selected, pick a color from the color menu (mine is on the right side edge, although I know some versions the menu is on the bottom), then go into the main menu and make that color do what you want...

Kinda hard to explain, but it WILL get easier as you go :)

Thanks for all that info Kev, much appreciated! I am managing to cut and engrave now but I do have a few other issues, which I would like to ask about here as well as emailing triumph directly:

The first is that I seem to be getting a wider cut on the X axis (horizontal) compared to the Y axis (vertical). I can only think that this could be due to misalignment/mis-focusing of the beam, causing an elliptical beam rather than circular. Has anyone experienced this before with their Triumph laser? I am not sure whether this has anything to do with it, but I have also found that the list of parameters doesn't match with the 80% power and 3mm/s that I must go to in order to cut this 4mm birch plywood. At this setting another issue is that I am getting quite a bit of surface burn marks which is not good.

The second issue is with the execution of vector cutting data on the laser itself. In my design I have an outline drawn which I do not need to cut as I cut down the pieces to size beforehand on the table saw. If I delete this outline in lasersoft and then download the data to the laser, the laser then begins cutting as if the origin has moved to the top left corner of the next vector. In my case a screw hole in the panel with should be some 10mm in from the edge. When I delete the outline in lasersoft no such movement takes place and all the remaining vectors seem to stay where they should. Has anyone experienced this before?

to fix your origin problem, try what I've done for 8 years:

In Corel I draw everything on a 1300x900mm 'table', so that everything is where it should be based on the Triumph's table. Here's the trick: in Corel I have a the Triumph table saved as a default page size, and I've outlined the entire table with a 30% gray outline. This outline is always there, and it gets exported to the machine along with what I'm actually engraving or cutting. What this does is it places what I want engraved or cut in the exact position on the table as it was laid out in Corel. Because the table is so big, and it's hard to reach the top-left corner, my "home" corner is the BOTTOM-left corner. I have stops in place that correspond to "my" bottom left 0-0 position. My default table setting has guidelines placed that make my 0-0 corner. So as I 'build' in Corel, everything starts at my 0-0, and no matter what the size of what I'm engraving, or where the engraving/cutting is placed, the machine engraves or cuts dead to rights :)

There IS one caveat to this, and that's I MUST turn off the 30% gray outline in LaserSoft so it doesn't 'engrave'. Since I never use 30% gray for anything, I set it for 0 power, and every job afterword will default the 30% power to 0. So it's not a big deal if the machine DOES run the outline as the laser won't fire, it's just annoying. To this day I sometimes forget ;) -- but its worth it to know my engraving WILL be where I expect it to be :)

As to your wider horizontal cut, can't think of a reason for that other than, maybe your X belt is too loose or tight? OR, it could be, if your machine has linear rail bearings -rather than the rolling ball type I have- that the bearings need breaking in; if they're tight the bearing balls could be 'thumping' a bit as they're rolling around in the carrier...

Surface burns, I don't use air much- if you're using air, try NOT using air and see if that helps...