Recent versions, however, include an extension under ' Modify Path -> Convert to Dashes' which will render whatever stroke style you've selected. The laser won't pay any attention to stroke styles you set in Inkscape. Same for all boxes and circles.Īlternatively, enable the "use ROBO-Master type of spline output" (an option during saving) if your version of Inkscape supports it. Use the ' Path->Object to Path' to convert them into a generic path before exporting. If you try to use these the cutter will largely ignore them. To get outlines ready for the cutter select the text object and do ' Path->Object to Path', you can then delete the original path object used to flow the text. At this point the text and the path are coupled together, so while you can move the text away if you delete or change the path it'll alter. With the text selected you can use the letter and word spacing controls to get the text to completely fill the path (I needed this for the plaque as we wanted the lists of names to butt up to each end of the shape). Turning off stroke for each shape achieves the same result (make sure you give it a fill colour so you can still see it.)Įasy to do, create a path, create some text and use the ' Text->Put on Path' menu item. As an alternative a default fill with opacity of 10% works nicely when creating compound objects. Select from ' View->Display Mode->Outline'. This is great because adding a stroke changes the dimensions of the object (slightly, but potentially enough to matter) and adding a fill makes it hard to see what you're doing. Inkscape can be put into outline mode, allowing you to see objects which have neither stroke nor fill. You can do this from ' File->Document Properties.' then entering a custom size, remember to change units to mm. I find it easiest to get a sense of how big the piece is going to be if I set the page dimensions to those of the laser cutting bed, i.e. When snapping to path points it'll use the point closest to your mouse when you're dragging, so it matters where on the path you click! If you're not getting the snapping behaviour you expect play with turning these on. Click the icon second from the right, looks a bit like a heart with a hole in it.īy default Inkscape won't actually use the grid, the buttons on the far right allow you to enable snap (first button from the top), to bounding boxes (second from top and subsequent four) and path nodes (the next group down). This is closest to what a laser cutter will do. For shapes with holes, make it show self intersections as holes. ![]() Fill mode for shapes makes everything work better. Stroke paths show the thick outline, and this confuses the sizing and bounding box for laser cut things. ![]() Use fill and don't use stroke (turn it off each time you create a shape). So if your circle is as 0.543 mm and you want to move it right 1mm you can edit it to 0.543+1 mm and it sorts it all out for you. Has newer image tracing options, but best of all, you can put formulae into its number boxes. It very occasionally crashes (PC) compared to previous version (rock steady). ![]() Inset/Outset I set to 0.075mm which matches half the laser cutter kerf.Ġ.91 is latest and greatest. With a 1mm grid and 0.5mm nudging I get a 1mm grid with optional 0.5mm positioning. This is a personal preference but I (Mat) prefer Arrow Keys Move By to 0.5mm. Set to origin 0, Spacing 1mm, major grid ever 10 (as above for the default document)īehaviour -> Steps. This is a (zipped) default inkscape document (mm as default and 1mm/1cm grid) File:DefaultInkscape01.zip Preferences setup Now save your document as "MyDefaultInkscapeDocument" and use it to start every project you work on :) I change the colours so I can see the major grid lines even when zoomed in fully. ![]() These are preserved in dxf (choose mm as the units when saving) and you won't have to resize in the laser software.Īt the same point you can create a grid, I use a 1cm grid with 1mm minor lines - select the ' Grids' tab and click ' New' to create a new rectangular grid, for the one I use set units to mm, spacing to 1 and major grid line every 10. Set the default units (file->preferences) to mm. This applies to Inkscape 0.48.4.x and later, if you have an earlier version you should upgrade. A selection of hints to get the best out of Inkscape with our laser cutter.
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