Quickstartguide:Laser Cutter

General preparations

• In Illustrator make sure your artboard is the same size as your material.
  • 'Document setup' -> 'Edit artboards'

• Use vectors for cutting and engraving.

• Work in RGB colorspace
  • 'File' -> 'Document Color Mode'

WARNING

• The lasercutter can cause serious fire hazards. Always consult with an instructor before putting material in if you're unsure about its suitability.
• Because of this potential fire hazard, do not abandon the machine. Satisfying your nicotine addiction is not worth torching the Printmaking Studio.

Basic operations (cutting and engraving)

On the machine

• Turn on the machine with the key.
• Once the machine is on, it'll lower its table all the way down. Wait for it do so.
• Open the lid and put your material in the upper left corner of the work field.
  • ATTENTION: Make sure your material is as flat as possible, and if it can fly away (like paper) that it is taped down or weighed down.
• Close the lid and use the 'Z'-button (click both arrows at the same time) to autofocus the laser.
• The machine will now attempt to autofocus on the material. If it has done so, you should hear a beep.

On the computer

• Unlike the previous lasercutter, this one does not necessarily require specific thickness of line or specific colors, because the operating system for the lasercutter can assign different colors to vector elements depending on the intended operation.
  • For ease of use however, it is advisable to use RGB red (255, 0, 0) for cutting and black (0,0,0) for engraving, and other colors (such as blue or green) for different degrees of engraving (if needed).
• Save your Illustrator (.ai) file and get it on the lasercutter's computer.
• Open up the operating system for the lasercutter. It's the Chrome shortcut named [S3-9228] Trotec Ruby on the desktop.
• If the website asks your for a username and password, use the following
  • Username: wdka.publicationstation@hr.nl
  • Password: !4Students
• Drag and drop the file into the queue.
• Double-click your file.
• The system now opens up your .ai-file. It might start protesting about an unrecognised color space. Click on 'OK' to move on.

Back to the machine

• Click on the 'play'-button that blinks green.
• The lasercutter will now sound like a Boeing 747 taking off: as annoying as it is, this is normal.
• Cut and/or engrave.
• Once done, the machine will beep and you can open the lid to take out your stuff.
  • ATTENTION! Please click the button to silence the machine once you're done so the Printmaking Studio becomes an oasis of tranquility again. Or even better, turn the key.

Advanced operations

Print & Cut

This lasercutter is outfitted with a camera, so it's capable of using registration marks to precisely cut out material. For example, if you've first printed your design with the UV flatbed printer (a.k.a. The Mimaki) you can (subsequently) cut it out with the lasercutter. To do so follow these steps:

• Add three dots (full RGB black) with a 6-8 mm diameter around your design.
• Add your cutline in full RGB red (255, 0, 0).
• Print on your material using a printer or (if on non-paper material) UV flatbed printer.
• Drag your .ai file into the queue.
• Double-click the file.
• Specify colors if need be. In this case red for the cutting.
• Follow the usual steps for basic operation of the lasercutter (autofocus the machine, click on 'Create job', specify your material in the operating system).
• Before clicking 'Push to laser' select the symbol with the T and three dots from the toolbar.
• A black bar will appear on the left side of the work field, this indicates the lasercutter's blind zone (in other words the part of the field the camera cannot reach. Move your artwork accordingly.
• At the material screen, assign black to Print&Cut so the machine understands that it has to look for that color as its registration marks.
• Push to laser. The machine will now look for the black dots you placed.
• Sometimes it finds the dots rightaway but sometimes you'll have to guide the laser towards the first mark.
• On the machine's screen you'll see whatever the laser sees through its camera. Move the laser with the arrows until the dot comes in proper view and the screen shows a green outline around it. Click on ACCEPT and the lasercutter will jump to the point where it expects the next dot.
• Once the lasercutter has found all dots it'll start.