Know these 9 things and your file will sail through.
Most delays aren't the laser's fault — they're the file's. Learn these rules once and every future order will be faster, cheaper, and exactly what you pictured.
SVG · EPS · AI · PDF
Vectors only. No pixels.
A laser cutter follows paths — like a pen plotter on steroids. Send us a vector file and the machine knows exactly where to go. Send a JPG or PNG and we're looking at a blob of pixels with no edges to follow.
Export as SVG, EPS, AI, or a vector PDF
Screenshot your design and call it a day
What you see = what gets cut
Build it at real size.
If you want a 4" coaster, make your file 4" wide. We don't scale guesses. Document dimensions are the source of truth — so before you export, double-check your canvas size matches your finished piece.
Set your document to the exact final dimensions
Design at thumbnail size and expect us to know how big you meant
Type → Outlines before you export
Kill your fonts. Outline everything.
Your computer has that font. Ours might not. When live text moves to a new machine it can reflow, substitute, or disappear entirely. Convert every text element to vector outlines before you save and it becomes geometry — permanent, exact, ours to cut.
Type → Create Outlines (Illustrator) or Path → Object to Path (Inkscape)
Attach a font file and hope for the best
Stacked lines = double cuts = scorched edges
One path per edge. No doubles.
When two paths sit exactly on top of each other, the laser cuts the same line twice. That means excess heat, burn marks, and weakened cuts on your material. Use boolean operations to merge shapes instead of stacking them.
Merge overlapping shapes into a single clean path
Stack a cut line on top of a shape outline
The classic "O" problem
Floating pieces fall out.
Cut out the letter O and what happens to the middle? It drops. Same with A, B, D, P, R — any shape with an enclosed interior will lose that center the moment the cut finishes. Add tiny bridges connecting islands to the rest of your design, or plan for them to be separate inserts.
Add small bridges to keep enclosed shapes connected
Expect floating cutouts to stay put on their own
Thin features snap, melt, or warp
Thick enough to survive.
On 1/8" acrylic, don't make features thinner than 1/8". Delicate bridges that look beautiful on screen can turn into charred wisps in real life. If you're going for fine detail, just ask — we'll tell you what's achievable on your material.
Keep features at least as thick as the material itself
Design hairline-thin bridges and hope the material is forgiving
No annotations, dimensions, or borders
Clean file. Cut lines only.
That dimension line showing "40mm" across your part? The laser will try to cut it. Strip out everything that isn't geometry meant to be cut or engraved — dimensions, notes, borders, title blocks, construction lines. The file should only contain what you want produced.
Submit only the cut/engrave paths
Leave notes to us inside the file — put them in the quote form
Tell us the quantity in the form
One file. We multiply.
Don't tile 20 copies of your design across the artboard. Send one clean copy and tell us how many you need. We handle nesting, layout, and material efficiency — it's literally what we do.
Upload one copy → specify quantity in the quote request
Fill the file with repeated copies of your design
Color-code your intentions
Cut and engrave need different layers.
If you want some parts cut through and some parts engraved, the machine needs to know which is which. Use different colors or layers for each operation. Convention: red = cut, black = engrave. Just be consistent and explain it in your notes.
Separate cut paths and engrave areas by color or layer
Mix everything on one layer and describe it in an email
You're ready.
File still not perfect? Send it anyway.
We review every file before anything gets cut. If something needs fixing, we'll tell you — clearly, without jargon — before production starts. Just upload and explain what you're going for.