Laser Cutter Tutorial, Part 1 of 3: Creating Files in CorelDraw

The first in a three part Laser Cutter Tutorial. Part 1: Creating Files in CorelDraw; Part 2: Epilog Printing Preferences; Part 3: Preparing the Laser Cutter.

Created at the Stanford University Transformative Learning Technologies Lab. http://tltl.stanford.edu

Hello,

and welcome to the first of
a three part tutorial series

which will teach you how
to use a laser cutter.

This tutorial series
was created at

the Transformative Learning
Technologies Lab at Stanford University.

In our tutorials we will be using

the educational
edition of CorelDraw

and an Epilog
Helix laser cutter.

That said, most
of the techniques

and settings that
will be demonstrated

are transferable to
other software packages

and laser cutters.

In part one of our series,

we will use CorelDraw to create a
cheat sheet of laser cutter terminology,

part two, will explain the
Epilog printing preferences,

and part three, will discuss

how to set up the laser cutter hardware
for successful cutting and engraving.

Before we start,

I would like to mention that
certain parts of this tutorial

will go very quickly and
you may need to pause

and/or rewind to keep up.

Additionally, if you would prefer
to read a transcript of this tutorial

alongside screen shots,

please visit the TLTL website
where a copy is available.

Ok, let’s get started,

first open Coreldraw
and start a new document.

On our computer we have already created
a document preset for the laser cutter

which provides a page

that matches the
dimensions of our cutter.

If you do not have stored profile,

you can input the dimensions of your
engraver in the text input boxes below.

In our case this is 24x18 in
(or 61 by 45.7 cn),

but different machines might
have different cutting areas,

After your page is correct, press ok.

Before beginning to add content,

the first thing we would
like to do is set our origin

to the top left corner

so it matches the epilog machine.

Before being able to do this,

we need to make sure
the rulers are visible,

to check whether they are,

navigate to the view menu

and make sure the “rulers”
choice has a checkmark next to it.

Once they are visible,

move your mouse to the top left
where there is a small resize icon.

Click and drag this icon until you
reach the top left corner of the page.

Once both the vertical and
horizontal lines overlap,

let go of the mouse and
your origin will be set.

After setting the origin,

we can start to add
content to the page.

Start by selecting the
rectangle tool

and then click and drag to make
a rectangle anywhere on the page.

After completing your rectangle

navigate to the top left
corner of the screen

where there are two
sets of input boxes,

one for the object’s position

and one for the object’s size.

Additionally, you'll find
a padlock icon

which signifies whether the
dimensions are locked to each other.

If the icon is currently locked,

click it to unlock it now.

Then change the object size to
3 in by 2 in (or 7.5 cm by 5 cm)

Once the size is correct,

locate the rectangle in the
upper left corner of the page

by clicking the center
and dragging it into place.

After placing the rectangle,

proceed to the top of the screen

and choose“To Fit”

Which will zoom the
screen to our rectangle

and make it much easier
to see our work as we proceed.

Next we are going to add a circular
to the top left corner of the card.

To do this first
select the ellipse tool

and then drag to create an ellipse.

You will notice that when
you first begin dragging,

the aspect ratio is
not constrained

and you can make
all kinds of ellipses.

Since we would like
to create a circle,

we need to hold down the control key
which forces the tool to create a circle.

After completing the circle,

navigate to lock icon near
the object size boxes

and this time make sure the
lock is in the locked position.

Once you have done so,

change the horizontal dimension
to .25 in(or 0.5 cm)

which will also force the
vertical dimension to change.

Now, move your circle into the
top left corner of your rectangle.

At this point, we are going
to ensure the rectangle

and circle will be cut by setting
their outline widths to “hairline”.

Within CorelDraw,

“hairline” is the smallest
possible outline width

and if set, the laser cutter will
interpret the shape as a cut.

To set your outline width to “hairline”,

first select the pick tool which
can be accessed using the icon

or by pressing control, spacebar.

Then hold down shift

and click each shape
to select them both.

Now, navigate to the
outline pen menu,

and choose “Outline Pen”.

After the dialog box appears,
choose hairline as the width,

set the color to red
and then press okay.

Next, right click the objects
and choose “lock object”

which will prevent us from
accidentally moving the shapes

as we continue to add content.

Now, we are going to add a
small data table to our card.

To do so, we need
to access the pen tool

which may be hidden
under the freehand tool.

This is a good time to point out
that many of the tools on the left

have little arrows in the
bottom right corner.

These arrows signify other
tools are available

if you click and hold
on the visible tool.

As you can see, the Pen tool is
located in the freehand tool menu.

After selecting the pen tool draw
two vertical lines and two horizontal

lines in the middle of your card.

The pen tool works
by single clicking

the point where you
want the line to begin,

and then clicking again where
you want the line to end.

If you want to keep the lines
vertical or horizontal,

hold down shift before
clicking the second time.

After making a line segment
you will notice the pen tool

attempts to continue the line
as you move your mouse away.

To stop it from doing
so press escape,

now start a new line
with a single click,

hold down shift and
single click to end.

Press esc and start again, click,
hold shift, click, esc. Click, hold shift,

click, esc.

When you are finished,

choosing the pick tool

and then dragging a rectangle
that is larger than all the lines.

By doing so,

the software will select all of lines

with in the boundaries
of your selection rectangle.

Once all of the
lines are selected,

press F12 to access
the outline properties

and then assign a
with of 0.02in(or 0.5cm).

Now choose the text tool which
will bring up the text properties

in the top tool bar.

Before clicking inside our rectangle,

change the font size to 16 pt.

This change will bring up a box which
informs you that if you proceed

all new text will also be 16 pt.

This is fine so just press ok.

Now click in to top left section
of your table and type “Corel”.

Next continue to use
the text tool to fill

the remaining cells with:

Epilog, Result,

Hairline, Vector,

Cut, >0.001in. or 0.0025cm,

Raster, and Engrave.

When they are all entered
you may need to adjust

the placement of some of your lines
or text so there is no overlap.

When everything looks good,

we are going to assign different
outline widths to the lines

and text.

First select the top horizontal line

and assign it an outline width
of 0.04 inches (or 0.1 cm).

Next choose the three words
along the middle line:

:“Hairline”,
“Vector”,

and “Cut” and assign them
a red hairline outline.

Also, remove their fill

by selecting the fill tool
and choosing “no fill”.

Next select the
bottom three words,

“>0.001”, “raster”, and “engrave”

and assign them a black
outline of 0.015 in (or 0.04 cm)

additionally remove
their fill using the tool.

We can now see the value
of setting our hairlines to red

since it provides us with
a simple visual reference

as to which words will be cut
versus those that will be engraved.

With that complete, we are now
finished with this tutorial

and have created
a simple table.

which will help us to remember
whether our lines will be cut

or engraved by the laser cutter.

The chart reads from left to right

with the top line being the categories.

As we can see,

if we assign a
hairline to a shape

within Coreldraw the laser
cutter will consider it a vector

and the result will be a cut.

On the other hand,

if we assign an outline that is
anything greater than 0.001 in

(or 0.0025 cn) the laser cutter will
consider it a raster

and engrave the shape
instead of cutting it.

That concludes the
first tutorial.

Remember if the video
went too fast for you

please consult the written
documentation on the TLTL website.

Once your file matches ours,

please proceed to the next tutorial

where we will discuss the printing
preferences of the laser cutter.

Congratulations on making it this far!