Engraving | Vector cutting

I’m told that we can vector cut and engrave at the same time using color vector settings. I would like to make cutouts and use a lower vector setting for marking at the same time.

I have a 75 watt Epilog and using corel draw-12.

Does anyone have the steps for doing this?

This is typically controlled through the print driver. Colors are used to associate the power and speed settings. On some brands, color can also dictate whether or not the graphic will vector cut or raster (engrave). LaserPro’s print driver is set up this way.

Did you receive any training from your rep? This is the very basic operation of the laser. It is completely common to do what you would like to do (like engraving trophy plates in flexibrass and then cutting them out).

Basic steps are:

1.) Set the color of graphics appropriately (i.e. black for raster engraving, red for vector cutting). 2.) In the print driver choose the above two colors to set the power and speeds (i.e. for engraving - 100% speed and maybe 50% power, for cutting - 5% speed and 100% power) NOTE: these are just estimates to give you an idea of the difference.

I am unfamiliar with the Epilog. It may also require that you set the line thickness to hairline, or 0.001″ for vector cutting.

Using the epilog print driver (I have a 35watt mini and I assume the settings are the same in your machine) follow the following setup:

For raster (bitmap) engraving only set the print driver to “raster” in the settings tab of the corel print dialog window.

For vector engraving (cutting) set the print driver to “vector” only.

To both engrave raster and vector set the mode to “combined” and it will vector (cut) any line that has a line width of less than .003 inch. Any line over .003″ will be treated as a raster engrave. Any fills will also be treated as raster. In combined mode you can also “Map Colors to Vectors” and set a particular color to a particular color. For example, you could set a red line to engrave at say 50% and green to engrave at 80%. Remember that black automatically engraves at 100% power. You can also control the amount of power that you raster engrave at by using greyscale as your fills. For example, 100% Black will engrave at 100% power and 50% grey will engrave at 50% power so if you want one area to engrave more shallow use 50% black and deeper parts 80-100% black. This works particularly well on wood engraving.

Thank you very much! I am engraving laser light and cutting holes with vector. My next step is vector cutting the label out, that’s why I need to set two vector cuts at different power. Will you idea do this in one operation?

Yes it should, just experiment with the power you need to cut the label out and map a color to that particular color.


			Vector cutting I’m told that we can vector cut and engrave at the same time using color vector settings. I would like to make cutouts and use a lower vector setting for marking at the same time. I have a 75 watt Epilog and using corel draw-12. Does anyone have the steps for doing this? This is typically controlled through the print driver. Colors are used to associate the power and speed settings. On some brands, color can also dictate whether or not the graphic will vector cut or raster (engrave). LaserPro’s print driver is set up this way. Did you receive any training from your rep? This is the very basic operation of the laser. It is completely common to do what you would like to do (like engraving trophy plates in flexibrass and then cutting them out). Basic steps are: 1.) Set the color of graphics appropriately (i.e. black for raster engraving, red for vector cutting). 2.) In the print driver choose the above two colors to set the power and speeds (i.e. for engraving - 100% speed and maybe 50% power, for cutting - 5% speed and 100% power) NOTE: these are just estimates to give you an idea of the difference. I am unfamiliar with the Epilog. It may also require that you set the line thickness to hairline, or 0.001″ for vector cutting. Using the epilog print driver (I have a 35watt mini and I assume the settings are the same in your machine) follow the following setup: For raster (bitmap) engraving only set the print driver to “raster” in the settings tab of the corel print dialog window. For vector engraving (cutting) set the print driver to “vector” only. To both engrave raster and vector set the mode to “combined” and it will vector (cut) any line that has a line width of less than .003 inch. Any line over .003″ will be treated as a raster engrave. Any fills will also be treated as raster. In combined mode you can also “Map Colors to Vectors” and set a particular color to a particular color. For example, you could set a red line to engrave at say 50% and green to engrave at 80%. Remember that black automatically engraves at 100% power. You can also control the amount of power that you raster engrave at by using greyscale as your fills. For example, 100% Black will engrave at 100% power and 50% grey will engrave at 50% power so if you want one area to engrave more shallow use 50% black and deeper parts 80-100% black. This works particularly well on wood engraving. Thank you very much! I am engraving laser light and cutting holes with vector. My next step is vector cutting the label out, that’s why I need to set two vector cuts at different power. Will you idea do this in one operation? Yes it should, just experiment with the power you need to cut the label out and map a color to that particular color. Possibly related: Combined not combined Cutting letters Vector files Pinnacle/LaserPro and Corel Versalaser questions for all you Versalaser owners out there!