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For highest and best quality!

The Mission
To fight disenfranchisement, uplift and empower.
To draft and design the best possible product using the high precision laser cutting and materials to their fullest, but not beyond our capabilities.
Size Matters
Features smaller than 0.040” are likely to be quite fragile. Check the minimum size measurements on each material, best way to find out is to give us a call.
Could lose your part
Parts smaller than 0.236” can fall through the laser bed and be lost. Check the minimum parts size measurements on each material, best way to find out is to give us a call.
Engraving area smaller than
Raster area engraving is not very crisp on text and thin areas less than 0.040”. This is more noticeable the smaller the text gets. Improve the quality of the engraving by combining area and line engraving on your text or shapes to make them stand out.
No sheet to sheet thickness is the same can vary from batch to batch.
Known as ‘thickness tolerance’, you can find these measurements on each material. best way to find out is to give us a call.

Design for lowest price?

Your goal
To produce the best product possible using the least amount of laser machine's time to cut / engrave the smallest or desired amount of material sheet.
Big things cost more than small things
The larger your design the more material it will use and the more laser time it will take to cut / engrave.
Complex designs cost more than simple designs
The more details you have in your design, like a lot of small cut outs or engraving details, the more laser time it will take to cut / engrave.
Nesting multiple parts / products in a single design reduces cost BIG time
Fitting parts close together (leaving at least 0.039”/ 1 mm between parts), nesting within one another, and/or sharing edges with single lines is the most efficient use of material. This is often your number one cost saver. (Not available for metal designs)
Overlapping lines cost more than shared single lines
When you have two lines on top of one another in your design, the laser will cut them both. This burns your material and is not good for the machines. Make sure there are not doubled up lines in your design (eg when two squares are right up against one another, NOT RECOMENDED). In many softwares these look darker on screen than single lines.
Curves cost more than straight lines and sharp corners
The fastest route from point A to point B is straight ahead in one direction. Adding rounded corners, curves and circles will slow the laser speed, hence take more laser time to cut / engrave.
Area engraving vs line engraving – it depends
Engraving an area using a raster area engraving process can take more laser time than using a line engraving process, and vice versa. Hence it pays to play around with these two processes to get the best result at the best cost.
Area engraving high volumes of small complex shapes cost less than line engraving
If you have a lot of design elements to be engraved (with features 0.012” wide and above), raster area engraving may use less laser time than line engraving.
Augmenting designs with line engraving cost less than using area engraving
Think of line engraving as ‘drawing’ with the laser. It can augment design elements less than 0.012” wide to help them pop, using less laser time than raster area engraving. It also uses less laser time when engraving a thin decorative border on larger simple shapes.
Area engraved objects located close together cost less than being spread apart
Grouping raster area engraved parts horizontally across your design reduces the laser time. The laser movement is like an inkjet printer that moves the span of the material line by line.
A segmented line cost more than a single line of the same length
Using segmented lines or paths has the laser jumping about the design, increasing the laser time to cut / engrave. But using long continuous joined paths means a smooth and consistent laser movement.
Thick materials cost more to cut (and often to buy) than thin materials
The thicker the material the more laser time it will take to cut through it.
Hard materials cost more to cut (and often to buy) than soft materials
Less dense materials (like paper and pulpy woods) take less laser time to cut through than harder materials (like acrylic) which takes more “umph” to cut through.

LASER CUTTING IMAGINE SETUP

Document Type

  • Vector file: .ai, .dxf, .pdf, .svg
  • Raster file: .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif

Popular programs for laser cutting

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Fusion 360
  • Slicer for Fusion
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Lightburn
  • Easel by inventables
  • If you do not have those programs, export your files into .pdf file format and bring your original file just in case. Please email file and carry a copy in a USB flashdrive. All files should be exported to PDF as an end format.

From Illustrator: Save as .AI or PDF

From Inkscape/Corel Draw: save as PDF.

From SketchupPro: 2D export the view as PDF.

From AutoCad: Export to DWF/PDF, save as PDF.

Document Size

Document size should be 12″ height by 24″ wide, always oriented in landscape. Please be sure that any artwork is constrained within the 12″x24″ document size.

To create a design that will cut through materials:

The laser cutter uses vector lines to cut.Programs that use vectors to make drawings are:

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Corel Draw
  • Inkscape
  • but others exist as well. 

PDFs are the best file type for both cutting and engraving, so save your drawings as a PDF, but bring the original file and your laptop with you to the Lab.  Most first-time cuts will need editing!

To create a design on the surface of the material, (Engraving):

Black and white photographs and graphic designs with thick areas of black will engrave materials and not cut them. Engraving is very time consuming and the more complex the image the longer it will take the laser cutter to engrave the image.

Photographs take the longest amount of time, while thick black lines found in black and white graphic images take the least.  Any file that can be exported to a .pdf file format can be used to engrave a material. File formats such as .jpg, tiff, .ai, .eps and many more can be used although they may need to be converted to .pdf file format before being used by the laser cutter.

Laser safe materials

We have 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch acrylic of many colors in stock. We also have 1/8-inch wood and mat board. Any materials that are not determined to be laser safe cannot be cut. Plexiglass Acrylic (not plastic) and wood or paper products (cardboard, mat board) are generally safe materials.

What is manufacturer pricing?

Our ‘manufacturer pricing’ is for businesses who want lowest possible cost. It is designed to ensure you profit when selling your products at both wholesale (2x manufacturer pricing) and retail (4x manufacturer pricing). Manufacturer pricing is less for small & simple parts than it is for big & complex ones.

How to get manufacturer pricing from us (Contact us first)

Send us your design or upload your design here to get a quote in a flash,

If you do not have a design ready to go, (Contact us).

Startup & scale from prototype to production at digital making prices.