CAD Drawing Instructions
Guidelines for preparing technical drawings for laser cutting and other services
Preparing Your CAD Files
To ensure accurate manufacturing and automatic pricing for laser cutting services, please follow these guidelines when preparing your CAD drawings. Proper preparation of technical documentation helps us understand your requirements clearly and prevents errors during production.
Scale 1:1
All drawings must be created at a 1:1 scale (actual size). This ensures that dimensions are interpreted correctly during manufacturing. If drawings are scaled differently, it can lead to parts being produced at incorrect sizes, resulting in unusable components and costly remakes. Always draw your parts at their real-world dimensions in millimeters.
Measurements in Millimeters
All dimensions must be specified in millimeters (mm). Using other units such as centimeters or inches can lead to confusion and dimensional errors.
Complete Documentation
Include all relevant technical documentation to avoid ambiguity and mistakes during manufacturing. Your drawings should clearly communicate all necessary information for producing the part correctly on the first attempt.
Essential information to include:
- All critical dimensions with appropriate tolerances
- Material specifications and thickness
- Bend angles and radii
- Thread specifications and locations (mark holes that should have a thread)
- Special instructions or requirements
- Required quantity of parts
Why is this important?
Incomplete or ambiguous documentation leads to production delays while we contact you for clarification. In worst cases, it can result in parts being manufactured incorrectly, requiring costly remakes and delays to your project. Clear documentation ensures efficient communication and correct first-time production.
Accepted File Formats
The system for automatic quotes for laser cutting currently only accepts CAD drawings in the DXF format. This file format is widely supported by all CAD programs. We will support additional formats in the future. For other services and additional documentation you can upload files in any file type.
Additional Considerations for Automatic Laser Cutting Quotes
Follow these specific guidelines to use our system for instant online laser cutting quote system
One Part Per Drawing
Each individual part must be in a separate CAD drawing file. If you need to cut multiple different parts, upload each as a separate CAD drawing. You can upload as many CAD drawing files as you need for your project. If you need multiple copies of the same part, you only need to upload it once and specify the quantity.
Why is this important?
Our automatic quoting system analyzes each uploaded file as a separate part to calculate cutting time and material usage. If multiple parts are in one file, the system cannot properly separate them for pricing and manufacturing planning. Additionally, separate parts allow us to optimize material usage and minimize waste.
Clean Cut Lines Only
Your CAD drawing must contain only the lines that need to be cut by the laser. Do not include extra lines for bend lines, center marks, dimension lines, notes, text annotations, or any other construction geometry. The automatic quoting system recognizes all visible lines as cut lines and will attempt to cut them.
Important:
For bend lines, annotations, detailed assembly views, or other supplementary information, please include these in separate files uploaded to the "Additional Documentation" section. This keeps your cutting CAD drawing clean while still providing us with all necessary manufacturing information.
Why is this important?
The automatic quoting system cannot distinguish between cut lines and annotation lines. Extra lines will be interpreted as cuts, resulting in incorrect quotes and potentially damaged parts during production. Including bend lines in the cut file will cause the laser to cut where it should not, ruining the part. Clean geometry ensures accurate quotes and correct manufacturing.
Convert Text to Outlines
If your design includes text or logos that need to be cut, you must convert all fonts to outlines (also called "paths" or "curves" in different CAD software). This converts the text from font-based characters into geometric shapes that define the exact outline of each letter.
Why is this important?
When you use fonts in your design, the appearance depends on having that specific font installed on the computer opening the file. If we don't have the same font installed, the text will either be substituted with a different font (changing the design) or not display at all. Converting text to outlines embeds the exact geometry of the characters into the file, ensuring your design looks identical regardless of which fonts are available on our system.
Need Assistance?
If you have questions about preparing your CAD files or need help with a specific project, please don't hesitate to contact us. Our team is here to help ensure your parts are manufactured correctly and efficiently.