There are now two laser cutters available to you; the V-460 has a bed size of 18”x24” and the X-660 which has a bed size of 18”x32”. The laser cutters can do many things, like cut and engrave (or score). There are some tips for preparing your laser files in AutoCAD at the end of this document. For more information on approved materials the laser cutters can cut and score please refer to the “Laser Resources – Materials and Suppliers” document. General safety information is contained in the “Laser Resources – Materials and Safety” document.

During this tutorial we will be using AutoCAD to print to the laser cutters. There will soon be more tutorials for other programs that will allow raster engraving, like Photoshop.
This is a PDF, so you don’t need to print it!!

The first few steps of this tutorial involve setting up your AutoCAD file and these steps must be completed
on your own. Time is precious and this should not wait until you are logged onto the TBH computers.
The first step is to prepare your file by making two new layers, a layer named “Cut” and “Score”. The
laser printer uses settings files based on color; it assigns a certain power and speed setting to certain
colors. The settings that have been created for the laser plotters are this; The “Cut” color is RED (index
color 1) and the “Score” color is GREEN (index color 3).
So place the lines you wish to cut your material with on the cut layer (red), and likewise with the lines you
want scored on the score layer (green). When your data is on their respective layers, you are ready to
use the laser cutter!

Download pdf Laser Cutter Tutorial - AutoCAD