How to Use Laser Engravers to Cut Paper
Laser engravers can be great tools to use to make intricate designs out of paper. To do this properly make sure that you have your image set up correctly in a design program so that the engraver knows which areas to cut out and which areas to keep.
Things You'll Need:
- Computer
- Design program
- Laser engraver
- Paper
- Create the image that you would like to engrave in a design program. Vector images will work best so make sure that your program creates these types of images.
- Convert your image to black and white. Black should be used to designate the areas that will be cut out and white should be used for the areas where there will be paper. Make sure that you have outlines created around portions of your image where the two cut out areas meet. This will ensure that you do not have one large cut out where there should be two spaces. Fine outlines work well in these areas and are able to be cut adequately by laser engravers.
- Connect your laser engraver to your computer and check to make sure that it appears in the printer options in the software that you are working in.
- Set up your laser engraver to the appropriate setting for the image that you would like cut. These settings will include resolution size, paper type and project size. If you are unsure about what settings your engraver should be set at, look in the manual that came with your laser engraver to figure this out.
- Go to the print menu on your design software and choose your laser engraver as the printer. Your image should be printed at this time on the engraver. If you are unsure about how your image will come out, print your image on a scrap piece of paper first. This will let you see if you need to make any changes to your image before you print a final copy.