LOCATION & HOUR

7th floor  Model shop in the Ahmanson Building. Click here for printing hours

LASER CUTTING PROCESS

Fill out a laser cutting request envelope, enclose the file or file location, and submit it TO A TECH. Also, if the file name on your envelope does not match the file in your folder EXACTLY, we will not print it. There will be no guessing on our part.

LASER CUTTING MODES

RASTER

This is where the machine goes back and forth like a normal printer to create the image. Used for files where there are solid shapes or lines with dimension. Not used to go all the way through material, only for engraving.

VECTOR
This is where the machine follows the lines in the file exactly. Used for engraving or cutting, but cannot create lines with any kind of thickness.

FILE SETUP

All files should be 2D only. No extruded models will be accepted, because the machine cannot read them. Scale should be in inches.

RHINO & AUTOCAD- no raster engraving. Only vector cuts will be done.

ILLUSTRATOR- all kinds of prints can be done from illustrator. However, if your file contains both raster engraving and vector cutting or engraving, the different lines must be set to separate colors, defined by the numbers that follow. Also, any line intended to be vector cut or engraved must be set to .1 pts.

MATERIAL GUIDELINES

The maximum printing size is 18” x 32”. The laser printer accepts any wood, paper or plastic material. It is preferred that the material be flat to avoid distortion of the file during printing. Also, there can be no raised parts from the rest of the piece to avoid collision with print head.

ACCEPTABLE MATERIALS FOR PRINTING

Plexi-	up to ½”
Plywood-	up to ½”
Hardwood-	up to ½”
MDF-	up to ¼”
Foam	up to ½”
Paper
Acrylics/plastics
Vinyl
For any other materials please inquire. [ NO resin or other toxic materials allowed.]

ACCEPTABLE MATERIALS FOR ENGRAVING
Same as cutting with the addition of marble, anodized aluminum, and glass

PRINTING INFORMAION AND TIPS

The laser printer runs off of 8 RGB colors. Any lines not matching these colors will not be read. Within each file, you can use up to 8 colors, and each color can be assigned a different setting, creating leveled effects.

COLORS MUST MATCH THESE RGB NUMBERS EXACTLY