How to Prepare a DXF or STEP File for Laser Cutting

What a clean cutting file looks like

Draw at actual size, one to one, in a stated unit. The most common file problem we see is scale ambiguity, a part that could be inches or millimeters. Second most common: open contours, where the outline does not quite connect, and stray duplicate lines sitting on top of each other. Both make a machine guess, and machines guess badly.

Strip out title blocks, dimensions, and notes from the geometry layer, or put them on their own layer. The cutter only needs the shapes. Everything else belongs on the print that rides along with the order.

Design rules that keep parts affordable

A few habits prevent most redesigns. Keep hole diameters at or above the material thickness; smaller holes in thick plate are a drilling operation, not a laser feature. Keep holes and slots away from bend lines and edges, or they distort when the part is formed. And if the part will be bent, leave the bend allowances to us unless you know your fabricator's tooling: send the finished part geometry and we develop the flat pattern.

What we check no matter what you send

Every file goes through a manufacturability review before it is quoted: contours, scale, hole sizes, bend feasibility, material choice. If something in the file will not make a good part, we flag it and propose the fix before anything is cut, so the quote you approve is the part you get. DXF and STEP files drop straight into the workflow, and sketches get modeled into production CAD by our engineering team.