To master line thickness in your xTool Studio 😉
When designing jewelry for laser engraving, especially for small pendants, lines that appear perfect on your screen can often be too thin to see clearly once engraved. To ensure your designs stand out, you may need to thicken your vectors manually. Here is the Video Tutorial if you haven’t checked out yet 😁
Method 1: Thickening Built-in Design Shapes ☆
If you are using standard templates like circles, rectangles, or stars from the side menu, follow these steps to increase their visibility for engraving:
- Select Your Shape: Click and drag your desired shape onto the canvas.
- Apply the Offset Tool: Locate the dotted lines icon (Offset). This tool defaults to a rounded corner, but for geometric shapes like stars, you may want to select Sharp Corner or Round Corner to maintain the design’s integrity.
- Adjust Thickness: Choose your desired thickness. The software allows you to expand the lines both outward and inward.
- Create the Overlap: Simply thickening the line with an offset isn’t enough; if you try to engrave it immediately, the laser may only recognize the individual lines rather than a filled, thick path.
- Subtract the Overlap: Drag your cursor to select the entire object (the original and the offset). Use the Subtract an Overlap tool. This merges the paths into a single, thick, engravable line.
Method 2: Thickening Imported SVG Files 🛸
When working with custom artwork, such as a saucer or detailed logo, the process requires an extra step to ensure the engraving doesn’t “go wonky”
- Import and Trace: Import your SVG file. If you need to see through the background or refine the path, p ress edit and use the Trace function to create a clean vector, then delete the original image.
- Offset the Vector: Select the traced image and click the Offset (dotted outline) button.
- Set Your Distance: For jewelry, a thickness of 1mm is often sufficient, as making it too thick can cause details to bleed together.
- Create a Compound Vector: If you try to engrave two separate vector lines (the original and the offset), the software may produce errors. To fix this
- Select both the original and the offset lines. And click Release Compound
- Click it again, Make Compound Vector.
- Finalize: The software will now show you exactly what the thickened engraving will look like. You can now delete any unnecessary remnants and proceed to engrave your pendant.
💡Pro Tips!
Always check how your design looks in “Engrave” mode before starting your machine. If the lines look too spindly, using the Offset and Compound Vector tools will ensure your jewelry components have professional, high-contrast results!
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