Lets talk about what we need for engraving...

SEEfurther down this page for waterjet cutting related artwork requirements.

At Lasergrave Solutions, our laser machines are a little fussy on what information we send to them!
If you are planning on sending us your own artwork for engraving, there are a few things that you need to know first.

In most cases, Lasergrave Solutions will prepare engraving artwork on customers behalf and seek their approval. However, sometimes, this can be a detailed and complicated process especially when items such as logos or other elaborate designs are required. If the customer has the ability to do their own art work or can have it supplied from another source, it is often more cost effective for them to supply this to us.

Of course if you feel the required artwork is best left to us, we are always happy to complete this as an additional service for you!

Below is a guide on what the best options are for us undertake your engraving work with customer supplied artwork. This is a guide only and under certain circumstances, your art work may still not be suitable.

If at any stage you have any questions in regards to this, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Line types are very important in laser engraving world. Simply put, a hair line will "cut", and any thing else will "engrave". Please check your artwork very carefully for stray hairlines as there is nothing worse than receiving your job back with a bunch of cut out letters that were not supposed to be cut out!  Our diagram helps to explain this concept in more detail.

Artwork quality is also an important aspect to remember when it come to customer supplied artwork. A general rule of thumb is if it looks a little fuzzy or blurry on your computer screen, at the same size as you want engraved,  the engraving will most likely come out looking the same. This generally means the finished product will appear pixelated, unclear and sub-standard leading to disappointing results. An excellentexample of this is shown below.

Art work colour is yet another aspect of laser engraving that needs to be considered. At Lasergrave Solutions, we only are interested in only two simple colours, "black" and "white". Black representing our laser "firing" and white representing our laser "not firing". Any shade or colour that is not black or white, will most likely end up with the laser firing in a way that we don't want  and engraved work once again will appear unclear and sub-standard.  You will find below a customers logo that has been converted for engraving use. As you can see, detail has been simplified to suit the engraving process.

 Finally, what file formats do we accept?  Ideally a CDR file (CorelDraw) works best for us. We may ask you to convert the text to curves if the fonts you have chosen give us any trouble. If that is not an option, most programs have the ability to export as a "PDF".

When we refer to a "PDF" file, we are not talking about putting a drawing into a scanner and sending us a "PDF". It has to  be a properly exported, PDF file from a computer program that the file was drawn in. If "PDF" or "CDR" are not an option, we can often use an "AI", "EPS" or possibly a "DXF" file from AutoCAD or similar.  Some times we have had issues with some of these file types, but we can soon make customers aware of any issues that we encounter upon review.

If customer supplied artwork meets the required criteria, our machines are capable of completing industry leading clarity and precision laser engraving.

In summary, the better the artwork, the better the finished product!

Customer logo above engraved on black anodized aluminum, 3mm thick,
guillotined and drilled at our in-house workshop facility.

Lets talk about what we need for Waterjet cutting...

DXF files are best for us to work with if you are providing your own files. Further art work requirement information coming soon.