With this option selected, the values entered in the X Position and Y Position fields will incrementally offset the object from its current position, by the distances entered. The Anchor options are not relevant in this mode and so will be disabled.

The keyboard shortcut Mopens the Move form in interactive mode.

The Tool Database is used to make cutter management and selection very quick and easy, and reduces the possibility of programming jobs with incorrect cut depths and speeds and feeds. It allows pre-defined tools and settings (speeds, feeds, stepover etc.) to be selected from a list for a given machine / material.

The Tool Database can be accessed from the Select... button through the various Toolpath forms. You can open the Toolpaths Tab button or through the Toolpaths menu.

This is a summary of the main entities and relationships in the database. More details on those will be given in the next sections.

1. Tool geometry entities (organised hierarchically in the tree).
2. List of Materials (Managed through the Material Management dialog).
3. List of Machines (Managed through the Machine Management dialog).
4. Cutting Data set for each tool geometry. This includes the Cutting Parameters, and Feeds & Speeds, and are defined per machine / material.

Tool Properties are divided into two categories,

1. Tool geometry: This is the physical properties of the tool such as the diameter, tip radius, etc...
2. Cutting data: These include the Cutting Parameters and Feeds & Speeds of the tool. These values are defined for a particular material / machine.

The Tool Tree is located on the left-hand side of the Tool Database. Click on items in the list to see or edit their properties using the Tool Info section of the database window.

You can drag items up and down the list to change their order or drag them inside / outside of groups.

Duplicate the selected tool geometry or group in the list. If you're copying a tool, it will be copied without its cutting parameters.

The cutting parameters can be subsequently be:

• Copied from the same tool, different material.
• Tool with identical geometry, any material.
• Created with default values.

A tool database file can be imported into the currently open tool database. You will have 3 options,

1. Import: This will simply import the given tools under the selected group (or as a top-level tool / group).
2. Merge: This will attempt to merge the incoming tool group hierarchy with the current one (without any regards for selection)
   1. Overwrite: When it's faced with two similarly nested tools that have the same tool geometry, the cutting data of the incoming tool will overwrite the current tool's cutting data for the active machine / material.
   2. Without overwriting: A new machine / material will be created to contain the cutting data of the incoming tools.

This will go to the Name Format dialog to edit the name template for this tool type.

The name displayed here is then a result of evaluating the template in the current context (active machine, material and the cutting data defined for those as well as the tool geometry).

The name of a tool group can be defined directly through this dialog.

Various cutters can be specified in the database. Changing the cutter tool type is equivalent to creating a new tool, so all existing data for that tool (if any) may not be applicable anymore.

V-Bit

Engraving

Tapered Ball Nose

Ball Nose

End Mill

Radiused End Mill

Form Cutters

Diamond Drag

Drills

The cutting data is defined per material per machine. If the data is not defined already for a tool, we create it in a number of ways,

1. Create with some default values which you can then change for your purposes.
2. Copy from the same tool from a different material: This could be a sensible starting point if the materials have similar / close hardness.
3. Copy from a different (identical) tool from the same (or different material)

The maximum depth of cut the tool can cut. The Pass Depth controls the number of z level passes that are calculated for a toolpath.

For example, creating a pocket 1 inch (25.4 mm) deep using a tool that has a Pass Depth of 0.25 inches (6.35 mm) will result in the toolpath making 4 passes.

This value can be defined per machine / material depending on the machine's rigidity and the material's hardness.

The distance the cutter moves over when doing area clearance cutting. For example, when raster machining the cutter will machine along the X axis, stepover in the Y direction and return parallel to the first line of cut. The greater the stepover the faster the job will be machined, but this must be balanced with the material being cut and the tooling being used, to ensure that the tool does not break. Therefore, this property (along with all other Cutting Parameters can be defined per material / machine).

When stepover's greater than 50% of the cutter / tip diameter are used the software automatically adds 'Tail' moves in the corner regions of toolpaths to ensure material is not left on the job for offset based strategies.

When using V-Bit Tools, the Stepover fields automatically change to use the following options.

The cutting rate at which the cutter is moved vertically into the material or during ramping moves. The units can be specified in distance per second or per minute.

This is the maximum speed at which the tool, when at 100% power, will still burn the material. This value is used for simulation purposes only. It should be calibrated to match your laser and material. A larger value will result in the simulated toolpath appearing darker.

You will need access to the Laser Module to create and simulate laser toolpaths.

This is the number of the tool needed to machine the job. When using a CNC machine with an Automatic Tool Changer (ATC), it is critical that the correct tool required to cut the job is located in the corresponding carousel location.

Form Cutters can be added to the Tool Database so that industry standard Ogee and Round-over type cutters, plus user definable custom shapes can be used for edge profiling and decorative carving.

Examples of these types of cutters and the kind of cuts they can be used for are shown in the images below:

Round-over

Ogee

Profile Cutting Strategy with Form cutter

Before opening the tool database, draw to exact scale the Right side of the cutter geometry in the 2D Window Use the Node Editing tools to create the arcs and curves etc.

Select the vector, then open the Tool Database dialog and create a new tool. Then, set its type to Form Tool.

The selected geometry will be imported and a profile displayed in the window. Give the Cutter a meaningful name. Enter the cutting parameters - speeds and feeds etc for the various materials you've got defined.

Click the Apply / OK button to save the new cutter into the database list so it can be used at any time.

The Laser Module is a paid add-on for Cut2D Pro which adds the following additional functionality:

• The ability to create Laser Cut and Fill Toolpaths
• The ability to create Laser Picture Toolpaths
• The ability to simulate a Laser Toolpath

If you have a licence code for the laser module then it can be installed by using the Help > Enter Licence Code menu item. Enter the licence code into the Licence Code field. The Licensed To field does not need to be changed.

You will have to restart you software to enable the features.

Laser Cut - Fill Toolpath is used for cutting out shapes or marking areas.

Cut-outs can take into account the kerf, or width, of the laser beam to maintain the precise internal or external size the selected vector shapes. Shapes can also be filled with stripes or hatching to create simple shading effects.

Like all other toolpaths the laser toolpaths can be simulated. However, in the case of laser toolpaths, the simulation does not remove any material but instead marks the surface of the current simulation model. This marking is meant to simulate the charring of the material when scorched by the laser.

Burn Rate 50

Burn Rate 100

Burn Rate 200

Due to the many combinations of laser, power, material and feed rate, it will be necessary to calibrate the simulation so that the simulation output matches the real-world results. This calibration can be done by modifying the Maximum Burn Rate property of a given tool. This is the maximum speed at which the tool, when at 100% power, will still burn the material. This means that a greater value will result in the simulated toolpath appearing darker. This value can be set in the Tool Database. We suggest you cut a sample file with the material and power settings that you would typically use and then adjust the Maximum Burn Rate so that the simulation matches your achieved results.

Introduction

The Laser Module enables both new tool types to represent lasers in the tool database, and also new laser specific strategies.

The laser module now provides independent records and variables for laser tools and toolpaths. Because these outputs have been separated from conventional router control, for most machines and controllers it should be possible to create a single Post Processor to work seamlessly with router or laser toolpaths, but please note that you may still need to ensure that the physical configuration of your machine is changed depending on the toolpath type.

There are generally 4 areas that need to be modified in a conventional Post Processor to extend it for Laser toolpath support.

• Add support for a new Power variable, which will be used by the new laser strategies.
• Add new laser-specific Post Processor Blocks to format laser toolpaths correctly for your machine and controller.
• Modify any existing Post Processor Blocks to ensure independent power and laser-specific behaviour.
• Add a flag to tell Vectric's software that this post now supports laser toolpath strategies.

The following sections deal with each area in turn and an example using the GRBL gcode controller is provided. These examples are from the grbl (mm & inch) post processor provided by default with Vectric's software.

Power Variable

Vectric's software will output the power setting for a laser toolpath in the range of 1-100%. We need to add a new variable to show how to format this setting for your particular controller. This is also the opportunity to scale the raw percentage value to the numerical range that your controller requires.

Example

For GRBL-based controllers, the power setting for a laser is typically aliased to the gcode spindle speed control command 'S'. In laser mode, the controller will respond to a spindle speed control change by adjusting the power of the laser instead. Although it can be set within the controller, the default setting for the maximum expected 'S' value - or laser power - is 1000.

For GRBL, therefore, we need to format the POWER variable to be a gcode 'S' command and scale its output value by a factor of ten so that it is in the range of 1 to 1000 (instead of the default 1-100).

The variable entry in the Post Processor reads:

VAR POWER = [P|C|S|1.0|10.0]

To break this entry down in plain English, we are saying that the POWER output from our toolpath should be used everywhere in our subsequent post definition file where we have the the variable [P]. But we should only only output a command as the POWER value changes (C). We will replace the [P] variable locations in our our toolpath output with the command 'S' (S). The power value should be formatted as a whole number with no decimal points (1.0) and should be multiplied from its default by a factor of 10.

New Laser Post Processor Blocks

To allow Laser control, there are new Post Processor Blocks available in the Post Processor. These are:

• JET_TOOL_ON - Output whenever the toolpath needs the laser on
• JET_TOOL_POWER - Output whenever the toolpath needs the laser power to change
• JET_TOOL_OFF - Output whenever the toolpath needs the laser off

Example

In our GRBL example we haved added the 3 new block types. For turning the laser on, GRBL makes use of gcode M4 command (normally intended for spindle direction, but 're-used' by GRBL for laser support ). We can now make use of our POWER variable, defined above as [P], to provide the required power value. The JET_TOOL_ON block is thus:

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the jet is turned on

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_ON

"M4[P]"

For turning the Laser off GRBL makes use of the gcode M5 command:

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the jet is turned off

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_OFF

"M5"

Finally for setting the power itself then for GRBL we just output the power:

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the jet power is changed

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_POWER

"[P]"

Modify Existing Blocks

We also want it to be the case that when we perform a feed move then we also output the power, so to do this we update the FEED_MOVE blocks to include [P].

We have to do that for all of the different feed move types.

In addition, we need to avoid plunge moves occurring when the laser is on. For conventional milling or routing, we need the spindle to be on before a plunge move, but for a laser it is crucial that we only turn it on after we have moved to the correct Z level (this problem manifests as 'overburn' at the beginning of each toolpath segement). To ensure that we can correctly separate these requirements, we may need to remove any spindle commands from plunge moves, or other block types (some may have them in the header, for example) and break these out into explicit SPINDLE_ON & PLUNGE_MOVE blocks. This will ensure that these moves are only made for non-laser toolpath strategies and in the correct sequence.

Example

For GRBL this is a simple addition to the end of the feed move statement:

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for feed rate moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FEED_MOVE

"G1[X][Y][Z][P]"

Remember that we set our POWER variable to only output on change (C) so note that in the output for feed moves at constant power, only an initial, changing, power command will be included. For some controllers, the number of commands that can be processed is a limiting factor on the speed of toolpath and for laser images, in particular, this can be mitigated somewhat by not sending uneccessary commands whenever possible.

For the separate GRBL spindle and plunge control the blocks are:

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Command output after the header to switch spindle on

+---------------------------------------------------

begin SPINDLE_ON

"[S]M3"

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for the plunge move

+---------------------------------------------------

begin PLUNGE_MOVE

"G1[X][Y][Z][F]"

You'll note that GRBL uses the M3 to control the router or mill. Also note that the plunge move requires the ability to move the machine in X & Y in order to support ramping.

Explicitly Mark the Post Processor as Laser Capable

Lastly a Post Processor will require the new Global File Statement LASER_SUPPORT="YES" added to be available for selection as a Laser Post Processor within the software.
This is only added to Post Processors for general use once the Post Processor has recieved complete testing by the creator.

Example

LASER_SUPPORT = "YES"

SketchUp files with a .SKP extension (see www.sketchup.com) can be imported as 2D data suitable for machining into a Cut2D Pro job using the File ► Import Vectors... command from the menu bar or the import vectors icon on the Drawing tab. To import data from a SketchUp file you must already have created or opened a job to import the data into.

As a SketchUp model is usually a 3D representation of the part, the SketchUp importer offers a number of options to allow you to start manufacturing the model.

We will illustrate the two main choices for how the model will be imported using the SketchUp model shown to the left.

The model shown in the screenshots is a cabinet constructed by following the instructions in the Fine Woodworking 'Google SketchUp guide for Woodworkers: The Basics' DVD which is available via the Fine Woodworking site at www.finewoodworking.com. Vectric have no affiliation with Fine Woodworking, we are just using screenshots of the model constructed while following their tutorials to illustrate the process of importing a SketchUp model.

In the first section there are two main choices for how the data from the model will be imported, 'Exploded Flat Layout' and 'Three Views - Front, Top, Side' as shown below.

Exploded Flat Layout

Three Views - Front, Top, Side

This option will take each component in the model and orientate it flat ready for machining.

Once this option is selected a number of sub-options also become available.

Part Orientation

This section controls what Aspire considers to be the 'top' face of each part.

Auto Orientate

If this option is selected, for each part in the model, the 'face' with the largest area based on its outer perimeter (i.e. ignoring holes etc.) is considered to be the 'top' face and the part is automatically rotated so that this face is facing upwards in Z. This strategy works very well for models which are to be manufactured from sheet goods where there are no features on particular faces which need to be on the 'top' (such as pockets).

Orientate by material

This option allows the user to control more explicitly the orientation of each part in the model. Within SketchUp the user can 'paint' the face of each component/group with a material/color of their choice to indicate which face will be orientated on top when the model is imported. When this option is selected simply chose the material which has been used to indicate the top face from the drop down list. If a part is found in the model which does not have a face with the specified material, that part will be oriented by making the largest face the top.

Gap between parts

This field lets the user specify the gap between parts when they are first imported. After importing, the nesting functions within Cut2D Procan be used to layout the parts with more control and across multiple sheets

This option will create an 'engineering drawing' style layout of the SketchUp model as shown in the screenshot below.

The size of the model is preserved and it is relatively simple to pick up dimensions for parts you are going to manufacture from the various views. The colors of the lines you see are taken from the colors of the original SketchUp layers the various parts of the model are on.

SketchUp does not maintain true arc or circle information for the boundaries of its parts. This is a problem when it comes to machining as the 'polygonal' SketchUp representation can give very poor machining results. For this reason, Cut2D Pro offers the option to refit circles and arcs to imported data.

Options Checked ✓

Options Unchecked

The screenshot above left shows the results of importing a part with a filleted corner and hole with these options unchecked. The 'fillet' is made up of a series of straight line segments and the circular 'hole' is actually a polygon made up of straight lines.

The screen shot above right shows the same part imported with both these options checked ✓. The 'fillet' now consists of a single smooth arc and the circular 'hole' now also consists of arcs rather than straight line segments. Both these features will machine more cleanly in this form.

A SketchUp model will often contain parts that you do not wish to machine (such as hinges, knobs etc.) or data which will be cut from different thicknesses of material and hence different parts need to be imported into different Cut2D Pro jobs. To allow control over what is imported you can choose to only import parts of the model which are on particular layers using this section of the dialog.

To only import data from selected layers, choose the 'import visible data on selected layers' option and click the check box next to each layer to indicate if you want to import data from that layer. Note that the number of parts on each layer is displayed next to the layer name.

It is very easy to assign different parts of the model to different layers within SketchUp to help with the import process into Cut2D Pro. The screenshot below shows the result of only importing data on the 'Door' layer from the example.

This option is normally selected for all but the simplest models as it allows each 'part' of the model to be selected, moved and nested easily after import. You will need to ungroup the imported data after nesting etc. to allow individual features to be machined. By default, Cut2D Pro will treat each SketchUp group / component as a single part UNLESS it contains other groups or components within it, in which case each lowest level group / component will be treated as a separate part.

Items which you retain in groups can be ungrouped at any time in the usual ways.
If the right-click menu-option to Ungroup back onto original object layers is used (which is the default option when using the icon or shortcut U) then the software will place the ungrouped items back onto the original layers they were created on in SketchUp.

There is a style of 'building' with SketchUp where individual 'parts' are made up of several components 'butted' against each other. The screenshot below shows such a component.

This object is made up of many smaller components representing the tabs on the top, the connectors at the end and the support at the bottom as shown below.

Although when can treat this as a single 'part' when imported by starting its name with __ (two underscores), the imported part is still going to be difficult to machine. The screenshot below shows the part imported into Cut2D Pro without the 'Replace outer boundary' option checked ✓. The part in the image has been ungrouped and the central vector selected.

As you can see, the outer boundary is made up of separate segments for each 'feature'. Cut2D Pro does have the ability to create an outer boundary for vectors but this can be time consuming if it has to be done manually. If the 'Replace outer boundary' option is checked, ✓ for every part Cut2D Pro will try to create a single outer boundary and delete all the vectors which were part of this boundary. The screenshot below shows the result of importing the same data with this option checked, ✓ this time the part has been ungrouped and the outer vector selected.

This data is now ready to be machined directly. It is important to understand the limitations of this option. It can be substantially slower. Creating robust boundaries for each part can consume a lot of processing power. Any feature which shares an edge with the boundary will be deleted. If the tabs on the top of this part were to have been machined 'thinner', this approach would not have been suitable as the bottom edge of the tabs has been removed.

The icons to join and close vectors are located under the Edit Vectors section of the Drawing Tab.

Open vectors are automatically identified and closed or joined to other vectors where the end points lie within the user definable tolerance.

This tool allows you to bend and flex a vector or component by manipulating a distortion envelope using standard node editing tools. You can select one or more vectors or components and then use one of the three different tool modes to create your initial distortion envelope.

Once the distortion envelope has been created, you can use the node editing tools to add or edit its nodes and spans. As you alter the shape of the envelope the associated object will be distorted to reflect the changes.

This option is only supported if you only have one object selected to distort. It makes use of the local rotation of the object as shown in the Selection Tool.

When this option is ticked,

• The initial distortion envelope is created along the transformed bounds of the selected object.
• When distorting along a curve (or two), the object is distorted on the curve in its local transformation. This is useful if you're distorting a rotated object onto a rotated curve, for example.

This option is only available if the last item in your selection is an open vector that can be used to define a curve, above which the other selected objects will be distorted. The distorted object can comprise one or more vectors or one or more components, but not both.

Using this option, you will usually end up with your objects bent to match the curve in your original selection. The distortion curve itself is left unchanged by this operation.

This option will become available if the last two objects in the current selection are open vectors, between which the other objects can be distorted.

Once an object has been distorted, node editing will always relate to the object's distortion envelope. If you wish to edit a distorted vector directly again, you will first need to permanently apply the distortion to the shape.

If you select an object that already has a distortion envelope while in the Distort Object tool, the Bake Distortion button will be available. Clicking this button will permanently apply your current distortion and you will then be able to either distort the object again (with new settings), or node edit the shape directly.

The Text Selection tool allows the user to adjust kerning, line spacing and bending the text on an arc. The text will be displayed as magenta lines with 2 Green handles in the middle for arching the text.

If the selected text was placed on a curve the handles will not appear, as such text cannot be arched.

The interactive kerning and line spacing cursor is shown when placed between letters or lines:

The interactive letter kerning allows default text to be modified so that adjacent pairs of letters sit more naturally together. A typical example is shown above where the capital letters W A V are placed next to each other and the default space is excessive.

Place the cursor between 2 letters and click the Left mouse button to close the gap.

Holding a Shift key and clicking the Left mouse button moves the characters apart.

Holding a Ctrl key when kerning doubles the distance each letter moves on each click.

Holding Shift and Ctrl keys together and clicking the Left mouse button moves the letters closer together in larger increments.

Line spacing can be modified by placing the Edit Text cursor between lines. It will change to the line spacing cursor:

Clicking Left mouse button will move the adjacent lines of text closer together.

Holding the Shift key and clicking the Left mouse button will move the lines apart.

Holding the Ctrl key doubles the distance each line moves on each mouse click.

Holding the Shift and Ctrl keys together and clicking the Left mouse button moves the lines apart in larger increments.

The interactive rotation and movement cursor is displayed when the cursor is placed over either of the Green Handles to indicate that the text can be arced either Upwards or Downwards:

Bend Text Upwards

Bend Text Downwards

Click and Drag the Bottom Green box to arc the text Downwards.

Click and Drag the Top Green box to arc the text Upwards.

The text can easily be dragged back into the horizontal position again.

After arcing text, additional Red and Blue handles are displayed for Rotating and Moving the text.

Clicking and dragging the Red boxes rotates the text around the center point of the arc.

Holding the Ctrl key forces the rotation to be in 15° increments. This allows the text to be positioned exactly on the horizontal or vertical quadrants, even after it may have been moved slightly.

This is the absolute XY coordinate around which the objects will be rotated when copied and pasted. The default Rotation point is the middle of the selection. You can set the rotation center coordinates explicitly using the X and Y edit boxes on this form or by clicking the selected geometry to show the transform grips, then double-clicking the center one to show the pivot-point and dragging the Pivot Point handle associated with the selection in the 2D View:

This option controls whether the copied objects are each rotated as they are placed around the circle, as shown in the diagrams below. If this option is selected, each copy is rotated according to its position on the circle. If the option is not selected then each copy maintains the orientation of the originally selected object.

Rotate Copies selected

Rotate Copies not selected

With this option selected this angle is used to copy the selected vector(s) by this angle x the number of Items.

The pull-down list offers a range of material types to shade the 3D model.

Additional materials can be added to the library using the list itself. You can add a category (folder) which groups your textures using <Create mew category...>. You can also add extra textures under any category using <Add new texture...>.

Alternatively, you can copy an image file (JPG, BMP or TIF) of the material or image you wish to render the job with into the Textures folder within the 'Application Data Folder'. You can open the Application Data Folder from within the program using the File ► Open Application Data Folder menu command.

Shading textures can be obtained from sources such as the internet, clipart libraries or simply create your own from a digital or scanned photographs. For good quality results the image needs to be approximately 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels. The texture image is simply scaled proportionally in X and Y to fit the longest side of the job.

With this setting, the areas of your preview will simply be colored using the material defined above. Effectively this switches off independent material settings for your machined areas.

Paints all the machined regions with the selected color. Selecting the associated pull-down list opens the default color selection form. Click on one of the preset colors, or click More Colors... to create a completely custom color.

If this option is selected, each toolpath can have a different color assigned. If the 'No Fill' option is selected from the color picker form, the current toolpath will be shown in the material color.

Choose the color you want for the fill of that toolpath and it will be applied to the areas that the toolpath has carved when they are previewed. Once you assign an individual color a small square of that color will be displayed next to the name in the toolpath list. This can be seen top left of each tool icon:

Lithophane mode allows the preview to be shaded to give the effect of a semi-transparent material which is being lit from behind. The thinnest areas of material will appear brightest and then the brightness will be reduced to be lowest at the full material thickness.

Lithophane mode will work with whatever material or solid color is selected. The brightness of the material will vary between white at 0 material thickness and the selected color at full material thickness.

How a lithophane appears can vary depending on many factors including ambient lighting in the room, how strong the light behind the lithophane is and the properties of the material being used. The slider bar next to the lithophane option allows you to adjust the slider to account for these and to pick a value that looks right to you.

The below image shows the effect of changing the brightness slider. A white material has been chosen, as the slider increases from the left to the right the effect changes from being very high contrast to a much lighter appeance like you might see if no backlighting had been applied.

The preview controls provide full video-like playback control of your toolpath. You can use this mode to analyze the tool moves in detail, step-by-step. To begin using Preview Control, click on either the Run, Single Step or Run to Retract buttons

Begins Preview Control simulation

Moves the toolpath on by one tool move.

Runs the toolpath to the next retract move, then pauses the tool.

Temporarily halts the tool in its current position and enables the Stop button so you can exit Preview Control mode

Exits Preview Control mode.

This option animates all calculated toolpaths cutting into the material

Once selected the objects will form parts, with part outer boundary highlighted with a thicker line.

The basis for forming parts is overlapping. If selected object contains another or overlaps with it they will be considered the same part.

The Clearance value will be combined with the specified Tool Diameter to create the final minimum spacing between the nested shapes. For example a Clearance of 0.05 inches combined with a Tool Diameter of 0.25 inches would create a minimum spacing gap of 0.3 inches (0.05 + 0.25 = 0.3).

Clearance less than Tool Diameter

Clearance greater than Tool Diameter

The Border Gap value is applied to the edge of the area which is being used to nest the vectors into. It will be added to the Clearance value around the edge of this shape to create the minimum distance that parts will be nested in respect to the nesting boundary.

No Border Gap

Border Gap

Checking ✓ this option will allow the software to rotate the selected vectors in order to try and better fit them. The increments of rotation the software will use is based on the Rotation step angle.

Rotate Parts Enabled

Rotate Parts Disabled

Checking ✓ this option will allow the software to nest within the internal areas of shapes that have gaps in the middle.

When this option is active, the internal areas that will be considered in nesting will be highlighted.

Original

Parts Nested inside other parts

This option is only available for double-sided projects and allows nesting on both sides simultaneously. When this option is active, any visible objects on the other side will be included, if they intersect with objects selected on active side.

When using this mode it is recommended to perform selection on the side that contains cut-out contours.

When part is selected, the included vectors on the other side will be highlighted as can be seen below.

Double-sided part before selection

Double-sided part when selected

The options in this area of the form are used to select how the parts will progress as they are positioned within the sheet. The best way to think of this (for the purposes of this section) is that they 'pour' out of the selected corner filling the sheet in one axis then advancing along the other defined axis (X or Y) .

Along X

Along Y

Checking ✓ this option means the last vector selected will be used as the boundary for the nesting area. This can be useful if you need to define a non-rectangular shape to Nest Parts into, such as large off-cuts from a previous job. It's important to note that using this option will not respect the currently defined Job Area if the selected boundary vectors goes outside of it.

This tool automatically traces or fits vectors to image files so they can be machined. Use the Import Bitmap tool and select the image in the 2D view, then open Fit Vectors to Bitmap.

After importing an image the Tracing option allows vector boundaries to be created automatically around colored or black and white regions in the image.

You can define an area within the bitmap, such that only that part of the bitmap will be traced. This can be done by selecting the bitmap (if this hasn't been done already), and then clicking and dragging the mouse over the area you want, to define a rectangular region on the bitmap. This will be highlighted with a dashed black rectangle.

Clicking on the Bitmap again will remove a selected area if one has been specified, in which case, the entire bitmap will have vectors fitted to it.

When working with Black and White images the slider can be used to change the Threshold and merge the levels of gray between all white (min), and all black (max).

When the image being displayed in the 2D view looks correct then clicking the Preview button automatically creates vector boundaries either around the selected Trace Color or the grayscale.

Color images are automatically reduced to 16 colors and the slider allows the visible number of colors to be set as required. Colors are merged with the closest match.

Colors can be temporarily linked together by clicking the check boxes next to each of the colors displayed. This changes the color displayed in the 2D view to the selected Trace Color. This is very useful for merging similar color's together to allow complete regions to be traced.

If a new Trace Color is selected the linked colors are displayed using this color in the 2D view.

The Reset button unlinks all the checked ✓ colors and the image displayed in the 2D view reverts back to the original 16 color image.

You can define an area within the bitmap, such that only that part of the bitmap will be traced. This can be done by selecting the bitmap (if this hasn't been done already), and then clicking and dragging the mouse over the area you want, to define a rectangular region on the bitmap. This will be highlighted with a dashed black rectangle.

Clicking on the Bitmap again will remove a selected area if one has been specified, in which case, the entire bitmap will have vectors fitted to it.

The Corner Fit control determines how accurately the vectors are fitted to the corner edges in an image.

Loose

Tight

The first stage in any project is to create a new blank part or import some existing data to work with. At this stage a number of parameters need to be defined relating to the size of the part and its position relative to the datum location on the CNC machine. Later, once the part has been defined and you have started working, you may want to change the size of the material, import additional data and generally manage the project operation. In this section of the manual the initial creation of a part will be covered along with all the icons which appear under the File Operations section of the Drawing Tab.

When you first start the program you will see the Startup Task options on the left hand tab and also a list of your 4 most recently opened Aspire parts (this is a rolling list that will be populated each time you run the software and may initially be empty).

When you first start the program you will see the Startup Task options on the left hand tab and also a list of your most recently opened Aspire parts.

The first choice is whether you want to Create a new file or Open an existing one. Creating a new file allows you specify a size and location for a blank work area, set your material thickness and also set the model quality and even the shading color/material. The process to do this will be covered in the next section (Job Setup Form Options).

The second choice, Open an Existing File, will allow you to open a pre-created file from your computer. This may be a file you previously created (*.crv3d or *.crv). Alternatively, it might be a 2D vector layout from another CAD system (*.dxf, *.eps, *.ai and *.pdf). A CRV3D or CRV file will have the necessary information for material size etc. already embedded in it. The 2D formats will import the data at the size and position it was created but will require you to go through the Job Setup form to verify/edit all the parameters for the part.

The interactive trimming tool allows the user to just click on sections of vectors they want to delete.

The program finds the closest intersections either side of the clicked portion of the vector and removes the piece of the vector between the intersections. Optionally, when the form for this command is closed, the program can rejoin all the remaining trimmed pieces automatically.

Without using this tool, to remove an overlapping section of a vector, the user would need to insert extra nodes into both vectors, manually delete the intermediate sections and then manually join the resulting pieces. These operations can be performed with a single click using this tool.

When the tool is selected the cursor changes into a 'closed' scissor shape. When the cursor is moved over a vector suitable for trimming the scissors 'open' to show you can click and trim.

If there are lots of vectors to trim then the left-click mouse button can be held down and then when the cursor is dragged and hovers over a vector then it will also trim the vectors. This can be much quicker than individually clicking spans.

The Job Setup form is displayed whenever a new job is being created, or when the size and position of an existing job is edited.

In most cases a new job represents the size of the material the job will be machined into or at least an area of a larger piece of material which will contain the part which is going to be cut. Clicking OK creates a new empty job, which is drawn as a grey rectangle in the 2D View. Dotted horizontal and vertical Grey lines are drawn in the 2D design window to show where the X0 and Y0 point is positioned.

Single Sided job type should be used when design only requires the material to be cut from one side. This is the simplest type of job to design and machine.

Double Sided Job type is useful when it is desired to cut both sides of your material. Aspire allows you to visualise and manage the creation and cutting process of both sides of your design within a single project file.

Rotary job type enables the use of a rotary axis (also called a 4th axis or indexer).Aspire will provide alternative visualisation, simulation and tools appropriate for rotary designs.

This section of the form defines the dimensions of the material block you will be using for your project in terms of width (along the X axis), height (along the Y axis) and thickness (along the Z axis).

It also allows you to select which units of measurement you prefer to design in - either inches (Imperial/English) or millimeters (Metric).

This sets the resolution/quality for the 3D model. When working with 3D models a lot of calculation and memory may be required for certain operations. Setting the Resolution allows you to choose the best balance of quality and speed for the part you are working on. The better the resolution quality chosen, the slower the computer will perform.

As this is completely dependent on the particular part you are working on and your computer hardware performance, it is difficult in a document like this to recommend what the setting should be. Generally speaking, the Standard (fastest) setting will be acceptable for the majority of parts that Aspire users make. If the part you are making is going to be relatively large (over 18 inches) but still has small details, you may want to choose a higher Resolution such as High (3 x slower) and for very large parts (over 48 inches) with small details then the Highest (7 x slower) setting may be appropriate.

The reason that the detail of your part needs to be taken into account is that if you were making a part with one large item in it (e.g. a fish) then the standard resolution would be OK but if it was a part with many detailed items in it (e.g. a school of fish) then the High or Highest setting would be better. As previously stated these are extremely general guidelines as on slower/older computers operations with the highest setting may take a long time to calculate.

As the Resolution is applied across your whole work area it is important to set the size of your part to just be big enough to contain the part you plan to carve. It would not be advisable to set your material to be the size of your machine - e.g. 96 x 48 if the part you plan to cut is only 12 x 12 as this would make the resolution in the 12 x 12 area very low.

In the unfortunate event of the software crashing,

1. We try to save unsaved changes, so that your data isn't lost.
2. Provide an easy way for you to report the crash so that we can work on a fix.

You will need to be connected to the internet for this to work. If not, you can still send the generated zipped report to support@vectric.com. The report can be found in the Application Program Data (Accessible through the menu File ⇛ Open application data folder.... If you try to send the report and it fails, you will get a message of where that path is and possible methods to get that report to us.

The crash reporting is powered by BugSplat (a third-party) company which provides us with the tools that help us analyse them.

This option automatically sizes a block of text to fit inside the boundary box (width and height limits) of a selected vector or vectors. If no vectors are selected the text is scaled to fit the size of the material.

The procedure for Drawing Text in the 2D Window is:

• Select the vector inside which the text is to be fitted
• Click the Draw Text icon
• Enter the required text content
• Select the font either True Type or Single Line as required and alignment options

The Larger Edit... button opens a larger text entry window that makes it easier to enter text that needs to run on longer line lengths.

The Single Line Radio Button changes the Fonts list to show a selection of fonts that are very quick to engrave.

This example shows text (in an Engraving Font) drawn in an ellipse. The bounding box of the ellipse is used for the layout:

The distance between the text and the bounding box where:

• None - Scales text to fit the rectangle width or height of the bounding box
• Normal - Scales text to fit within 80% of the bounding leaving a 10% border to the left and right.
• Wide - Reduces the size to 60% of the rectangle width leaving a 20% border to the left and right.

When the text fits the width of the box and there is space above and below it, the text can be made to fill that vertical space using one these methods:

No Vertical Stretch

Stretch Line Space to fit

Stretch Characters to fit

When the text fits the height of the box and there is space at the sides, the text can be made to fill that horizontal space using one these methods:

No Horizontal Stretch

Stretch Spaces between words

Stretch Kerning (space between letters)

Stretch Character size

Rectangular Border

Oval Border

Fades the edges of the image based on the border type and the width of the fading.

Rectangular Border

Oval Border

The quickest and easiest way to create a star is by clicking and dragging the shape to size in the 2D View using the mouse.

• Click and hold the left mouse button to indicate the center point.
• Drag the mouse while holding down the left mouse to required radius.
• Release the left mouse button to complete the shape.

As the cursor is dragged across the screen so the outer radius is dynamically updated. The increments will depend upon your snap radius and the job size.

Instead of releasing the left mouse button when you have dragged your shape to the required size, you can also type exact values during the dragging process and set properties precisely.

• Left-click and drag out your shape in the 2D View.
• With the left mouse button still pressed, enter a quick key sequence detailed below.
• Release the left mouse button.

By default, entering a single value will be used to set the outer radius of your star. While you are dragging out the star, type Radius Value Enter to create a star with the precisely specified outer radius.

Example

• 2 . 5 Enter - Creates a start with an outer radius of 2.5 all other settings as per the form

By using specific letter keys after your value, you can also indicate precisely which property it relates to.

• Value D - Creates a start with the outer Diameter (D) specified with all other properties as per the form
• Value I Value R - Creates a star with the inner radius percentage (I) and the outer radius (R). The inner radius is defined in terms of a percentage of the outer radius or diameter. All other properties are as per the form.
• Value P Value R - Creates a star with the specified number of points (P) and the outer radius (R).
• Value P Value I - Creates a star with the specified number of points (P), inner radius percentage (I) and the outer radius (R).

Examples

• 1 R - Outer radius 1, other properties as per form
• 1 D - Outer diameter 1, other properties as per form
• 6 P 1 R - A 6 pointed star with an outer radius of 1
• 6 P 2 5 I 4 D - A 6 pointer (P) star with an outer diameter (D) of 4 and an inner diameter that is 25% of the outer (i.e. 1).

Stars can also be drawn by entering the Number of Points, Center Point, Outer Radius and Inner Radius Percentage.

• Click Create to update the star.

The License Dialog is used to set the details you need to activate the software. This dialog can also be used to activate optional modules. The page that initially appears will give you the option to set your license details either automatically from your V&Co account or manually.

The "Online Method" section below covers the process to follow if Online is selected.

The "Manual Method" section below shows the process to follow if you wish to type in your license details manually or do not have an Internet connection available.

This method will allow you to retrieve your details automatically from your V&Co account. To use this select 'Online' and then click Next > on the form. The online section of the form will then be displayed.

Pressing Login... on this dialog will launch a web browser which will take you to the V&Co login page if authentication is required.

After logging in here with your V&Co account details another page may appear asking for permission for Cut2D Pro to access your license details.

This page will only appear if you have not already granted access. If this appears you should select "Allow" to enable Cut2D Pro to retrieve your license details automatically.

At this point Cut2D Proshould be being displayed and the dialog should be automatically populated with any licenses available on your account.

You can select any of the product licenses available and information on the type of license will be displayed in the status area. Once the license and any modules have been selected by clicking on them Next > can be pressed to activate these and proceed to the summary page.

This page displays the selected license and module details. If you are changing current license details or adding a module a restart will be required for these to fully take effect. In this case a check box will appear allowing you to restart automatically. If this is checked then when you press Finish Cut2D Pro will automatically be restarted to apply the license changes. If you do not select this option the license changes take effect the next time Cut2D Pro is restarted.

The manual method allows entry of license details without requiring an Internet connection. Selecting "Manual" and clicking Next > will cause the manual entry form to be displayed.

The "Registered User Name" from your license information should be entered into the "Licensed To" area of the form and the license code can either be copied and pasted into the middle row of the dialog or manually typed into the lower section if "Enter license code manually" is selected. The Next > button will become available when a code of the expected length has been entered.

If the product is already licensed then a module code can be entered at this stage instead of the product code. If you wish to manually activate both a product and module code the product code should be added here and there will be an opportunity to add the module code later. Pressing Next > will set the license and display the summary screen.

The summary screen shows the current licensed user and has an Add Module button to allow additional modules to be added. Pressing this button will display the manual entry form again and allow the module details to be entered.

If the licensed user is changed or a new module is added a restart will be required for these to take full effect. In this case a check box will appear allowing you to restart automatically. If this is checked then when you press the finish button the program will automatically be restarted to apply the license changes. If you do not select this option the license changes take effect the next time the program is restarted.

The Job Setup form is displayed whenever a new job is being created, or when the size and position of an existing job is edited.

In most cases a new job represents the size of the material the job will be machined into or at least an area of a larger piece of material which will contain the part which is going to be cut. Clicking OK creates a new empty job, which is drawn as a gray rectangle in the 2D View. Dotted horizontal and vertical Grey lines are drawn in the 2D design window to show where the X0 and Y0 point is positioned.

Single Sided job type should be used when design only requires the material to be cut from one side. This is the simplest type of job to design and machine.

Double Sided Job type is useful when it is desired to cut both sides of your material. Aspire allows you to visualise and manage the creation and cutting process of both sides of your design within a single project file.

Rotary job type enables the use of a rotary axis (also called a 4th axis or indexer).Aspire will provide alternative visualisation, simulation and tools appropriate for rotary designs.

This section of the form defines the dimensions of the material block you will be using for your project in terms of width (along the X axis), height (along the Y axis) and thickness (along the Z axis).

It also allows you to select which units of measurement you prefer to design in - either inches (Imperial/English) or millimeters (Metric).

This sets the resolution/quality for the 3D model. When working with 3D models a lot of calculation and memory may be required for certain operations. Setting the Resolution allows you to choose the best balance of quality and speed for the part you are working on. The better the resolution quality chosen, the slower the computer will perform.

As this is completely dependent on the particular part you are working on and your computer hardware performance, it is difficult in a document like this to recommend what the setting should be. Generally speaking, the Standard (fastest) setting will be acceptable for the majority of parts that Aspire users make. If the part you are making is going to be relatively large (over 18 inches) but still has small details, you may want to choose a higher Resolution such as High (3 x slower) and for very large parts (over 48 inches) with small details then the Highest (7 x slower) setting may be appropriate.

The reason that the detail of your part needs to be taken into account is that if you were making a part with one large item in it (e.g. a fish) then the standard resolution would be OK but if it was a part with many detailed items in it (e.g. a school of fish) then the High or Highest setting would be better. As previously stated these are extremely general guidelines as on slower/older computers operations with the highest setting may take a long time to calculate.

As the Resolution is applied across your whole work area it is important to set the size of your part to just be big enough to contain the part you plan to carve. It would not be advisable to set your material to be the size of your machine - e.g. 96 x 48 if the part you plan to cut is only 12 x 12 as this would make the resolution in the 12 x 12 area very low.

CNC machines that require the tooling to be changed manually will typically need a separate toolpath for each cutter used. The procedure for saving this type of toolpath is to:

• Select the toolpath to save from the Toolpath List
• Click on the Save option and the Save Toolpaths form is displayed.
• Select the correct Postprocessor for the CNC machine from the pull-down list
• Click the Save Toolpath(s) button
• Enter a suitable Name and click the Save button

Saves all of the visible toolpath to individual files. You will be prompted to provide a filename. This filename will be used as a prefix for each of the files.

If the option Group where possible is chosen then consecutive toolpaths which use the same tool will save out to the same file. In this case then the chosen name will be applied, as well as numbers which indicate which toolpaths have been saved. For example, if you decide to name your files Toolpaths and the first 3 toolpaths can be all output in single file, then that file will begin: Toolpaths_1-3 to indicate that it is toolpaths 1- 3 which are being saved out.

CNC Machines that have Automatic Tool Changing (ATC) capabilities can work with a single file that contains multiple toolpaths, each having a different tool number.

The postprocessor must be configured to support ATC commands for your CNC machine. Contact your software or machine supplier for more details.

• The procedure for saving these toolpaths is,
• Use the Up and Down arrows to order the toolpath list in the cutting sequence required.
• Tick each toolpath to ensure it is drawn / visible in the 3D window as shown:
• Click on the Save option and the Save Toolpaths form is displayed. Select the option Output all visible toolpaths to one file

The names of the toolpaths that will be written into the file are displayed along with the tool number in square brackets [1]. If a calculated toolpath is not required, simply tick to undraw it.

Click the Save Toolpath(s) button Enter a suitable Name and click the Save button

The postprocessor automatically checks to ensure:

• It has been configured for saving files that include ATC commands
• A different tool number has been defined for each different cutter being used.

An error message will be displayed to indicate the problem if either of these items is not correct.

To enter text:

• Click in the 2D view to choose the anchor position
• Enter the text in the Text box
• Edit the styling options. All changes are automatically applied

Sets the position of your text block. Either enter values directly, or use the mouse cursor to set the position values interactively:

• For new text simply left click in 2D view in the desired location
• For existing text object, left click the anchor point handle and drag it to the desired location

To edit text properties or content of previously created text:

• If the Create Text form is open, click the text you wish to edit or
• If the Create Text form is closed, click the left mouse button on the text in the 2D View to select it before opening this form. The form will now allow you to edit the properties of the selected text.

Profile Machining is used to cut around or along a vector. Options provide the flexibility for cutting shapes out with optional Tabs / bridges plus an Allowance over/undercut to ensure perfect edge quality.

Profile toolpaths can be outside, inside or on the selected vectors, automatically compensating for the tool diameter and angle for the chosen cut depth.

When working with open vectors the profile toolpaths can be to the Left, to the Right or On the selected vectors.

Clicking this icon opens the 2D Profile Toolpath form which is shown at the right; the functions in this form are described on the following pages.

If you have vectors which are nested (like the letter 'O'), the program will automatically determine the nesting and cut the correct side of the inner and outer vectors. In addition, the program will always cut the inner vectors before the outer vectors to ensure the part remains attached to the original material as long as possible.

This specifies the depth at which the toolpath is calculated from.

When cutting directly into the surface of a job the Start Depth will often be 0. If machining into the bottom of an existing pocket or 3D region, the depth needs be entered.

When a toolpath is created, the Pass Depth value associated with the selected tool (part of the tool's description) is used to determine the number of passes needed to profile down to the specified Cut Depth. However, by default the software will also modify the precise step down by up to 15% in either direction, if by doing so it is able to total number of passes required to reach the desired cut depth. It is nearly always desirable to benefit from the significantly reduced machining time of cutting using less passes if possible. Nevertheless, there are some occasions where the exact step down for a given profile pass needs to be more precisely controlled - when cutting into laminated material, for example. The Passes section page indicates how many passes will be created with the current settings.The Edit Passes... button will open a new dialog that enables the specific number and height of passes to be set directly.

The Pass Depths section at the top of the form shows a list of the current pass depths. The relative spacing of the passes is indicated in the diagram next to the list. Left click on a depth value in the list, or a depth line on the diagram, to select it. The currently selected pass is highlighted in red on the diagram.

To edit the depth of the selected pass, change the value in the Depth edit box and click Apply.

The Delete button will delete the selected pass.

The Clear All Passes button will delete all the passes.

To add a new pass, double left click at the approximate location in the passes diagram that you wish to add the pass. A new pass will be added and automatically selected. Edit the precise Depth value if required and then click Apply.

The Set Last Pass Thickness option will enable an edit box where you can specify the last pass in terms of the remaining thickness of material you wish to cut with the last pass (instead of in terms of its depth). This is often a more intuitive way to specify this value.

The first method simply sets the passes based on the Depth of Step property of the selected tool. By default, this is the method used by Aspire when initially creating profile passes. However, if the Maintain Exact Step Depth option is checked, the software will not vary the step size to try to optimize the number of passes (see above).

The second method creates evenly spaced passes based on the value specified in the Number of passes edit box.

To apply either method, click the Set Associated Passes button to create the resulting set of pass depths in the pass list and diagram.

There are 3 options to choose from to determine how the tool is positioned relative to the selected vectors.

Outside

Inside

On

A separate allowance can be specified for the last pass. If this allowance is given then all but the last pass will be undercut by the specified allowance with the final pass being the only pass which cuts to size.

If the Reverse direction button is checked ✓ then the cutting direction of the last pass is reversed. This feature is can be useful if for minimizing witness marks on the edge of profile cuts.

The last pass allowance will also take into account any allowance offset and so the two options can be used together.

Use Start Point can be selected to force the toolpath to plunge and start cutting at the first point on the shape. This is very useful if you need to ensure the cutter doesn't plunge onto a critical part of the job. For example, setting the Start Point to be on a corner will often be the best position to plunge and cut from as this will not leave a witness / dwell mark on the machined surface.

The Start Points are displayed as Green boxes on all vectors when this option is selected. Start Point on a vector can be moved using the Node Editing Tools. Select Node Editing cursor or press N. Place the cursor over the node to be used as the Start Point. Click Right mouse button and select Make Start Point (or press P) Remember, you can also insert a new point anywhere on a vector using the Right mouse menu or pressing the letter P - this will insert a new point and make it the start point.

When this option is selected the tab will be triangular in section. This is shape is created as the cutter ramps up to the specified Tab Thickness then down the other side. The 3D Tabs will often allow the machine to run quicker and smoother because it does not have to stop to move in Z at the start and end of each tab.

3D Tab

If this option is unchecked, the 2D tabs will be used. The cutter stops at the start point for each tab, lifts vertically by the specified Thickness runs across the ramp, stops and plunges down the other side.

Tab thickness is measured from the bottom of the CUT DEPTH, not the Material bottom.

How the lenght and thickness change the tab size

The Profiling options section of the toolpath form contains five additional pages, each of which allows a particular set of Profile machining options to be specified. The precise number of option pages will depend on which Toolpath strategy you are currently using. The full range of option pages are:

• Ramps
• Leads
• Order
• Start At
• Corners

These help control ways to ensure the parts are held in place and machined as easily as possible while ensuring the highest quality edge finish.

Each set of options can be accessed by the tabs at the top of the Profile options section.

This option creates a smooth ramp into the material using either the specified Distance or Angle.

When a Lead In distance has been specified, the option Ramp on Lead In disables the distance and angle options and automatically limits the ramp moves to only be on the lead in portion of the toolpath.

This option ramps into the material by Zig-Zag backwards and forwards using either the specified Distance or Angle and Distance.

The Distance option ramps into the material, zigging for the specified distance in one direction then zagging back over the same distance.

The Angle option is typically used for cutters that cannot plunge vertically but have an entry angle specified by the manufacturer.

Checking ✓ this creates a continual spiral ramp, these are only available when the toolpath does not include lead in moves.

This option ramps into the material over the complete circumference of the profile pass. The angle is automatically calculated to ramp from the start point to full depth over the perimeter distance around the job.

The rate at which the cutter ramps into the material is determined by the Pass Depth specified for the cutter. For example, Spiral Profiling 0.5 inch deep with a cutter that has a Pass depth of 0.5 or greater will spiral down in 1 pass. Editing the Pass depth to be 0.25 inch results in the 2 spiral passes around the profile.

This option creates a linear lead onto the cutter path using the Angle and Lead length distance specified.

The toolpath will lead onto the selected edge at the specified Angle.

Checking ✓ the Do lead out option results in an exit lead being added at the end of the toolpath off the machined edge.

The Overcut Distance forces the cutter to machine past the start point and is often used to help produce a better edge quality on parts.

This option creates an arc lead onto the toolpath using the Radius and Lead length distance specified.

The toolpath will curve onto the selected edge, tangent to the direction of the vector at the point it reaches the actual geometry edge.

Checking ✓ the Do lead out option results in an exit lead being added at the end of the toolpath off the machined edge.

The Overcut Distance forces the cutter to machine past the start point and is often used to help produce a better edge quality on parts.

Influence the start point by defining which part of the bounding box of the profiled vector it should start near.

This will look for the nearest point, from all of the spans' endpoints, and will start the toolpath from that point.

When you load a previously saved toolpath template (using Toolpaths ► Templates ► Load Template...) you will have an empty toolpath which can be edited by double clicking on its name in the toolpath list or selecting the Edit Toolpath icon in the Toolpaths tab. Once the toolpath form is open, the vectors to be machined can be selected and the toolpath calculated using all the saved settings.

If you load a toolpath template which has toolpaths associated with layers which don't exist in the current file, the Missing Layers for Template dialog will be displayed. It lists all the missing layers and offers you the choice of having them created automatically, deleting toolpaths associated with missing layers or just loading the toolpaths as is.

Choosing to allow the dialog to automatically create the missing layers allows a toolpath template to be used to create 'standard' layers for machining operations and load the toolpaths ready to be calculated. All you then need to do is move vectors to the appropriate layers and recalculate all the toolpaths.

Choosing the Delete all toolpaths associated with missing layers option allows you to create a single template with many toolpaths and have the ones which aren't appropriate to the current job automatically deleted.

The nature of different styles of toolpaths means that they may be simple 2D cuts or require simultaneous 3-axis moves, the more complex the toolpath then the more chance the CNC machine may not actually achieve the programmed feed rates. This can be compensated for by multiplying the times by the Scale Factor.

The scale factor in the program lets you approximate this slowdown for your machine, but it will vary depending on the type of work you are doing. Many people will use one scale factor for simple 2d work and another for 3d or VCarving. The best way to calculate it is just to take a note of estimated and actual machining times of a period of time.

For machines where the controller provides an estimated machining time, these should be more accurate as the controller can determine where the machine is accelerating / decelerating and take account of this.

See also the Rulers, Guides and Snap Grid section.

	Pan	Click and hold the Left mouse button and drag the mouse about to Pan - Esc to cancel mode Shortcut: Click and drag the Middle mouse button or if using a 2 button mouse, Hold Ctrl + drag with Right Mouse button.
	Zoom Interactive	Mouse with Middle Wheel - Scroll wheel in / out Mouse without Middle Wheel - Hold Shift + Push / Pull with Right Mouse button.
	Zoom Box	Click top left corner, hold mouse down and drag to bottom right corner and release. Clicking the left mouse button will zoom in, Shift + click will zoom out.
	Zoom Extents	Zooms to show material limits in the 2D window
	Zoom Selected	With objects selected Zooms to the bounding box of the selection

• Left click the mouse in the 2D View to set the start point of an arc.
• Click again to set the end point position.
• Move the mouse and click a third point to set the arc's radius.

• Left click the mouse in the 2D View to set the center point of the arc.
• Click again to set the start point of the arc.
• Move the mouse and click a third point to set the end point of the arc.

The Material Setup section of the Toolpaths tab provides a summary of the current material settings. Some of these values will have been initially set when the job was first created (see Job Setup for more information). When you come to creating toolpaths, it is important to review this information and ensure it is still valid and also to set the machining clearances. To access all these properties for editing, click on the Set... button to open the Material Setup form:

Different form is displayed depending on the job type:

• Single- or double- sided job,
• Rotary job.

Using the Toolpath Tiling options it is possible to machine objects and designs that are many times larger than the available area of your CNC machine bed. This process is also invaluable if the maximum size of your material pieces are limited. In both cases, a much larger project can still be achieved by breaking the toolpath down into manageable tiles or strips, each of which can fit within the machinable area of your CNC machine, or on the available material blocks. Once cut, the tiles can then be re-assembled to form the finished piece.

The process of tiling begins by creating toolpaths based on the final object entirely as normal - at this stage you do not need to take any account of the available machining bed size. Once you have calculated required toolpaths, click on the toolpath tiling button in the toolpaths pane to open up the toolpath tiling form.

The first tiling option is for individual tiles. This splits the current job in both X and Y, to form a series of entirely separate toolpaths. This is generally the preferred option if you have independent pieces of material to machine, or if you have a moving-bed type CNC machine that will not allow you to 'overhang' material outside of the machinable area.

With this option selected, you are asked to specify the width and height of each tile, and the required overlap (which will be applied in each direction). Tiles are created from the bottom left of your model. The overlap for independent tiles is particularly important for 2.5D toolpaths that utilize the shape of your tool bit (such as V-bit carving). 2.5D toolpaths will need to 'overrun' the edges of your tile in order to complete their cuts using the side of the bit. For this reason, the overlap distance for Independent Tiles will typically need to be at least equal to the radius of your tool bit.

Instead of cutting a series of individual pieces of material and assembling them later, it can also be convenient to cut a single strip of material using a series of set-ups - moving the material through the machinable area between cuts. Aspirespecifically supports this technique using the Feed-through in X/Y options. In these cases you will only need to define either the Tile Width or Height (which corresponds to your intended feed-through distance), as the other dimension is assumed to correspond to the shorter side length of your material and will match the equivalent current job dimension. Similarly, the overlap distance is only applied in the direction of the draw-through. Because you will typically be cutting the same piece of material with each toolpath tile, the overlap distance for Feed-through is not as critical as for Individual tiles and is typically used to allow for a margin of error in your set-up accuracy.

Once you have set your tiling option, click the Update Tiles button to see your settings reflected in the Tile Previews in either the 2D or 3D Views.

The 2D View indicates how the model area is split into tiles. The yellow lines indicate the tile sizes, but the light red areas also indicate the overlap region for each tile.

Double-clicking on a tile will make that tile the active tile.

In the 3D view the toolpaths will be showed tiled, with only the moves that are within the active tile shown.

You can also view and simulate individual toolpath tiles in the 3D View. To view the toolpath tiles, simply ensure that the toolpaths are visible (checked ✓ in the Toolpath List) and then select the tile you wish to see either from the Tile Toolpaths form, or the 2D View (see above).

Since tiles are created so that they will all be cut within the same machinable area (i.e. they are all located in a similar position relative to the machining origin), this can make them difficult to visualize using Preview Toolpaths. Simulating each toolpath tile in its absolute position will result in the toolpaths being cut in the same region of your preview block and they will overcut the same area. The Tile Toolpaths form has an option Draw toolpaths in original position for visualization to allow you to simulate the tiles as if they were arranged in their final pattern. With this option enabled, you can visualize how your final piece will look by previewing all your toolpath tiles together, but you should note that it will not reflect the true offset of each toolpath from your machining origin.

Provided you have created toolpath tiles using the Tile Toolpaths form, an additional option, Output Tiled Toolpaths, will be available in the toolpath saving form.

It will be checked ✓ or unchecked to match the current state of the Tile Toolpaths check box in the Tile Toolpaths form.

The 2D View is used to design and manage the layout of your finished part. Different entities are used to allow the user to control items that are either strictly 2D or are 2D representations of objects in the 3D View. A list of these 2D View entities are described briefly below and more fully in later sections of this manual.

Ultimately the point of all these different types of objects is to allow you to create the toolpaths you need to cut the part you want on your CNC. This may mean that they help you to create the basis for the 3D model or that they are more directly related to the toolpath such as describing its boundary shape. The different applications and uses for these 2D items mean that organization of them is very important. For this reason Cut2D Pro has a Layer function for managing 2D data. The Layers are a way of associating different 2D entities together to allow the user to manage them more effectively. Layers will be described in detail later in the relevant section of this manual. If you are working with a 2 Sided project you can switch between the 'Top' and 'Bottom' sides in the same session, enabling you to create and edit data on each side, and using the 'Multi Sided View' option you can view the vectors on the opposite side. 2 Sided Setup will be described in detail later in the relevant section of this manual.

Vectors are lines, arcs and curves which can be as simple as a straight line or can make up complex 2D designs. They have many uses in Cut2D Pro, such as describing a shape for a toolpath to follow or creating designs. Cut2D Pro contains a number of vector creation and editing tools which are covered in this manual.

As well as creating vectors within the software many users will also import vectors from other design software such as Corel Draw or AutoCAD. Cut2D Pro supports the following vector formats for import: *.dxf, *.eps, *.ai, *.pdf, *skp and *svg. Once imported, the data can be edited and combined using the Vector Editing tools within the software.

The Interactive Move, Rotate, Scale Selection tools can be used to quickly and easily modify vectors and components.

Clicking twice on one of the selected objects and the interactive scaling, movement and rotation handles are displayed in the same way as selecting this icon. Lines, Arcs and Bezier spans will be displayed as dotted magenta lines and text and grouped objects will be displayed as solid magenta lines:

When in this mode the mouse is used to click on one of the handles which has appeared on the selected Vector/s. Each handle is used for a specific editing operation as detailed here:

• Middle - Move the vectors (Hold +Alt Move the selected objects in one axis)
• Corner (White) - Scale the vectors proportionally (Hold +Alt Scaling non-proportionally, +Shift Scale around the centre)
• Edges (White) - Scale the vector in one axis (Hold +Shift Scaling proportionally)
• Corner (Black) - Rotate the vectors (Hold +Alt Rotate in 15° increments)

To deselect objects,

• Click the white background unless Shift is pressed.
• Press Esc
• Right click menu ► Unselect All

This opens the File Open dialog window and allows 2D DXF, EPS and AI and PDF files to be imported into the 2D View. The imported vectors will always be read in at the size and scale they were created in their original design software. Once open they can be scaled and edited in the same way as vectors created in Aspire. All the Vector tools will be dealt with in that section of this manual.

To import toolpaths from PhotoVCarve and Cut3D (.PVC and .V3D file extensions), use File ► Import... ► Import PhotoVCarve or Cut3D Toolpaths from the file menu bar. Any Toolpath data saved as .PVC or .V3D files can be imported and will be visible in the Toolpath List.

See the 3D Toolpath Files section for detailed instructions on importing PhotoVCarve(*.pvc), Cut3D(*.v3d) or Vectric 3D Machinist(*.v3m) files.

This section will show how to create a simple column, using the profile and fluting toolpaths.

Start by creating a new rotary job. Please note that settings shown here are only an example and should be adapted to match your machine setup and available material.

In this example the blank will rotate around X axis. We will refer to it as the rotation axis. The axis that will be wrapped is the Y axis. We will refer to it as the wrapped axis. That means that the top and bottom boundaries of the 2D workspace will actually coincide. We will refer to them as the wrapped boundaries.

First, create the cove vectors using Draw Line/Polyline tool. Those will run along the wrapped axis at both ends of the design. Snapping may be useful to ensure that the created line starts and ends at the wrapped boundaries.

In this example the coves were placed 1 inch from the job boundaries, leaving 10 inches in the middle for the flutes. The flutes will run along rotation axis. Assuming 0.5 inch gap between the cove and the beginning of the flute, the flutes will have the length of 9 inches. This example will use 8 flutes.

To start, create a line parallel to rotation axis that is 9 inches long. Now select the created flute vector and then select one of the cove vectors while holding down Shift. Then use Copy Along Vectors tool to create 9 copies. The original flute vector may now be removed as it is no longer necessary. Note that first and last copy are both created on wrapped boundaries. That means they will coincide, so one of them can be removed. As the last step select all flute vectors and press F9 to place them in the center of design.

The process of creating 2D rotary toolpaths is very similar to creating toolpaths for Single- and Double- models. This example will use the profile toolpath on the cove vectors. To create the toolpath, select the cove vectors and click on the Profile Toolpath from

To create the toolpath for the flutes, select the flute vectors and click on the Fluting Toolpath. This Example used a 1 inch 90deg V-Bit set to Flute Depth 0.2 and using the Ramp at Start and End and Ramp Type Smooth options. Ramp length was set to 0.25 inches. Both toolpaths can be seen below.

Toolpath for coves of the column

Toolpath for flutes of the column

It is time to simulate toolpaths using Preview Toolpaths. If the option to animate the preview is selected, the simulation will be visualized in flat mode. Once the simulation is complete, the wrapped rotary view will be turned back on automatically.

Although the design can be considered to be finished, in practice it is useful to be able to cut-out the remaining stock. This can be realized by making the design slightly longer and adding profile cuts. In this example the blank length was extended by 2 inches using the Job Setup . Existing vectors can be recentered using F9. After that the existing toolpaths have to be recalculated.

The cut-out vectors can be created in the same way as cove vectors. Two extra profiling toolpaths can be created using the suitable End Mill. In this example we used a tab with a 0.5 inch diameter. In order to achieve that, the user can type the following in the Cut Depth box: z-0.25 and then press = and the software will substitute the result of the calculation. Variable 'z' used in the formula will be substituted by the radius of the blank automatically by software. It is also important to specify Machine Vectors Outside/Right or Machine Vectors Inside/Left as appropriate. Cutout toolpaths and the resulting simulation has been shown below.

Cut-out toolpaths in 2D view

Finished part after adding cut-out toolpaths

The final step is to save the toolpaths in a format acceptable by your machine. Use the Save Toolpaths and select the wrapped post-processor matching your machine.

This section will explain how to create and simulate spiral toolpaths.

One way of thinking about spiral toolpaths is to imagine a long, narrow strip of fabric. Such a strip can be wrapped around a roll at a certain angle. In order to create a toolpath that wraps around the blank multiple times, one can create a long vector at a certain angle. Such a vector is an equivalent to the strip of fabric when it is unwrapped from the roll.

Although such a toolpath will exceed the 2D workspace of the rotary job, thanks to the wrapping process during both simulation and machining the toolpath will actually stay within material boundaries.

The most crucial part of designing spiral vectors is to determine the right angle and length of the line that would result in a given number of wraps. Suppose one would like to modify a simple column design to use spiral flutes, rather than parallel to rotation axis. The following example will use flutes wrapping 3 times each, but the method can be adapted to any other number.

All but one of the existing flute vectors can be removed. Select the Draw Line/Polyline and start a new line by clicking at one end of the existing flute. This line needs to be made along the wrapped axis with the length being 3 times the circumference of the job. In this example that means typing 90 into the Angle box and typing y * 3 into the Length box and pressing =. If the wrapped axis is not the Y axis, but rather the X axis, then the above formula should be x * 3.

Now one can simply draw a line connecting to the other end of the original flute vector and the newly created one. Using Copy Along Vectors tool this single flute may be copied in the way described earlier. In this example 4 spiral flutes were created, as can be seen below.

Vectors used to create spiral flutes

Spiral toolpaths in flat view

Once the flute vectors are ready, the toolpath can be created again using the Fluting Toolpath. An important thing to note, is the difference between the appearance of spiral toolpaths in the wrapped and flat view. By clicking on Auto Wrapping one can switch from wrapped rotary view to flat view and back again.

As can be seen above, in the flat view the toolpaths will follow the vectors and extend beyond the job boundaries. On the other hand the wrapped view, presented below, will display the toolpaths spiralling around the blank.

This was just a brief overview of general 2D workflow for rotary machining. Remember to also take a look at video tutorials dedicated to rotary machining, which are accessible from the Tutorial Video Browser link when the application first starts.

Guide Lines are used to help layout designs and make it very easy to sketch shapes by clicking on the intersections of Guides. Guide Lines are easily be added to the 2D view by pressing the left mouse button down on the appropriate ruler (left if you want a vertical guide and top if you want a horizontal guide) then holding the button down and dragging the mouse into the 2D view.

While dragging a Guide into position it automatically Snaps to the units displayed on the ruler. This snapping behavior can be overridden by holding down a Shift key while dragging the guide. After positioning a Guide it can easily be moved to a new position by clicking the right mouse button on the guide to open the Guide Properties form as shown later in this section. If you hover the mouse over a Guideline then its current position is displayed next to the cursor

Additional guide lines can be added relative to an existing guide line by interactively placing the cursor over an existing guide (the cursor changes to 2 horizontal arrows), Holding a Ctrl key and dragging to the required position. The incremental distance between the guide lines is displayed next to the cursor. Releasing a Ctrl key changes to display the absolute distance from the material origin.

Guides can also be added and other edits made by right clicking on the Guideline which will bring up the Guide Properties form:

The exact position can be specified by entering a New Position.

Guides can be given an angle by either entering an angle into the New Angle box or dragging the slider and clicking Apply. Angles are measured in degrees counterclockwise from the x-axis. From an angled guide you can only create relative parallel guides.

Guide lines can be locked in position to stop them from being inadvertently moved by ticking the Lock Guide option.

Additional Guide Lines can be added that are positioned using absolute or incremental coordinates. Enter the Absolute or relative positions and Click Create New Guide.

Guides can quickly be toggled visible / invisible by clicking in the Top Left Corner of the 2D view:

Alternatively the visibility can be changed using View Menu ► Guide Lines from the Main MenuView Menu ► Guide Lines ► Delete All Guides from the Main Menu

These options can be used to help create and edit vector geometry.

The Snapping Options form can be accessed by selecting Edit ► Snap Options from the Main MenuF4.

Used to control the position at which the cursor will snap when drawing and moving objects. When drawing, the cursor will snap to items on vector geometry depending what options you have selected in the form under this section.

Object centers, Span End points, Span Mid-points, Arc centers, intersections Horizontally, Vertically and the specified Angle and Distance Guide lines and the intersection of Guides

Snap to Nodes, mid-points, centers

Snap to Guides, matching horizontal and vertical points, plus angle and distance

Smart snapping works by snapping the cursor to imaginary lines related to vectors and/or nodes. These lines will appear as dashed, and sometimes coloured, lines that go through the vector or node and the cursor point. You can snap to the intersection of those lines by hovering over the nodes that you're interested in. This reduces the need to create construction geometry (for example, for aligning nodes or vectors), and can be used in almost all the shape creation tools, node editing and transforming vectors.

Snapping lines can be drawn from:

• Nodes that were woken up by hovering the mouse over them or their span
• Vector properties, such as their bounding box or center point
• Material properties, such as extensions from the edge and the middle

Cursor	Type	Description
	Object Bounds	The theoretical bounding box surrounding the active vector + horizontal and vertical lines passing through the centre
	Horizontal and Vertical Lines	Horizontal and vertical lines passing through a node or a span midpoint.
	Tangents	Tangents originating from a node or a span midpoint.
	Perpendicular to Tangents	Lines which are perpendicular to tangents from nodes or span midpoints.
	Connecting Lines	Lines connecting two nodes. Includes mid-point.
	Span Geometry	Snap to the geometry of the vector.
	Angular Constraints	Snapping to specific angles, as defined in the snap options F4.
	Job	Horizontal and vertical lines through the center of the job.

These snap lines appear on the bounding box edges of the vector, and in the middle horizontally and vertically.

Bounding Box

Object Center

Nodes

The snap lines appear when the cursor is near the horizontal or vertical line passing through the woken nodes.

Vectors

Snap lines become available while moving vectors so that it is used for aligning them with other vectors.

Vertical

Horizontal

These snap lines originate from the woken node and will appear as an extension along the end of the belonging span.

These snap lines will be 90° from the tangent snap line.

If you wake two or more nodes, you could snap to the line connecting them. You could, also, snap to the mid-point of that line.

This allows you to snap to the geometry of the vectors.

If you have the job snapping

Geometry Snapping, Smart Snapping and Grid Snapping can be switched on and off from the View Toolbar

Any change to the snap settings F4, through the Main Menu or the toggles on View Toolbar will be remembered for subsequent sessions.

Grouping objects allows you to select, move and manipulate them as if they were one entity. The process is entirely reversible by Ungrouping.

See Grouping and UnGrouping.

This option is used to modify an existing toolpath. Click to select a toolpath in the list then click the edit option to open the form.

The vectors associated with each toolpath are automatically remembered, so editing a toolpath will automatically select the vectors in the 2D window.

Make the required changes to the toolpath parameters Click the Calculate button to update the toolpath

A toolpath can also be edited by double-clicking on its name in the toolpath list.

Selected closed vectors that overlap can be merged together to create a new shape. These tools consider the closed vectors to be solid areas.

The following examples begin with these five vector shapes where the rectangle was selected last.

Only areas of the first selected parts (the circles) that are covered by the last selected vector (the rectangle) remain after this operation.

Vectors can be Grouped allowing any number of vectors to be included as a single object that can easily be selected, moved and scaled etc. The Shortcut key for this operation is G.

Grouping vectors is particularly useful for machining purposes, where different vectors will be used for a single toolpath operation. Clicking any member of the group will select the entire group.

Ellipse / ovals can be created interactively with the cursor and Quick Keys or by entering the exact coordinates for the center point, height and width with typed input.

The quickest and simplest way to draw an ellipse is:

• Click and drag the left mouse button in the 2D View to begin drawing the ellipse from its corner.
• While holding the left mouse button, drag to the required size.
• Releasing the left mouse button.

• Holding Alt and dragging creates an ellipse from the middle point.
• Holding Ctrl and dragging creates a circle.

Instead of releasing the left mouse button when you have dragged your shape to the required size, you can also type exact values during the dragging process and set properties precisely.

• Left-click and drag out your shape in the 2D View.
• With the left mouse button still pressed, enter a quick key sequence detailed below.
• Release the left mouse button.

By using specific letter keys after your value, you can also indicate precisely which property it relates to.

• Value X - Creates an ellipse at current dragged height but with set width
• Value Y - Creates and ellipse at current dragged width but set height
• Value W Value H - Creates an ellipse with set width and height

Examples

• 1 x Current dragged height with width (X) of 1
• 1 y Current dragged width and height (Y) of 1.

To edit an existing ellipse:

• Select the ellipse to modify and open the Draw Ellipse form.
• The selected shape is displayed as a dotted magenta line.
• Edit the Width and Height values.
• Click Apply to update the ellipse.

To modify another ellipse without closing the form hold a Shift key down and select the next ellipse.

Once vectors have been created within Cut2D Pro or have been imported from other design software packages you may want to make changes to them. These changes may be to prepare for machining or for use as construction vectors for making 3D shapes using the Modeling Tools. There are a number of functions for editing vectors which will be covered in this section of the manual. All the icons under the Edit Vectors section of the Drawing Tab will be referenced along with the icons under the Align Objects section of the menu.

Editing Modes

From the 2D view a vector can be selected and then three different editing modes allow different dynamic edits to be made to the vector(s) depending on which option is selected from the Edit Vectors section.

The three editing modes are:

• Vector Selection
• Node Editing
• Interactive Selection

By default the software is normally in the Vector Selection mode.

Select the image you would like to crop. Then using shift + left click select the closed vectors you would like to use to crop the image. You may select multiple vectors but the image must be selected first. Click the crop bitmap button to clear the image outside of the vector. If multiple vectors are used for the cropping then the crop tool leaves only the area of the image that lies inside the selected contours.

New Document Variable names must begin with a letter and then may consist of letter, number and underscore characters. Once created, they may be edited in the table beneath the New Variable section of the Document Variables Dialog.

Variables can be exported to a text file and imported into another job. When importing, any existing variable values with the same name will be replaced.

Once created a Document Variable may be used in any Calculation Edit Box by enclosing its name within a pair of curly braces as illustrated in the figure below.

Right clicking in a Calculation Edit Box provides a Popup Menu that provides shortcuts for creating new Variables and inserting existing variables into the Edit Box.

Once a Document Variable has been created from the Popup Menu it will be inserted into the Edit Box.

The default mode is to enable selected items to be scaled interactively by clicking twice with the mouse.
The process is:

• Select the vectors
• Click a second time to activate the interactive options - handles on the selection box
• Click and drag on the white handles

The keyboard shortcut T opens the Scale form in interactive mode

1. The Main Menu Bar (the Drop Down Menus) along the top of the screen (File, Edit, Model, Toolpaths, View, Gadgets, Help) provides access to most of the commands available in the software, grouped by function. Click on any of the choices to show a Drop-Down list of the available commands.
2. The Design Panel is on the left side of the screen. This is where the design tabs can be accessed and the icons within the tabs to create a design.
3. The Toolpath Tab is on the right side of the screen. The Top section of the toolpaths tab houses all of the icons to create, edit and preview toolpaths. The bottom half shows you toolpaths that you have already created.
4. The 2D Design window is where the design is drawn, edited and selected ready for machining. Designs can be imported or created directly in the software. This occupies the same area as the 3D View and the display can be toggled between the two using F2 and F3 or the tabs at the top of the window.
5. The 3D View is where the composite model, toolpaths and the toolpath preview are displayed.
6. If you wish to see the 2D and 3D views simultaneously, or you wish to switch your focus to the Toolpaths tab at a later stage of your design process, you can use the interface layout buttons (accessible in the 2D View Control section on the Drawing Tab) to toggle between the different preset interface layouts.

The tool pages have Auto-Hide / Show behavior which allows them to automatically close when not being used, thus maximizing your working screen area.

The software includes two default layouts, one for designing and one for machining, which can automatically and conveniently set the appropriate auto-hide behavior for each of the tools pages. Toggle layout buttons on each of the tools pages allow you to switch the interface as your focus naturally shifts from the design stage to the toolpathing stage of your project.

Aspire has two default tool page layouts that are designed to assist the usual workflow of design, followed by toolpath creation.

In all three of the tools tabs there are 'Switch Layout' buttons. In the Drawing and Modeling tabs, these buttons will shift the interface's focus to toolpath tasks by 'pinning-out' the Toolpaths tools tab, and 'unpinning' the Drawing and Modeling tools tabs. In the toolpaths tab, the button reverses the layout - unpinning the toolpaths page, and pinning-out the Drawing and Modeling pages.You can toggle between these two modes using the F11 and F12 shortcut keys.

The Thread Milling Toolpath produces:

• internal thread, i.e., something you can screw a threaded bolt into.
• external threads, i.e., the threads for the exterior of a bolt.

It does this by using a special physical tool and a helical toolpath.

To use the toolpath select the vectors you wish to create threaded parts for. The center's of these vectors will be used to define the center of the threaded part.

Set the parameters to match the thread type you require, and then hit calculate to create the toolpath.

Clicking the Select button opens the Tool Database from which the required Tool can be selected.

Clicking the Edit button opens the Edit Tool form which allows the cutting parameters for the selected tool to be modified, without changing the master information in the database.

The thread milling toolpath supports two types of tool:

Single Point tools have a single point for cutting a single thread at a time

Multi-Point tools have multiple cutting teeth. They will cut all the threads with a single rotation

When using a single point tool then the created toolpath form a helix. The cutter at the side removes stock material to form the thread.

As seen in the above diagram, a single pointed thread mill tool is assumed to have a triangular cutting face. This triangle is the part of the tool that stands out from the shank of the tool and removes material:

The definition of the tool requires the following fields:

• S - The Tool Size. The horizontal size of the cutting part of the tool
• H - Tool Height. This is the vertical height of the widest part of the cutter face
• D - Tool Diameter. The diameter of the cutter measured from tip to tip.
• A - Tool Angle. The internal angle of the tool
• O - Tool Offset. This is the distance between the bottom of the tool and the tip of the cutter. It must always be bigger than the half of the tool size. Some tools may also have an additional offset, so it may exceed this value.

The Tool Height, Tool Size, and Tool Angle are all related fields. Changing one may change another. For example, if you modify the Tool Height, and the Tool Angle does not change, then the Tool Size must change. This change happens automatically when editing the tools within the tool databse.

It is possible to use a multi-pointed tool for thread milling. A multi-pointed has been designed to cut a single style of thread using a single helical motion. It will cut all the threads in a single go making it more efficient. However unlike single point tools it cannot cut different threads of different pitches.

In addition to the dimensions required for the single pointed tool, the multi-point tool also needs to know the threaded length. This is defined as the distance from peak to peak from the first cutting tooth to the last.

You can choose from one of a number of standard presets for the pitch. The standards are based on the ISO Metric Thread Standard for metric units, or the Universal Thread Standard for imperial units.

Selecting one of these options will pre-populate the pitch field with the correct value. If an external thread is selected it will also populate the fit tolerance field with a default value appropriate for the pitch. You are free to change this tolerance, however some tolerance will usually be required to have a smooth spinning thread.

Each thread has two diameters associated with it. These are the respective peaks and troughs of the thread.

The diameter on the form (sometimes referred to as the major diameter) is the largest diameter associated with the thread.

The fit tolerance controls how tight a fit the thread will have. Setting a positive tolerance will mean the tool cuts a slightly deeper thread.

In almost all practical uses, some form of fit tolerance would need to be applied in order to get a thread to run smoothly. Generally the fit tolerance is applied to the external thread but can be applied to both internal and external if needed.

There are two different types of thread it is possible to create:

• Internal Threads - These are threads for the female parts of connectors, e.g., nuts, threaded holes.
• External Threads - These are the threads for the male parts of connectors ,e.g. bolts.

The cut direction determines whether or not we want to machine the toolpath by sprialling downwards or upwards.

Which direction you choose will depend in some part on the relationship between the spindle direction, the tooling, and the desired finish.

The threads created by the Thread Milling toolpath are based around the ISO standard for threads. More information about this standard can be found here. This is based on tools with 60 degree angles and whilst we do not prevent other angles of tools from being used a 60 degree tool would give optimal results.

The result of using this standard is that the created threads will have flat regions as expected:

This tool creates a smooth, flowing, continuous curve through clicked points.

• Click in the 2D View to begin drawing at the clicked point.
• Move the mouse pointer within the 2D View and click the left button to insert as many points as you require. A curve will be created that smoothly joins your points.
• Click the right mouse button or press Esc to finish drawing your curve and close the tool.
• Alternatively, press Space Bar to finish drawing one curve, but keep the tool active so that you can immediately begin drawing another curve.

An existing open contour can be extended by holding down the Ctrl key and then clicking on either its start or end point.

CTRL clicking on the start point of a contour will cause the contour to be reversed before extending.

This tool is used to delete calculated toolpaths from the Toolpath List. Simply select the toolpath to be deleted and click the Delete Toolpath button to remove it.

Alternatively, you can delete one or multiple toolpaths in the Toolpath List by right mouse clicking on a toolpath. Then from the drop-down menu click on the Delete option. This will present the options as shown in the image: Delete This, Delete All Invisible, Delete All Visible, Delete All.

Delete This will delete just the toolpath whose name you right mouse clicked on.

Delete All Invisible will delete any toolpaths in your Toolpath List that do not have a check-mark ✓ next to their name and are therefore currently not visible in the 2D or 3D Views.

Delete All Visible will delete any toolpaths in your Toolpath List that have a check-mark ✓ next to their name and are therefore currently visible in the 2D or 3D Views.

Delete All will delete all the toolpaths in your Toolpath List.

If you have incorrectly deleted a toolpath (or multiple toolpaths) then you have the option to Undo the toolpath(s) deletion via the Undo command on the Edit drop-down menu, the Undo icon on the Drawing Tab or the Undo shortcut key combination Ctrl + Z.

Selected vectors/bitmaps/component grayscale previews can be mirrored to a new orientation.

Selected objects can also be mirrored about axes of symmetry relative to the bounding box of the selection, using the standard options on the Mirror Form.

• Select the object or objects to mirror.
• Click on the Mirror icon to open the Mirror Form.
• Select the Create a mirrored copy option to leave the selection and create a new set of objects.
• Click the Close button to accept the changes.

The following shortcuts can be:

• H - Mirror Horizontally
• Ctrl + H - Create mirror. Copy Horizontally
• Shift + H - Mirror horizontally around center of material
• Ctrl + Shift + H - Create mirror copy horizontally around center of material.
• V - Mirror vertically
• Ctrl + V - Create mirror. Copy Vertically
• Shift + V - Mirror vertically around center of material
• Ctrl + Shift + V - Create mirror copy vertically around center of material.

All the objects assigned to a layer can then be simultaneously selected, labeled, colored, temporarily hidden or even locked (to prevent accidental editing) using the Layer Management tools. Even for relatively simple designs, organizing the elements of your artwork onto layers can make managing your project much easier.

Each layer in the list has five elements:

Status Icon

The leftmost icon indicates whether the layer is currently visible or hidden. Click on this icon to toggle the visibility of the layer.

The presence of a padlock shows that the layer is locked and cannot be accidentally edited.
Right-click the layer in the list and select the Unlock command to alter this.

Layer Colour

The color swatch can be used to color all the vectors on a layer. Click on the swatch icon Layer Color Icon and select a pre-set color from the color selector dialog, or choose More Colors... to create an entirely custom color.

Layer Content

The layer content icon will be grayed-out as an additional indicator that the layer is not currently visible. Layer Empty Content Icon a blank white sheet indicates that the layer does not currently contain any objects or vector geometry. If you import files from 3rd party CAD drawing packages via DXF or DWG format it is common for the file to include empty layers. This icon allows you to identify these empty layers and delete them.

Layer Name

To change the name of a layer, you can double click on this part of the layer item in the list to trigger in-situ editing. This works in the same way as file renaming in Windows Explorer. Alternatively you can right-click or use the layer's Pop-Up Menu icon to select the Rename command.

Pop-up Menu

Click the pop-up menu icon Pop-up Menu Icon for access to Activate, Lock, Insert, Delete and Merge layers as well as further ways to choose which layers to show and hide.

Select All on a Layer

Double-clicking on a layer in the Layers List will select all the objects on that layer. Alternatively you can choose the Select Layer Vectors command from the layer's pop-up menu.

Layer Ordering Arrows

Adjacent to the Layers List heading label are two arrow buttons. These move the selected layer up or down in the Layers List. This can be important to set the drawing order of objects that might otherwise obscure one another (specifically Bitmaps and 2D Component Previews). Objects on the top layers in the list are always drawn before objects in the lower layers and will, therefore, be 'underneath' them in the 2D View. You can use the Layer Ordering Arrows to resolve this issue.

Gadgets are small programs that add additional functionality to Cut2D Pro, VCarve Pro and Aspire. They can be used to add new features to the software or automate common sequences of tasks. Examples include adding the ability to cut dovetail style joints with a standard end mill and applying toolpath templates to every sheet in a nested job followed by automatically post-processing and saving the files for your machine tool.

You can expand your Gadgets library by downloading and installing more from the Gadgets website.

These Gadgets will install into your public documents folder (Public Documents/Vectric/Cut2D Pro/Gadgets). If you wish to delete any of these Gadgets, simply navigate to the location above and delete the folder.

Each Gadget has specific requirements in order for it to run, it is recommended that you read the instructions in full before use. Some Gadgets require that you select vectors before running the Gadget, others may need to be run before a job in the software is created. When there is a requirement that has not been met before running, you will receive an error message, stating which requirement has not been met.

Installed Gadgets are accessible from the main Gadget menu, which is built dynamically each time Cut2D Pro starts up.

Alternatively Gagdets can be assigned shortcuts.

Shortcut can be set to run a chosen gadget from the list of gadgets. To set the gadget shortcuts select the Gadget Shortcuts button from the Gadgets menu.

You may then assign one of the predefined shortcut keys to run a chosen gadget. The available shortcut keys are Ctrl and a function key.

A number of Gadgets are included as part of the default installation of Cut2D Pro. These are all available from the Gadgets menu:

• Celtic Weave Creator
• Dragknife Toolpath
• Keyhole Toolpath
• Setup Sheet Editor

Wrapping Sub-menu:

• Wrapped Fluting Layout
• Wrapped Spiral Layout
• Rounding Toolpath

Gadgets can also be created by our users using the LUA scripting language, we provide an SDK and tutorials on the gadgets website.

The SDK and the Tutorials are provided as is, Vectric cannot provide support on the development of user Gadgets.

Gadgets have their own section on the Vectric Forum, you can get news on the latest releases from Vectric and fellow users.

The quickest and easiest way to draw a polygon is by using the mouse in the 2D View.

• Click and hold the left mouse button to indicate the center point.
• Drag the mouse while holding down the left mouse to required radius.
• Release the left mouse button to complete the shape.

Instead of releasing the left mouse button when you have dragged your shape to the required size, you can also type exact values during the dragging process and set properties precisely.

• Left-click and drag out your shape in the 2D View.
• With the left mouse button still pressed, enter a quick key sequence detailed below.
• Release the left mouse button.

By default, entering a single values will be used to set the radius of your polygon. While you are dragging out the polygon, type Radius Value Enter to create a polygon with the precisely specified radius.

Example

• 2 . 5 Enter - Creates a polygon with a radius of 2.5. All other settings as per the form

By using specific letter keys after your value, you can also indicate precisely which property it relates to.

• Value D - Creates a polygon with the diameter specified, with all other properties as per the form.
• Value S Value R - Create a polygon with the specified number of sides (S) and the outer radius (R)
• Value S Value D - Creates a polygon with the specified number of sides (S) and the outer diameter (D)

Examples

• 1 R - Outer radius 1, number of sides as per form
• 1 D - Outer diameter 1, number of sides as per form
• 8 S 1 R - An 8 sided polygon with outer radius R of 1
• 6 S 2 . 5 D - A 6 sided polyon with an outer diameter of 2.5

Polygons can also be drawn by entering the required XY origin , selecting either Radius or Diameter and entering the required size.

Click Apply to update the circle

This gadget simplifies the process of creating 'keyhole' toolpaths which are cut into the back of a sign or plaque to allow easy hanging on a wall. These slots are cut using a 'keyhole' cutter as shown on the left. The toolpath for these slots needs to plunge into the material at the mounting screw entry point to a depth that will ensure that the wide part of the cutter is below the material surface. The tool then moves along the 'slot', once it reaches the end of the slot, the tool retraces its path back along the slot to retract at the original plunge point.

Like all Vectric Gadgets, the top of the form gives brief instructions on how it should be used. For this gadget, you need to select one or more circular vectors in your design to indicate where you want the entry points for the keyhole slots to be before the Gadget is run. If you start the gadget without selecting one or more vectors to indicate these positions, the following warning will be displayed:

Once the form is displayed you can enter the parameters for your keyhole toolpath.

The data to be entered falls into three separate categories.

The final section of the form is used to specify a tool which the feed and plunge rates are picked up from, and also a name for the toolpath which will be created. As keyhole cutters are not supported natively by the program, just set up an end-mill with the required feed rates to use.

After entering all your parameters and pressing OK, the gadget will create a toolpath within the program to machine your slots and also the vector preview if you enabled this option. The screen shot below shows the preview vectors in the 2D view along with the toolpath in the 3D view.

The Copy to Layer, Move to Layer, Move to Sheet, Copy to other Side, and Move to other Side options are unique to this Right click menu.

• Copy to Layer allows you to copy an object onto an existing Layer or to create a New one to copy it onto.
• Move to Layer gives you the same choices but moves the original object rather than making a copy.
• Move to Sheet can only be used if you have generated additional Sheets through the Nesting process, in that case it allows you to move objects from one Sheet to a different one from the list available.
• Copy to Other Side copies the selected objects onto the other side in a two-sided job. It will be transformed so that they match up when looking through the material.
• Move to Other Side moves the selection similarly to the Copy operation.

When you RIGHT click on a toolpath name within the Toolpath List there are various options you are presented with to alter this toolpath. You can show a toolpath where you have the option to

• Show This,
• Show Only This,
• Show All But This
• Show All With This Tool
• Show All.

This toggles the visibility of the Toolpaths according to your choice. The next option allows you to Hide This or Hide All your toolpaths.

You can Edit, Rename or Duplicate the selected toolpath. Selecting Recalculate All will work through the toolpath list recalculating each toolpath with any updated geometry selections.

The last option allows you to delete one or more toolpaths, where you can Delete This, Delete All Invisible, Delete All Visible and Delete All.

Selected vectors (open or closed) can be offset either inwards or outwards to create new vector shapes that might be useful for edge patterns or borders etc. To offset a vector shape, use the following steps:

• Select the vectors to offset
• Select the required direction - Outwards / Right or Inwards / Left
• Enter the Distance
• Click the Offset button

Will retain any sharp corners in a design.

Offset with Sharp Corners on

Offset with Sharp Corners off

When offsetting open shapes, the options are either to the Right or Left side of the selection. The direction of open vector(s) is very important as this is used to decide the right and left side of the selection. Selecting Node Edit mode (pressing N on the keyboard) will display a Green node at the start of the vector. Looking along the vector(s) from the green node indicates the direction and the image below shows offsets to the left and right of an open vector.

Join with a Curve finds the closest end points on 2 selected, open vectors and joins them together with a smooth curve.

Cut2D Pro has two smooth joining methods:

• A smoother method (new for V9.5)
• A more symmetrical shallower join method

Job sheets contain a summary of the information you will need when you come to run the toolpaths for your project at your CNC machine. Aspire will create a self-contained HTML document that can be viewed using most web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox. To create a job sheet for a given project, simply select Create Job Sheet from the Toolpaths menu and then select a filename and location to save the document. If your job contains multiple sheets, Aspire will automatically create a Job Sheet for every sheet that contains toolpaths. If you are working on a two sided job you will need to create a job sheet for both sides by simply switching between the sides and selecting the create job sheet icon, when you save the .html file the software will automatically add “_Top” or “_Bottom” to the name to differentiate between the two sides once the file has been saved.

Each job sheet document comprises the following information:

Job Layout

A thumbnail image representing the vectors on your current job / sheet, surrounded by an outer rectangle representing your material size.

Material Setup

A summary of the important pieces of information you will need to correctly position and datum your work piece at your CNC machine. This includes the dimensions of the material block used within Aspire to create and simulate your toolpaths. The home position from which your machine will start and return to. The clearance above the material for any rapid moves between plunges. For Two Sided Jobs you will also be displayed which side the setup sheet belongs to (top or bottom) along with the flip direction.

Toolpaths Summary

A summary of each of the toolpaths in the file, including the name of the toolpath, the tool required and an estimate of how long it will take to cut.

Toolpaths List

Details of each toolpath, including feed and plunge rates plus the intended spindle speed.

This tool automatically creates repeating patterns of objects by placing copies of them along the length of one or more selected vectors. The tool allows any existing object to be used but it also has an option specifically for the creation of circles, which is a common design element for patterns of this sort.

Enter the diameter of the required circles

Selected Vectors

Circles Copied along curves

With this option selected the pasted objects are automatically aligned 'normal' or perpendicular to the curve they are being copied onto. If this is not selected, the copied objects stay in the orientation of the original.

Selected Vectors

Stars Copied along the curve

This tool allows you to easily select vectors which meet a set of criteria, such as open, closed, circular and also matching constraints based on layers. The dialog can be accessed from the Edit ► Vector Selector menu item, or from the Selector... button on each toolpath form. When the command is executed the dialog shown is displayed.

The dialog is used to configure a set of 'filters' that determine which vectors will be selected. A filter is enabled by clicking on its check box, or selecting a 'radio button' option, the current selection will be updated with all the objects in the file which match the current filter options.

Generally you will start at the top of the dialog and work downwards, specifying more and more explicit filters to determine the required selection exactly.

The simplest option is just to use the form to Select Closed Vectors in the job or Select Open vectors (you can specify both, in which case all vectors will be selected as long as they are on a visible layer).

The most common way to use the Vector Selector is to select all the vectors on a given layer as shown in the screenshot of the dialog below.

By associating a template with the result of a Vector Selector filter, we can make a template to automatically select the vectors it is intended to machine. A simple case would be to create a template which consisted of a Pocketing toolpath set up to machine all closed vectors on a layer called Pocket. After loading this template into a new job and choosing Toolpaths ► Recalculate All Toolpaths , the toolpath would be recalculated automatically selecting all closed vectors on the layer called Pocket.

The advanced templates are created by selecting the vectors for a toolpath using the Selector... button on the toolpath form. When a toolpath form is first opened, the Vector Selection: section on the form will show that vectors are being selected manually as shown below...

Pressing the Selector... button will display the Vector Selector form as shown previously. After making your geometry selection and before you close the form, select the Associate with toolpath option on the form as shown below.

After the Vector Selector form closes, the Toolpath form will indicate that Vector Selection is now 'Automatic' as shown below...

When you re-calculate or edit a toolpath that has the Vector Selection mode set to automatic, the vectors which match the filter when the toolpath is re-calculated or edited will be selected. To cancel the Automatic vector selection mode, you can just select the vectors to machine normally with the mouse, or use the Selector... button to bring up the Vector Selectordialog again (the settings are remembered) and uncheck the Associate with toolpath option.

If toolpaths with the Vector Selection mode set to Automatic are saved as templates, these setting are saved with the template. When the template is re-opened and the toolpaths recalculated, they will automatically select all vectors which match the filters specified with the Vector Selector for that toolpath.

If you load a toolpath template which has toolpaths associated with layers which don't exist in the current file, the Missing Layers for Template dialog will be displayed. It lists all the missing layers and offers you the choice of having them created automatically, deleting toolpaths associated with missing layers or just loading the toolpaths as is.

Choosing to allow the dialog to automatically create the missing layers allows a toolpath template to be used to create 'standard' layers for machining operations and load the toolpaths ready to be calculated. All you then need to do is move vectors to the appropriate layers and recalculate all the toolpaths.

Choosing the Delete all toolpaths associated with missing layers option allows you to create a single template with many toolpaths and have the ones which aren't appropriate to the current job automatically deleted.

The Toolpaths ► Templates ► Save All Visible Toolpaths as Template menu command (or the associated icon) allows a group of toolpaths to be saved as a single template. As an example, the toolpaths may have all the settings used for Profiling and Pocketing operations for a particular type of job and material combination. These toolpaths settings can then be recalled simply by opening the template and selecting the appropriate vectors for each toolpath.

If toolpaths with the Vector Selection mode set to Automatic are saved as templates, these setting are saved with the template. When the template is re-opened and the toolpaths recalculated, they will automatically select all vectors which match the filters specified with the Vector Selector for that toolpath.

If there are multiple sheets a message will be appear asking if you want to apply the template to every sheet in the job. If 'yes' is chosen the template will be applied to all the sheets and any toolpaths will be automatically calculated where possible. The toolpaths generated for each sheet will be prefixed by "Sn-" where 'n' is the number of the sheet for the toolpath. E.g if the template has a toolpath called "Cut Out" the associated toolpaths for each sheet will be:

"S1-Cut Out", "S2-Cut Out" etc.

If the template contains toolpaths that reference layers which do not exist in the current file the missing layers dialog will appear once and the option chosen will be used for every sheet the template is applied to. Choosing either 'Create the missing layers' or 'Load the toolpaths without creating missing layers' will mean that any toolpaths which reference those layers will be created as empty and have the visibility set to off.

If the toolpaths in the template use automatic vector selection then vectors matching the selection criteria can be created and the empty toolpath recalculated. If not using automatic selection an empty toolpath can be edited by double clicking on its name in the toolpath list or selecting the Edit Toolpath icon in the Toolpaths tab. Once the toolpath form is open, the vectors to be machined can be selected and the toolpath calculated using all the saved settings.

The Duplicate Toolpath option creates and adds a copy of the selected toolpath to the Toolpath List. An index number is automatically added to the name of the new toolpath. For example:

Cut out - 1/4 inch End Mill will create a copy with the name Cut out - 1/4 inch End Mill (1)

Copying externally generated 3D toolpaths (as, for example, from PhotoVCarve) will also create a duplicate grayscale thumbnail image in the 2D View, which can then be used to position the toolpath within your job.

Above the view window is a handy toolbar that allows easier access to common tools. With the ability to create a double sided project you have easy access to switch between the Top and Bottom Sides of your project. The Layers Drop down bar has now moved from the drawing tab to the View Toolbar, making it accessible at all times. The other icons displayed in order of left to right are as follows

When you are working on a two-sided job additional icons will appear on the View Toolbar. On the left you will see an icon indicating whether the job you are working on will be flipped horizontally or vertically. This is important because the software will automatically mirror your toolpaths and geometry around different axes depending on this setting. To maintain the correct alignment of your toolpaths you must physically turn the material on your CNC machine in the same direction as you have specified during the design process.

	Turn horizontally from left to right
	Turn vertically, end over end

The next button indicates which side you are currently working on. It is a toggle button that can be clicked. Clicking this button swaps the active side of your job.

	Top side is active, all operations will apply to the Top side.
	Bottom side is active, all operations will apply to the Bottom side.

The final additional tool for two-sided job is on the right hand side of the View Toolbar and it allows you to toggle the 3D composite relief to show either the currently active side or your model only, or both sides of your model as a single solid block.

Toggle Two-Sided View

When this is checked ✓ the created boundary is the result of stretching a rubber band around the currently selected vectors.

The images below demonstrate the difference between the two types of boundary that the form creates. The picture on the left illustrates the standard offset output and the one on the right shows the result when Rubber band boundary option is checked ✓.

Offset Boundary only

Offset Boundary and Rubber Band together

Toolpath templates allow you to improve the efficiency of your production processes by saving the complete toolpath settings for common operations. These settings can then be re-used at any time on different design geometry. Frequently used strategies and tooling can thus be applied to similar jobs, quickly and easily.

The operations you can do with templates include Loading toolpaths from templates, Saving a toolpath to a template and Saving all visible toolpaths to a template.

The Toolpath Tree is located at the bottom of the Toolpath Tab below the Operations section (toggle tab visibility using Shortcut key F12).

This area displays in a tree , the name of each calculated toolpath with a check-box to turn the visibility of the toolpath in the 3D View on and off. The icon next to the check-box shows the type of tool selected for that particular toolpath.

Double-Clicking the name of any of the toolpaths will open up the toolpath strategy window for that toolpath and allow edits to be made to it.

Right-Clicking on the toolpath shows a menu which is described in more detail in the Right Click Menus Page.

The up and down arrow buttons to the right of the window allow the user to move the selected toolpath up and down in the list.

This will affect the order the Toolpaths are previewed in and if multiple toolpaths are saved as a single file, then this will be the order that the machine cuts them in.

There are two ways to add a Toolpath Group:

• Right click on an empty space in the toolpath tree and click Create Empty Group
• Or, right click and choose Group Visible. This will take of the visible toolpaths and group them together.

To use the Array Copy Toolpath, open the form and turn on the visibility for each of the toolpaths you wish to be part of your array using the visibility checkbox next to each toolpath in the list below the form. The current selected toolpaths appear in the Toolpaths list at the top of the form.

The position of the resulting grid of toolpaths is always created to the right and above the source toolpaths. Therfore, you should always position your source toolpaths in the bottom left corner of the area you wish the array to fill.

Array Copy Toolpaths are displayed in the Toolpath List in different way to other toolpaths. The source toolpaths (the ones originally selected as the basis of the array) are now shown below the array copy toolpath item in a tree structure. For complicated jobs you can hide the source toolpaths in the list using the small + and - controls next to the Array Copy Toolpath in the Toolpath List. The usual visibility checkboxes are also available for both the array copy toolpath and its source toolpaths.

You can rearrange the order of the source toolpaths within the array copy group either by dragging them up or down using the mouse, or by click the up and down ordering arrows at the top of the Toolpath List. These features give you total control of each toolpath type within the array and are particularly important for saving the toolpaths

As far as possible, array copy toolpaths are saved in exactly the same way as other toolpaths except that each source toolpath in the list represents all of its copies. If you switch off the visibility of a source toolpath before saving, noneof the copied instances of that toolpath will be included in the saved toolpath. Thus you can use the visibility controls to save a toolpath that will cut all of the copies, but limited to a particular subset of the source toolpath types.

In general, the sequence of cutting will be to cut all of the included toolpath strategies for each copy in the grid before moving on to the next copy.

Checking ✓ this option means the selected vectors will be approximated using arcs:

Before Fitting

After fitting

Checking ✓ this option means the selected vectors will be approximated using Bezier curves.

Fitted with Bezier spans

The same bezier spans in Node-edit mode

Checking ✓ this option means the selected vectors will be approximated using straight lines.

The vector before fitting

The same vector fitted with straight lines

Checking ✓ this option will make the Curve Fitting routine keep sharp corners which have a difference greater than the Max Angle value specified. Any corners where the difference in angle is less than this value will be modified within the specified tolerance.

Initial Vectors

Result after Keep Sharp Corners (max. angle = 20 degrees)

Repeating texture patterns can be created using the Create Vector Texture tool. These vectors can be machined in a variety of ways to create attractive textures.

To use the tool click the icon on the drawing tab. If required, select any contours that you wish the pattern to be created within. By using the sliders and edit boxes on the form the style of the created pattern can be varied. Click Preview to see a preview your created texture as you adjust the form's parameters. When you are happy with the preview, click OK to create the pattern.

The lines in the texture are created at an angle. This value can be set to any value between -90 degrees and 90 degree.

The line spacing controls the distance between the contours created by the tool. Use the edit box labeled Max. Spacing to enter a maximum value of line spacing. The slider underneath the edit box controls the degree of variation in the line spacing. If the slider is to the far left then this mean variation is at a minimum and so the lines are evenly spaced. If the slider is to the far right the variation is highest and so the distance between created contours varies between zero and the maximum spacing specified.

Minimum variation

Maximum Variation

The wavelength describes the length over which the contours shape repeats itself. A bigger wavelength gives a long wave while a small wavelength gives a short wave.

Short wavelength

Long wavelength

The amplitude describes the height of the wave. Larger amplitude means a taller wave and smaller amplitude means a shallow wave.

Small amplitude

Large Amplitude

The noise slider controls the degree of randomness applied to the above values and can be used to create less regular patterns.

No noise

Medium noise

High noise

The Job Setup form is displayed whenever a new job is being created, or when the size and position of an existing job is edited. It allows to create following types of job:

• Single Sided
• Double Sided
• Rotary

When using Conventional Engraving and End Mill cutters the Depth to engrave / mark is specified and this z depth dimension is output in the toolpath file sent to the CNC machine. The 3D Preview of these toolpaths shows the specified depth of engraving.

When using a Diamond Drag marking Tool the Pressure setting is used to pre-load the spring to ensure the tip of the diamond stays in contact with the material surface, especially when marking uneven surfaces. The 3D Preview of the depth these toolpaths will mark using the Angle of the diamond and the Width of the Line.

For example, when using a 90° Diamond Drag Tool with a 0.010 inch Line Width specified. The depth shown in the 3D preview will be 0.005 inch (with 90° the depth = half the line width).

The ratio of Depth to Line Width will change when using diamond drag tools with different tip angles. When the option to use a Nose Cone is selected (see below) the actual depth specified on the form is used when previewing the toolpath in the 3D view.

When using the Quick Engraving Form the Stepover for the cutter is specified on the form and is NOT automatically set from the Tool Database.

The selected text or vectors can be Outlined or Filled.

The tip of the cutter runs on the selected lines engraving / marking the material surface

A pattern is used to engrave / mark inside the selected text or vectors. There are 3 fill pattern options.

A nose cone is often used when engraving or marking material that is not flat. The nose cone is spring loaded forcing it to slide on the surface of the material. The engraving cutter is set to extend / protrude out of the bottom of the nose cone by the depth of engraving / marking required. This is typically set at around 0.010 inches to 0.020 inches.

When the option to use a Nose Cone is selected the actual depth specified on this region of form is used when previewing the toolpath in the 3D view.

Once calculated, your toolpath is stored in the central Toolpath Tree and can be saved, edited or output to your machine at anytime using the Save Toolpaths command. In addition though, this form also includes a convenient Immediate Output section that allows you to save or send the most recently calculated toolpath directly from this form without having to close it.

The trim tool allows you to trim all the objects inside a given boundary. It is much more efficient than manually trimming all the contours with the trimming scissors, and allows the trimming of closed contours, open contours and components.

To use:

• Select objects you wish to be trimmed
• Select the object you wish to trim against (hold shift to add to selection)
• Choose to clear inside or outside

If the Clear outside boundary option is selected then all the objects that intersect this boundary are clipped, and the area outside is removed. If the Clear inside boundary option is selected, then the parts of the selected objects which lie inside the boundary are removed.

Geometry before trimming. Select the lines first and then the circle

Trimmed vectors using Clear inside boundary

Trimmed vectors using clear outside boundary

If you want to use multiple vectors for the trimming boundary, they must be grouped for trimming. To group a collection of vectors select the vectors, right click and choose Group Objects from the drop down menu, alternatively select all the vectors and press the G key.

Trimming with Group

The sheets you wish to be exported to PDF can be selected from within this section. Clicking Clear All will deselect all of the sheets and clicking Select All will cause all of the sheets to become selected. You can also manually select/deselect individual sheets by clicking on the check box to the left of the sheet name.

The layers you wish to be exported to PDF can be selected from within this section. All the visible layers with content on them will show up in this list.

When All visible layers is chosen all of the vector layers will be selected. Only vectors on the layers selected will be exported into the PDF file. When Selected layers only is chosen individual layers can be manually selected/deselected by clicking on the check box to the left of the layer name.

Export Job Bounds - If this option is selected a vector representing the boundary of the job will also be output to the PDF file.

Clicking Export will prompt you to choose a filename and location for your file and save your drawing in PDF format at that location.

For precise control of the rotation, or to use a point other than the selection's center as the rotation center, you can open the rotation form from the Drawing Tab.

Selected items in the 2D View can be rotated to a new orientation using this tool. The rotation options form can be activated from the tool icon on the Drawing Tab. Alternatively you can use the interactive transform mode (where the form is not required) directly from the 2D View.

With this form open the additional Pivot Point handle is available (two concentric circles initially positioned at the center of your selection) for you to click and drag in the 2D View. The Pivot Point (around which the selection will be rotated) responds to the currently enabled snapping options to help you to position it precisely on significant locations within your artwork. Hold down the Shift key to temporarily disable snapping while you drag the Pivot Point.

This controls what the angle value does.

• Relative will simply rotate the object by the given angle. For example, you can enter a small angle, and then rotate multiple times to nudge the object a little bit at a time. A positive angle results in a counter clockwise rotation. A negative angle results in a clockwise rotation.
• Absolute will set the rotation of the object to the given angle. For example, setting a zero angle here will reset the rotation of the object back to its original orientation (as long as the rotation hasn't been baked).

Keep in mind that when rotating an object, it's rotation is maintained so that you can restore the rotation or scale along its original axes later on if required.

Generally the most convenient way to rotate an object in the 2D View is to use interactive transform. This mode is initiated by clicking the selected object twice with the cursor. The process is:

• Select the object by clicking on it in the 2D View (or multiply select objects using box selection or by shift-clicking on them).
• Click the selection a second time to activate the interactive options rotation handles on the selection box.
• Click and drag on the blue handles (solid squares) at the far corners of the selection to rotate it.

Laser Cut - Fill is used for cutting out shapes or marking areas.

Cut-outs can take into account the kerf, or width, of the laser beam to maintain the precise internal or external size the selected vector shapes. Shapes can also be filled with stripes or hatching to create simple shading effects.

This setting allows you to add an additional offset for the Cut Outside, Cut Inside strategies without adjusting the laser kerf settings and can be useful for easing or tightening the fit of shapes resulting from these cuts.

Once calculated, your toolpath is stored in the central Toolpath Tree and can be saved, edited or output to your machine at anytime using the Save Toolpaths command. In addition though, this form also includes a convenient Immediate Output section that allows you to save or send the most recently calculated toolpath directly from this form without having to close it.

Circles can be created interactively with the cursor and Quick Keys or by entering the exact coordinates and diameter / radius with typed input.

The default mode and the procedure for drawing circle is:
Click and drag the Left mouse to indicate the center point followed by releasing the button at the required radius / diameter (depends on what is set on the form).

As the cursor is dragged across the screen the radius is dynamically updated. The increments will depend upon your snap radius and the job size.

The radius or diameter can be specified while dragging out a circle:

Type the value while dragging followed, by D if it's a diameter, or R if it's a radius:

Example:

1 2 R Gives a radius of 12

Circles can also be drawn by entering the required XY origin, selecting either Radius or Diameter and entering the required size on the form.

Click Create to update the circle.

Open the Draw Circle form and select the circle to modify.

The selected circle is displayed as a dotted magenta line. Edit the Center Point and Radius or Diameter

Click Apply to update the circle

To modify another circle without closing the form hold a Shift key down and select the next circle.

To finish drawing with the tool, you can :

Click Close on the form

• Press the key Esc
• Click the Right mouse button in the 2D View

To use the filleting tool we select the icon from the drawing tab. Choose a radius for the fillet and the type of fillet you would like to use.

When the mouse cursor is near a node that can be filletted, the mouse cursor changes to show a check-mark ✓:

This creates a standard corner fillet based on the Radius defined, typically this would be used for design purposes and not for editing a slot for fitting purposes. Below left the image shows the vector before filleting the two inside radii, on the right is the filleted version

Straight Line Span Vectors before Filleting

Straight Line Span Vectors After Filleting

This creates a circular cut-out style of fillet, the circles will be placed so the upper right part of the circle touches the original sharp corner and are created with the Radius specified. This option should not be used if the slot width and the tool are similar in size. Below left is the vector showing the slot before filleting, on the right is the filleted version using the 'Dog-Bone' option.

Vectors before Dog-Bone Filleting

Vectors after Dog-Bone Filleting

This creates a circular cut-out style of fillet, the circles will be created with the Radius specified. This option should be used if the slot width and the tool are similar in size so the slot can grow out to the side to ensure there is space for them to fit. Below left is the vector showing the slot before filleting, on the right is the filleted version using the 'T-Bone' option.

Vectors before T-Bone Filleting

Vectors after T-Bone Filleting

The placement of the fillet is an interactive process; you can choose which side of the 'corner' the T-bone filet is placed. If you click on a 'corner' the fillet will be placed automatically on the longest side. By clicking to the side of the corner you want the fillet placed you can choose which side the fillet is placed on.

vertical edge clicked near the corner

Horizontal edges clicked near the corner

Fillets can be removed in the same way that we add fillets: move the cursor over the fillet that you wish to remove.

If this fillet can be removed then the cursor shows a cross to indicate that it is possible to remove a fillet:

Clicking removes the fillet:

Before removing fillet

After removing fillet

When removing fillets the software does not store what kind of geometry the fillet was created from. It always defaults to using straight lines to return the fillet to a sharp corner. As such if the fillet is across multiple spans or is derived from arcs or Bezier curves then it will not go back to its original state and instead it will remove the radius and extend two straight lines to create the new corner.

This tool allows you to extend two vector lines to their common point of intersection.

With the Extend Vectors tool active, moving the mouse pointer over the ends of open vector shapes (without clicking) will highlight a dashed preview extension line from that shape. The line will change dynamically as you move the mouse over the end spans of different open shapes. Clicking with the left mouse button at this point will set it as the target line to extend and the magenta line will remain visible.

The mouse can now be moved over existing spans along the length of the preview extension line, or over the end of another shape to create a second, intersecting, preview extension line.

Clicking on any of the intersection points indicated by the mouse cursor will extend the initial shape to that point and complete the operation.

First click creates a preview extension line from the selected vector span.

Moving the mouse over another span will display a second preview extension line to the point of intersection. Click the line to apply this change.

The tool can be closed at any time using the Close button on the form. Right-clicking in the 2D View will reset the tool so that it is ready to select another target line to extend.

This Gadget supports drag knife tooling in your CNC machine. It uses the selected vectors in the 2D View as the basis of a centerline profile-type toolpath that incorporates swivel moves at corners to ensure the drag knife blade remains properly aligned throughout the cut.

Each of the 5 sections of the Job Sheet can either be included or removed to display as much information as required. The image to the left, represents a default Job Sheet which includes the following 5 sections:

• Job Layout
• Job Notes
• Material Setup
• Toolpaths Summary
• Individual Toolpath Summaries

Files from Vectric's Cut3D, PhotoVCarve and Design and Make Machinist that include 3D toolpaths can be imported into Cut2D Pro using the main menu command: File ► Import ► PhotoVCarve, Machinist or Cut3D Toolpaths.

The 3D file must first be scaled to the required size before toolpaths are calculated, and then the complete file saved ready for importing into Cut2D Pro. These files can only be moved and positioned inside Cut2D Pro but cannot be scaled.

A Grayscale thumbnail of the 3D job is drawn in the 2D View with the X0 Y0 origin at the position it was set in Cut3D, PhotoVCarve or Design and Make Machinist. The associated toolpath(s) are also drawn in the 3D window and the names appear in the Toolpath list.

To move the 3D design toolpaths open the 2D Window, click the Left mouse Twice on grayscale image (turns light Blue to indicate it's selected), then drag to the required position, or use the Move or Alignment tools for accurate positioning.

The toolpath(s) are automatically moved in the 3D window to the same XY position as the image.

Origin for the 3D data at X0 Y0

Grayscale image moved to middle of job

Toolpaths for the example above have been calculated with the X0 Y0 in the middle of the 3D design. When imported into Cut2D the data is automatically positioned using the same coordinates, which places three quarters of the design off the job. In the second image the grayscale image has been moved to the middle of the job.

The 2D mirror and rotate drawing tools can also be used to edit the 3D data set.

3D toolpaths can also be copied using the Duplicate Toolpath command on the Toolpaths Tab making it very easy to use multiple elements from a single design on a job. The thumbnail preview is also copied for each toolpath, making it very easy to position additional copies of a 3D toolpath.

For example, a single design can be copied and mirrored to create Left and Right versions of a 3D design or to place multiple copies of a decorative design in the corners of a cabinet door panel as shown below.

Toolpaths for the 3D elements can be previewed along with the conventional Profile, Pocketing and Drilling toolpaths, and everything will be saved ready for machining.

A good example of where this functionality might be used in conjunction with PhotoVCarve is for making personalized picture frames that include the PhotoVCarve grooves plus descriptive engraved text and a decorative Profiled or Beveled border. As shown below:

2D window showing thumbnail previews, text and decorative border

3D window previewing the completed job

Imported toolpaths can also be edited to position them inside the material or to change the cutting parameters - speeds and feed rates can be changed.

Click the Edit toolpath icon or Double click on the toolpath name to open the edit form.

For example, after machining a half-inch deep pocket a PhotoVCarve design can then be edited to have a Start Depth = 0.5 inches and this will carve the photograph onto the base of the pocket surface.

Create a New job and specify the Material Size to equal the Sheet size the badges will be cut from.

Layout the badge / plate at the required size and using the Text Tools add variables where imported data / text is required. Variables are defined using double exclamation marks ('!!') at the start and end of the variable name.

The left side of the Plate Production form is used to layout the plates / badges on the selected sheet of material, and shows the total number of plates that can be engraved / machined from each sheet of material.

This specifies the border margin between the edge of the material sheet and the plates.

Independent margin spacing can be set for the Top, Bottom, Left and Right sides of the material

Equal Margins ensures the same space is added around all 4 sides of the plates.

If toolpaths have been calculated for the master Template this option is available.

Checking ✓ this option automatically calculates toolpaths for all the plates / badges in the project.

Unchecking this option only creates the vectors for each plate / badge.

The right-hand side of the Plate Production form is used to select the data that will be merged into the template, and how the data will be interpreted to create each plate / badge

Import the required text / data file using Import from file... and select the appropriate format separator.

The data file is commonly created using a spread sheet such as Windows Excel. Use the option to Save As or Export to obtain the required file format that includes the correct Separator information.

Click to select a Variable Name then select the data field from the imported file that is required on each badge / plate i.e. the person's name

Repeat for each of the Variable Names listed on the form

Click Calculate to create all Badges and associated Toolpaths

If toolpaths have previously been calculated for the vectors in the Master Template, the option to automatically Create Toolpaths for each badge / plate is switched on in the bottom left corner of the form.

Multiple Layers are automatically created if multiple sheets of material are required to engrave all of the badge data from the imported text file. Layer named Sheet 1 is displayed in the 2D view showing the badges on this sheet.

Each of the Sheets is on a different layer and can be set visible or invisible using the Layer Manager.

Duplicates the active machine and makes the new machine active ready for editing.

Delete the active machine and activate the next one up in the list.

Allows us to set the active machine's name (if any). Two machines cannot have the same name.

The remaining parameters are optional and can be left empty. They define various common properties of the machine which may help you to identify them and us to tailor the behaviour in future versions.

Unless otherwise noted below, dimensions are created by following these steps:

• Select the dimension type you wish to need: length; height; width; angle or the radius or diameter of an arc.
• In the 2D View, click with the left mouse button to set the points the dimension needs:
  For an Angle Dimension, the first point is the centre-point.
• Click where you need the arrow-tips to be.
• Click to set the location of the dimension-line.
• Click to set where the annotation text will appear.

Use this to dimension a straight-line length in any orientation between two points.

The text preview box will snap to to the middle of the dimension line, unless a Shift key is held down while dragging.

These two options also allow you to select any two points, but the resulting dimension will be locked to indicate a vertical or horizontal distance (respectively) between the two points.

The text preview box will snap to the middle of the dimension line, unless a Shift key is held down while dragging.

This option allows any arbitrary angle to be measured. The process is similar to creating a 3 point arc. First you must pick the center of an angle you wish to measure - typically a corner point. The next 2 points clicked will set the extents of the sweep you are measuring. The next Click will determine the dashed dimension line positioning and the final click will set the position of the text annotation.

• Angle Dimensions' arrow-heads will pop outside small angles if there is not room to draw them inside.
• Angles are extended with a dashed extension-line where required, allowing the dimension to be placed anywhere. The text snaps to the angle center and the leader-line angle snaps to horizontal, vertical or diagonal (disable snapping by holding down a Shift key).
• Angle Dimensions use a separate Decimal Places value to the other dimensions (as you change dimension-type you may notice the Decimal Places value change).
• Angle dimensions can now have up to six decimal places.

With this option selected you will only be able to select arc spans with the first click of dimension tool (Bezier curve spans are not supported). The second click will set the position of the dimension annotation, which will show the radius (or diameter) of the selected arc span.

• To display the diameter of an arc dimension simply check ✓ the Show Diameter box.
• Arc Dimensions recognise when a circle has been selected and allow placement anywhere around the circle. Arcs will now be extended with a dashed extension-line where required, allowing the dimension to be placed anywhere. The text snaps to the arc/circle center and the leader-line angle snaps to horizontal, vertical or diagonal (disable snapping by holding down a Shift key).

By default this option is checked ✓ and the dimensions will be placed on a mid-gray Dimensions Layer. You can edit the name of the layer in the Name edit field. If a layer of this name does not exist, it will be created automatically.

This field allows entering the name format / template that will be used for this tool (or tools of this type, controlled by the checkboxes).

The template contains variables of the format {Variable Name} which will be substituted by their real value for the tool.

• For example, {Tool Type} will be End Mill for an End Mill tool and Ball Nose for a Ball Nose tool.
• We can optionally format those the values in certain ways using modifiers {Variable Name|Modifier}. In the above example, {Tool Type|U} would result in END MILL or BALL NOSE.

The list of all available variables and modifiers is available at the bottom of the page. It can also be accessed by right-clicking the field and selecting the variable.

Variables could relate to the tool geometry, cutting data or even machine and material being used. The tool name will automatically update within the current context. For example,

• We have materials MDF and Oak and a tool with the name template {Tool Type} {Diameter} {Material Name}. The tool is an 0.5 inch End Mill.
• When the MDF material is active, the name of the tool becomes End Mill 0.5 MDF. When it Oak is active, it becomes End Mill 0.5 Oak.
• When the tool is selected for toolpathing, the name of the tool with the correct material name will be used allowing you to see straight away which variant of the tool you've used.

This dialog can be used to manage name formating for each tool type. When a format is set as the default, any subsequently created tools will be named according to that format by default. Setting a format as a default (optionally) allows you to do just that.

Any tool which does not have the default name format for its type can be restored using the Restore next to the format field.

When changing the name format of a tool, there is the option to rename all the other tools with with the same Tool Type.

If you select this, you will have the option to either

1. Rename all the tools that had a matching name.
2. Rename all the tools indiscriminantly.

Here is the complete list of variables that can be used in the format.

In some cases, we may not be able to find a valid value. For example, if we use the {Material Name} when no material is active. In this case, we will simply keep the name of the variable in the tool name. This should not happen if the tool is valid / suitable for toolpath selection.

Modifiers can be used on any variable. Valid modifiers depend on the type of the variable.

Duplicates the active material and makes the new material active ready for editing.

Delete the active material and activate the next one up in the list.

When the Vector Selection Tool is chosen, the selected vectors are shown as dotted magenta lines. Vectors need to be selected before any of the editing tools such as scaling and moving etc. can be used.

Vector selection methods

Multiple vectors can be selected in the following ways:

1. Manual multiple selection:
   Hold down the Shift key while clicking the Left mouse button on each vector required. Objects can be deselected by simply clicking on the object again with a Shift key pressed.
2. Moving the cursor from Left to Right selects only fully enclosed objects:
   Click and drag the left mouse button moving from Left to Right selects all objects completely inside the selection rectangle.
3. Moving the cursor from Right to Left selects all objects inside or touching the selection rectangle:
   Click and drag the left mouse button moving from Right to Left selects all objects inside the selection rectangle + any that the selection touches.
4. Pressing the keyboard keys Ctrl+A will select all vector objects in the design:
   Selected vectors are displayed as dotted magenta lines.

Deselecting Vectors

Selections can be cancelled by:

• Left clicking on an area outside the selection
• Pressing the Esc key
• Pressing the Right mouse button and clicking Selection ► Unselect All from the pop-up menu.
  You must click on the white drawing background to get this option in the pop-up menu.

This tool helps existing users migrate their data from an older installation into the new version. You can migrate things like the Tool Database, Post-Processors in My_PostP, Options and various Defaults.

My Post Processors; This will only copy the Post Processors in My_PostP folder.

Options / Settings; Copy the most of the options on Options Dialog.

Custom Material Textures; for use in simulation and job setup.

Sculpting Presents; Copy Sculpting Presets

There are 2 options:

• Constant number - Attempts to add the specified number of tabs by distributing them evenly along the vectors.
• Constant distance between tabs - Attempts to add tabs at regularly spaced distances.

There are two options for placement of tabs. The first tab can be placed at the machining start point, using the corresponding option. Otherwise, the Avoid corners and curved regions option can be used. This option will try to avoid placing the tabs at corners, whilst still trying to use the options above which specify the number of tabs and the distance between them.

Numerical edit boxes generally support simple calculations.

A sum can be entered directly into the edit box:

Having typed an equation, pressing the = key will perform the entered calculation and fill the edit box with the answer.

As well as the simple numerical calculations, such as 3+(4/5), several of Cut2D Pro's stored values can be accessed by using certain letters (which are not case-sensitive): When used, Cut2D Pro substitutes the character with the appropriate value in the calculation.

The post processor is the section of the program that converts the XYZ coordinates for the tool moves into a format that is suitable for a particular router or machine tool. This document details how to create and edit the configuration files that customize the output from the program to suit a particular machine control.

Below are sections of a typical program that has been post processed into both G-Code and HPGL

G-Code Output

T1 M6

G17

G0 Z4.5000

G0 X0.0000 Y0.0000 S12000 M3

G0 X2.4567 Y7.8342 Z0.2500

G1 Z-0.0500 F5.0

G3 X3.3784 Y8.7559 I0.0000 J0.9218 F66.0

G3 X2.4567 Y9.6777 I-0.9218 J0.0000

G3 X1.5349 Y8.7559 I0.0000 J-0.9218

HPGL Output

IN;PA;

PU2496,7960;

PD2496,7960;

AA2496,8896,90.000

AA2496,8896,90.000

AA2496,8896,90.000

AA2496,8896,90.000

PU2496,7960;

PU2496,6096;

Machine controller manufacturers will often customize the file format required for programs to run on a particular machine in order to optimize the control to suit the individual characteristics of that machine.

The Vectric post processor uses simple text based configuration files, to enable the user to tailor a configuration file, should they wish to do so.

A section where you can describe the post processor and record any changes to the post processor, each line is a comment and starts with a ‘+’ character or a ‘|’ character.

+ History

+ Who When What

+ ======== ========== ===========================

+ Tony 14/07/2006 Written

+ Mark 26/08/2008 Combined ATC commands, stop spindle on TC

+================================================

Statements are items that are either used only once, or have static values throughout the file. Write statement names in upper case letters for clarity.

A section that describes how a long toolpath output will be split:

TAPE_SPLITTING=MAX_NUM_LINES LINE_TOL "FILENAME_FORMAT" START_INDEX INDEX_ON_FIRST_FILE

For example a command of:

TAPLE_SPLITTING=1000 100 "%s_%s.tap" 1 "YES"

would lead to...

Output will be split into multiple files of a maximum of 1000 lines (+ however many lines in there are within the footer section of the post processor), if a retract move exists after line 900 (1000 – 100), the file will be split at that move. If the file was called "toolpath" the split files would be named toolpath_1.tap, toolpath_2.tap etc. The first toolpath output will be "toolpath_ 1.tap" there will be no file named "toolpath" without an index number, (as INDEX_ON_FIRST_FILE= YES is used), unless the file was less than 1000 lines long, in which case the file would not be split.

LINE_ENDING="[13][12]"

Decimal values of the characters appended to each separate line of the post processed file. (Will usually be [13][10]) (Carriage return, line feed) for any controller that can read a windows or MSDOS format text file.

If you wish to add line numbers to the output file, the current line number is added with the variable [N]. The behaviour of this line number variable is controlled by the following variables:

Values for tool position, feed rates, spindle speeds etc. are inserted into the file using variables. Variables are used throughout the file; the variables are replaced with the current value for that item when the file is post processed. For example, the current X, Y and Z tool positions at any time, are inserted into the file by using the variable output, [X], [Y] and [Z] respectively.

Write variable names in upper case letters for clarity.

A Variable is formatted as follows:

VAR VARIABLE = [VO|WO|CS|VF|MX]

where

• VO = Variable output for example X, XF or F.
• WO = When output, A=Always, C=Only when changed.
• CS = Character string output before value .
• VF = Value format, determines the format that the value is output with.
• MX = Multiplier Value.

A typical variable

1. VAR - This line is a Variable.
2. Variable Name.
3. Equals Sign.
4. Open Square bracket - (start of variable formatting parameters).
5. Variable label - i.e. label that is substituted with the variable value.
6. Vertical Bar - Parameter separator.
7. A = Always output value, C = Only output value when it changes
8. Vertical Bar - Parameter separator.
9. Character string to print before variable value.
10. Vertical Bar - Parameter separator.
11. Optional Format Flags - for details see below.
12. Value Format - units and number of decimal places to output.
13. Vertical Bar - Parameter separator.
14. Output multiplier - for details see below.
15. Close Square Bracket - End of formatting parameters.

The values format string should be formatted as follows:

FORMAT_FLAGS FIELD_WIDTH DECIMAL_SEPARATOR DECIMAL_PLACES

The format flags are optional and only needed by a small number of controllers they will be described shortly.

Field Width The Field width represents the minimum number of characters that are output. The field width is usually set to “1” a value greater than 1 is typically only required if a controller expects to see a fixed number of characters for the value. If this is the case, a number greater than 1 can be entered. The number entered will ensure that that number of characters is output. The number that represents the field width includes the full floating-point number for the output value, (including the decimal separator character).

Decimal Separator The decimal separator character is almost always just a period character, but there are some controllers that expect to see a comma character. (For an example of a post processor that does not use a period character, see the file: Heidenhain_inch.pp)

Decimal Places The number of decimal places output following the decimal separator. The values are often set at 3 for controllers operating in Metric, or 4 for controllers operating in Inches.

The output values can be further modified by using the optional format flags:

Most variables have a default format; (shown below) to set a different format for a variable, enter the line below in your post processor and alter the parameters to suit your controller.

The multiplier value is used to multiply the value to output a different value. Common reasons for wishing to do this are:

To convert the default output of an Inch post processor, from inches per minute to inches per second, (Multiply by 0.01666).

To convert the default output of a Metric post processor, from mm per minute to mm per second, (Multiply by 0.0166).

To make positive values negative (and vice versa), (Multiply by -1).

To convert the output of an arc angle from radians to degrees, (Multiply by 57.2957795).

To multiply or divide by a fixed factor (I.E. produce 1:4 scale model, Multiply by 0.25)

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output at the start of the file

+---------------------------------------------------

begin HEADER

"Commands"

The header is the location for the instructions that are output once, at the start of the file, these generally setup modal commands for the controller.

For example, the Header might contain a command to display the filename on the controller and a series of “G-Codes” to set the machine up, for instance G20 to tell the control that the moves are in inches, or G21 to tell the control that the moves are in millimetres.

Variables that you might wish to be within the header section, could include:

Information about the Material Block

• Minimum extent in X = [XMIN]
• Minimum extent in Y = [YMIN]
• Minimum extent in Z = [ZMIN]
• Maximum extent in X = [XMAX]
• Maximum extent in Y = [YMAX]
• Maximum extent in Z = [ZMAX]
• Length of material in X = [XLENGTH]"
• Length of material in Y = [YLENGTH]"
• Depth of material in Z = [ZLENGTH]"

Home Position Information

• Home X = [XH]
• Home Y = [YH]
• Home Z = [ZH]
• Rapid clearance gap or Safe Z = [SAFEZ]

Details of the first tool to be used.

• Tool Number = [T]
• Tool name = [TOOLNAME]

Initial cutting speeds

• Feed Rate used for cutting and plunging into the material = [F]
• Feed Rate whilst tool is Cutting the material = [FC]
• Feed Rate whilst tool is plunging into the material = [FP]

Actual values depend on the UNITS set (see Global File Settings) Defaults are either MM/Minute or Inches/Minute, but the output can be changed to suit by setting the appropriate “VAR FEED_RATE” formatting.

Spindle Speed

• Spindle Speed = [S] R.P.M.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output at toolchange

+---------------------------------------------------

begin TOOLCHANGE

"Commands"

Commands that are output when a change of tool is required. Variables and commands that might be used include:

• Previous Tool Number = [TP]
• Tool Number = [T]
• Tool name = [TOOLNAME]
• Toolpath Name = [TOOLPATH_NAME]
• Toolpath Pathname = [PATHNAME]
• Toolpath File Name = [TP_FILENAME]
• Toolpath File Directory = [TP_DIR]
• Toolpath Extension = [TP_EXT]
• Spindle Speed = [S] R.P.M.
• M3 M Code often used to turn spindle on (Clockwise rotation).
• M5 M Code often used to turn spindle off.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for a new segment ( new toolpath with current toolnumber)

+---------------------------------------------------

begin NEW_SEGMENT

"Commands"

For an example of a NEW_SEGMENT section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

Commands that are output when a new toolpath uses the currently selected tool, but perhaps a different spindle speed is required or the machine requires additional instructions.

Any commands that are used in the NEW_SEGMENT section should not need to be included within the TOOLCHANGE section as a tool-change will also automatically call the instructions in the NEW_SEGMENT section.

Variables that are commonly used include.

• Spindle Speed = [S] R.P.M.
• M3 M Code often used to turn spindle on (Clockwise rotation).
• M5 M Code often used to turn spindle off.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for Initial rapid move

+---------------------------------------------------

begin INITIAL_RAPID_MOVE

"Commands"

For an example of a INITIAL_RAPID_MOVE section, see the file: Saom_OSAI_Arc_inch.pp

Commands that are output when the very first rapid move is made following the header or a tool change. A Section not used for most posts, but useful if the very first rapid move, needs to output different information to subsequent rapid moves. This section is sometimes required for HPGL variants.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for rapid moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin RAPID_MOVE

"Commands"

Commands that are output when rapid moves are required.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for first feed rate move in a series of feed moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_FEED_MOVE

"Commands"

This section is commonly used where controllers require that the Feed Rate is set at the first feed move, this rate would then be used for subsequent cut moves.

For an example of a FIRST_FEED_MOVE section, see the file: Axyz_Arcs_ATC_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for feed rate moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FEED_MOVE

"Commands"

Used to output information required at every move, or all feed moves except for the First Feed Move, if a FIRST_FEED_MOVE section is present within the post processor.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for the first clockwise arc move in a series of cw arc moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CW_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_FEED_MOVE section, but for clockwise arc segments. This section is commonly used where controllers require that the Feed Rate is set for the first arc segment, this rate would then be used for subsequent arc moves in the same direction.

For an example of a FIRST_CW_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Centroid_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for clockwise helical arc plunge move in a series of moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CW _HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_CW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z. Feed rates output are from Plunge rate set for the tool.

For an example of a CW_HELICAL_ARC_PLUNGE_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for clockwise helical arc move in a series of moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_CW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z.

For an example of a CW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for clockwise arc moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin CW_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FEED_MOVE section, but for clockwise arc segments.

For an example of a CW_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Centroid_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for clockwise helical arc moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin CW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the CW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z.

For an example of a CW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for the first counter-clockwise arc move in a series of ccw arc moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CCW_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_FEED_MOVE section, but for counter-clockwise arc segments. This section is commonly used where controllers require that the Feed Rate is set for the first arc segment, this rate would then be used for subsequent arc moves in the same direction.

For an example of a FIRST_CCW_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Centroid_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for counter- clockwise helical arc plunge move in a series of moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CCW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_CCW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z. Feed rates output are from Plunge rate set for the tool.

For an example of a CCW_HELICAL_ARC_PLUNGE_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for first counter-clockwise helical arc move in a series of moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_CCW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FIRST_CCW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z.

For an example of a CCW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for counter-clockwise arc moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin CCW_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the FEED_MOVE section, but for counter-clockwise arc segments.

For an example of a CCW_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Centroid_Arcs_inch.pp

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for counter-clockwise helical arc moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin CCW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE

"Commands"

Similar to the CCW_ARC_MOVE section, but for moves that also move in Z.

For an example of a CCW_HELICAL_ARC_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp

The footer is the section of the post processor for instructions that are sent to the controller at the end of a file. These might be instructions to return the tool to the home position, switch the spindle off or switch the power off to the drives.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output at the end of the file

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FOOTER

"Commands"

Variables that are commonly used include.

• G00 [XH] [YH] [ZH] Rapid to X,Y,Z Home position.
• M05 M Code often used to turn spindle off.
• M30 M Code often used to signify the end of the file.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the cutter's power is set

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_POWER

"Commands"

For an example of a JET_TOOL_POWER section, see the file: Grbl.pp

Commands that are output when the power setting associated with a laser 'tool' is issued.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the cutter's power is turned ON

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_ON

"Commands"

For an example of a JET_TOOL_ON section, see the file: Grbl.pp

Commands that are output when the jet tool is powered on. This is broadly equivalent to SPINDLE_ON, but is typically issued a the end of a plunge move when the jet cutter is already at the intended cutting height, instead of before the plunge move as required by a spindle based cutter.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when the cutter's power is turned OFF

+---------------------------------------------------

begin JET_TOOL_OFF

"Commands"

For an example of a JET_TOOL_OFF section, see the file: Grbl.pp

Commands that are output when the jet tool is powered off.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output when feed rate changes

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FEED_RATE_CHANGE

"Commands"

For an example of a FEED_RATE_CHANGE section, see the file: Gravograph_IS200.pp

Commands that are output when the feed rate is changed. This section is not often used as many controllers will accept feed rate changes appended to other instructions, but sometimes used with HPGL variants.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for the First Plunge Move, in a series of plunge moves.

+---------------------------------------------------

begin FIRST_PLUNGE_MOVE

"Commands"

For an example of a FIRST_PLUNGE_MOVE section, see the file: Holz-Her_7123_ATC_Arcs_mm.pp

This section is often used on machines that do not fully support simultaneous 3D movement, for example the Z Axis cannot travel as fast as the X & Y Axis. Another use of this section might be to include commands that you wish to output whenever the first plunge move occurs. For example, commands to switch on a plasma torch. Multiple plunges would normally only be output within a ramping move, so this command would be useful for controls that automatically rapid between cuts and where instructions such as revised speeds and feed need to be specified on the first plunge move and these instructions are not required for subsequent plunge moves within the ramping operation.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for Plunge Moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin PLUNGE_MOVE

"Commands"

For an example of a PLUNGE_MOVE section, see the file: Burny_arc_inch.pp

This section is often used on machines that do not fully support simultaneous 3D movement, for example the Z Axis cannot travel as fast as the X & Y Axis. Another use of this section might be to include commands that you wish to output whenever a plunge move occurs. For example, commands to switch on a plasma torch.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for Retract Moves

+---------------------------------------------------

begin RETRACT_MOVE

"Commands"

For an example of a RETRACT _MOVE section, see the file: Burny_arc_inch.pp

A use of this section might be to include commands to switch off a plasma torch.

+---------------------------------------------------

+ Commands output for Dwell Commands

+---------------------------------------------------

begin DWELL_MOVE

"Commands"

For an example of a DWELL_MOVE section, see the file: Mach2_3_Arcs_inch.pp

This command was introduced for VCarve Pro 7.5 and Aspire 4.5 and later. It is used with a drilling toolpath, when a Dwell time has been specified in the program. If this section is not defined any dwell commands are ignored, but the rest of the drilling toolpath will be output as normal. The DWELL variable is documented in the Variables section.

Most characters can be output within the confines of the post processor output statements; however, certain characters have special meaning within the post processor configuration files and cannot be output directly.

These are, the Square brackets [ ], and the double quote character “ It may be the case that you need to output one of these characters within your output file.

If you wish to output one of these characters, you can do so by enclosing the decimal equivalent of the ASCII value of the special character that you wish to output, within square brackets, as shown below. This method can also be used to insert any ASCII value, even non-printable characters.

• [91] Outputs a left hand square bracket.
• [93] Outputs a right hand square bracket.
• [34] Outputs a double quote character.
• [13] Outputs a carriage return.
• [10] Outputs a line feed.

For an example of a file that uses special characters, please see: Biesse_Rover_Arcs_mm.pp

For the majority of cases, the quickest and easiest way of producing a customised post processor to suit your controller, will be to edit an existing post processor. To do this, first create a simple test file that you can use to test the output of your post processor. A simple file might consist of a line, and two circles. Produce a shallow cutting profile toolpaths for each of the shapes, machining “On” the line, “Inside” one of the circles and “Outside” the other circle.

Save a toolpath using your base post processor and take a look at it using your favourite text editor. Below is an example of the test file posted using the "G-Code Arcs (inch) (*.tap)" post processor The example below is displayed using the popular Notepad ++ editor.

For our example, we will add a tool-change section to this post processor. First, make a safe copy of the post processor that you are customising. If you open the post processor that you are editing in a text editor, you will be able to see the lines of text within the post processor that formatted the output of your test file.

The PostP folder can be reached from within the application, by clicking “File > Open Application Data Folder” from the main menu of the application.

To add a Tool Change section to the post processor, you will need to consult the documentation for the control of the machine tool (or control software). For this example, we will assume that the instructions that you need to add to perform a tool change for your particular machine tool are as follows:

• M05 Instruction to turn off the spindle prior to tool change.
• M0 Instruction to return existing tool to tool holder.
• M06TTool_Number n Instruction to select new tool Tool_Number n
• G43HTool_Number n Instruction for control to use Tool length offset for tool n
• Sxxx M03 Set spindle speed to xxx; Turn on spindle (clockwise rotation).

If the operating system on your computer is Microsoft Vista and User Access Control is enabled, copy or move the Post Processor that you are editing from the PostP folder to a folder below your user area.

The first thing that you should edit within the file is the History Comment section; So that you have a record of the changes.

Next edit the POST_NAME to reflect that this post processor outputs automatic tool change (ATC) commands, the new post will be displayed as “G-Code ATC Arcs (inch)(*.tap)” in the list of post processors.

Next add a Tool Change Section that will include the instructions. The location of the new section within the file is not important, but a good place to insert it is between the Header and Rapid Move sections.

Add some comment lines at the top of the new section, (beginning with the + character) to describe the section and make the file as a whole, easier to read. Next enter the line “begin TOOLCHANGE” to instruct the post processor that the following instructions are to be output for every tool-change, (except the initial tool selection, the commands for these are contained within the header section).

The next step is to enter in the instructions that you require, enclosed within double quote marks. The “[T]” on the third and fourth instruction lines of our example, will be substituted with the tool number when the file is post processed; The “[S]” on the fifth line will be substituted with the spindle speed for the tool.

Finally you will need to save the changes to the file, as you have changed the POST_NAME, save the file using a new name, for example “GCODE_ATC_Arcs_inch.pp”

If the operating system on your computer is Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Vista and User Access Control is enabled, copy the file that you have edited back to the “PostP” folder.

To test the new post processor, If the software is running, restart the software.

If there are any syntax errors with your post processor, an error similar to the picture below will be displayed as the software starts, the post processor that you have edited will not appear in the drop down list of post processor configuration files. You will need to rectify any errors and restart the software.

If there are no errors displayed when the software is started, open your test file and save one or more of your test toolpaths.

Select the post processor from the drop down list of post processor configuration and press the “Save Toolpath(s)” button.

Take a look at the file that you have just saved in a text editor.

If the content of the file looks good, try the file on your machine.

Please take all necessary precautions when running the output from a modified post processor for the first time.

The File extension that is automatically produced by the post processor can be changed within the “Save As” dialog box, when you click on the “Save Toolpath(s)” button.

However, rather than change the file extension every time. It is more convenient to permanently change the file extension produced by the post processor.

To do this:

Make a safe copy of the post processor that you wish to edit.

The post processor configuration files are located in the “PostP” folder of the product installation folder and have a “.PP” file extension. For Aspire version 2, the default location of the PostP folder is: “C:\Program Files\Aspire V2.0\PostP” the location of the PostP folder will be different depending on the product installed and whether the software was installed to a custom location when the software was installed.

Edit the post processor using your favourite text editor.

If the operating system on your computer is Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Vista and User Access Control is enabled, copy or move the Post Processor that you are editing from the PostP folder to a folder below your user area.

Look for the following two lines within the post processor configuration file that begin with:

POST_NAME =

FILE_EXTENSION =

and alter these accordingly.

For example, if you wished to change the file extension produced by the “G Code ATC (inch)(*.tap)” post processor from “.tap” to “.nc”. Then edit the lines:

POST_NAME = "G Code ATC (inch) (*.tap)"

FILE_EXTENSION = "tap"

to make them read:

POST_NAME = "G Code ATC (inch) (*.nc)"

FILE_EXTENSION = "nc"

Save the changes to your file. If the operating system on your computer is Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Vista and User Access Control is enabled, copy the file that you have edited back to the “PostP” folder.

To test the new post processor, If the software is running, restart the software. If there are any syntax errors with your post processor, an error similar to the picture below will be displayed as the software starts, the post processor that you have edited will not appear in the drop down list of post processor configuration files. You will need to rectify any errors and restart the software.

If there are no errors displayed when the software is started, open your test file and save one or more of your test toolpaths.

Select the post processor from the drop down list of post processor configuration and press the “Save Toolpath(s)” button.

Take a look at the file that you have just saved in a text editor.

If the content of the file looks good, try the file on your machine.

Please take all necessary precautions when running the output from a modified post processor for the first time.