One of the core features that makes FSL lasers different from any other company is how our RetinaEngrave software uses Direct To Print driver. In this article we will be discussing how this technology works.
FSL lasers running RE3 use PDF as our base format and intermediary for our direct printing technology.
Unlike other lasers which claim to support PDF, FSL has spent years perfecting this technology and can import prop
Background:
If possible we want to import PDF files into RE3. CDR, AI, SVG and DXF files are directly supported by our software. However, there are many different variations of these formats depending what version of the software created them, such as there being DXF differences for the different years of AutoCAD. Other files, such as SVG, take a long time and do not have units in them making it harder to scale.
There's are too many variations of these formats that make it harder to import properly but there is a solution: RE3 Direct PDF import.
This versatile tool allows perfect vector import from any application. Over the years, FSL has tested and perfected PDF import from various platform, such as AutoCAD, CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape, MS Word and MS Powerpoint.
Procedure:
When using Windows 10/11, Macs or Linux, you can use the File/Print option and select Print to PDF. Save this PDF to your desktop then drag and drop it to RE3. Be sure when printed to print it at 100% scale. This always works and the file format is 100% accurate.
Here's an example of drawing something in CorelDraw:
Here is one of our favorite demos: Direct PDF import from MS Word Printing in a fancy script font:
No problem again for RE3!
Importing from Lightburn into RE3:
The design capabilities of RE3 and Lightburn are similar but some users may be more familiar with Lightburn. If you wish to save any designs within Lightburn to import into RE3 it's an easy process.
Here is a simple design with both Vector and Raster Layers.
The colors from Lightburn will transfer info RE3 if you Print to PDF using File> Print (keep colors)
Once we open the .pdf file into RE3 you will be presented with a window to import Vector and/or Raster data.
When the .pdf files is loaded you can see all layers came in just as they were in Lightburn. The layer set to "Fill" within Lightburn will be within the (raster) layer within RE3 and each vector shapes will be under the (vector) layer.
If you select the "Raster" layer within RE3 you will see a "Threshold" slider on the right pane of the software, the default value will be 225 but we will want to adjust this so there are no other black lines from the imported vector data.
I set the Threshold to 50 which cleared any black lines and only shown what I would like to be Rastered. If we kept the value higher RE3 will attempt to engrave these vector lines.
You can accomplish some intricate designs keeping this at default though!
If we click the "Vector" layer or simply click the white grid within RE3 this will show our Vector Engraving Parameters section on the right pane and what we would want to do next is set the "Passes" to 0
The default color for a Raster will be Black and the vector data imported in for the "Raster" layer imports in as Black. If we did not set this to "0" then it would attempt to cut the vector line data we only want to be used for Rastering.
With just a few adjustments you can easily bring in designs done with Lightburn to RE3!
Still having Issues?
Please create a Support Ticket by using the button below or sending an e-mail to support@fslaser.com stating you've done all previous troubleshooting steps.
- When submitting via an e-mail you may attach any pictures, videos and project files needed for support to see.
- When submitting a ticket using the button below please either respond to the automated generated email stating we have received the ticket with your pictures, videos and project files or upload these to a Google Drive or Dropbox folder and include this link within the support ticket "Your Issue" dialog upon creation.
