To laser cut or engrave we require a vector drawings drafted in a drawing editing software. If you don’t have the resources to carry this out yourself you can use our vector tracing drawing service where we can create the files for you. The price for this starts at £30.00 + vat. depending on the amount of drawing required. The guides below demonstrate what we need from you to be able to draft your drawings. You can send scans over via the Uploader or via email along with all the details of you job written in the notes field.

Bear in mind the longer turnaround: Laser cutting and engraving jobs that also require vector tracing usually have a longer turnaround than a standard job. If you can draft a vector file yourself we advise that you do.

Setting up a sketch or mockup - Drawing lines for laser cutting

You’ll need to setup a 2D mockup / drawing of the parts to convey visually what you want to cut / engrave.
Draw out your design with prominent pen marks. Draw all lines (in black) for everything you want to have laser cut

Drawing lines for engraving

Any parts you want engraved you can shade in black to represent fills. Make sure your pen marks are strong and consistent.

Dimensions

All drawings should include all relevant dimensions in mm. They don’t need to be be at 1:1 scale – Once they have been vectorised we can scale to the exact size requested
If you need to indicate locations of holes (or other locations that you need to be precise,) please specify the distance from the middle of the hole to the nearest edge of your drawn part

Scan your drawing

Take a scan of your drawing and send a Jpeg, Gif, .PDF (anything we can view) via the Uploader. If your drawings exceed the size of your scanner, most professional printers will be able to make a scan for you up to A0 in size.

Sending an image to our drawing service

  • If you require vector tracing to be carried out from an image file, make sure it is of a high resolution: at least 300dpi
  • Make sure you explain fully which areas of the image you require to be traced.
  • All images should also include relevant dimensions in mm

Upload your file(s)

Upload as many files as you require (max 20 MB)
In the Uploader notes, make sure you include all the information requested.
Upload your files for a quote»

What happens next?

Once you’re drawings are received, we’ll send you a full quote for your job including the vector tracing work. If you are happy with the quote, the work will go into our job queue. Any jobs requiring vector tracing usually have a longer turnaround because the drawings need to be signed off.

  1. When the drawing work is complete, we’ll send you over screenshots for you to review and sign off
    • Minor amendments sometimes have to made to ensure your drawing processes fine on the machines
    • If any small amendments need to be made we will carry these out
    • If the scope of the drawing work changes significantly at this stage further charge may be applied
  2. Once the drawing has been signed off, we’ll put your job through as normal
  3. Once you have paid in full, the drawings are yours to keep, we’ll email them over to you.
  4. We’ll also keep them archived for any repeat jobs you have in the future, you wont need to pay to have them redrawn if you need repeats in the future.