Laser Engraving Using Base and Mass Production Modules

Transcription

1 ARPATHIA GRAPHIC INTERFACE Users Reference Guide Laser Engraving Using Base and Mass Production Modules 1

2 Table of Contents Page CGI Modules Carpathia Installation Carpathia Document Writer installation Unlock Layout Quick Key Shortcuts Text Menus File menu Edit menu Object menu Path menu Text menu Job menu Font menu Help menu Left side tool bar Object types Object Characteristics Carpathia object management structure Properties button Typing Text Text Properties Dialogue Vector Properties Dialogue Object Properties Dialogue

3 Margins Multiple Plate

4 CGI Modules Printer/Viewer - Free to download and install. Anyone can print CGI files and view them. Base Module - Create new files, Manipulation of objects, and true type fonts, save files, print output, create graphics, import graphics. Engraving Fonts Module - Allows use of purchased engraving fonts, ability to adjust and save kerning files, ability to create fonts. Mass Production Module - Text Merge, multiple plate, grid cutout, and sort/optimize Controller Interface Module - Live interface screen, comes with purchase of any rotary system or controller. 4

5 Installation Download the Carpathiainstaller64.msi file to your computer. Right click on the installer file to begin the installation process. Click Install Click Run Click Next 5

6 Click Next Click Next 6

7 Depending on your computer this might take a minute to load Click Close Carpathia is now installed 7

8 Print Driver Installation The Carpathia print driver (CPD) needs to be installed for printing from other programs to Carpathia. Depending on your computer one or two of the screens shown may be skipped. Go to the Control Panel on your computer. Go to Devices and Printers In the hardware and sound section Select Add Printer 8

9 Select Add local printer Select Create a new port Select Local Port Click Next Type in CDW Click OK 9

10 Click Have Disk Select Computer Select Windows (C;) Double click the Program Data folder 10

11 Double click One Small Step folder Double click CDW INF folder Single click cdw.inf Click Open 11

12 Click OK Click Next Click Next 12

13 Select Do not share printer Click Next Click Finish Carpathia Print Driver is now Installed 13

14 Unlock Before the software can be used for anything other than viewing CGI files it needs to be unlocked. To unlock the CGI software go to Help on the menu bar, then select Unlock. This will bring up the Unlock dialogue. Fill in the boxes from First Name down to . If you already have an account number you can enter it, otherwise we will assign one to you. Once the information is filled in select, the Export Key button. The Unlocker will create a.cuk file. Save this file to a place easy to find like your desktop. 14

15 the.cuk file to unlock.onesmallstep.com We will unlock the.cuk file and it back to you. Save this file back to the same location you originally saved to. When Windows asks if you would like to replace the old file with the new one select yes. In Carpathia go back to Help on the menu bar then select Unlock. The Unlock dialogue will then open. Select the Import Key button Select the.cuk file and select the Open button. The Unlock Message box will appear. Select the OK button. Now you can check to make sure the proper modules have been unlocked. You can now select the Commit button and your software is unlocked. 15

16 Layout Menu Bar Job tabs Plate Material Left side Tool Bar Menus File Menu Open new Job Open existing job Save job using current name Save job with new name Close current job selected Import graphics Create new graphic Print to printer, laser, etc. Close software 16

17 Edit menu Undo up to 100 previous changes Redo up to 100 previous changes Select all, or by type of objects Delete currently selected object Paste from clipboard (not turned on yet) Object menu Group objects Ungroup objects Move object in front of others Move object behind others Align and distribute by plate or selection Duplicate an object Path menu This menu will be deleted and combine selected will be moved to another menu. Combine selected will have more uses when other features are added 17

18 Text menu Import text information into selected lines of text within your job Add more text to existing lines of text within your job Space text by baseline within the selection Space text by baseline evenly from the top margin of the plate to the bottom margin of the plate. Job menu Open the master material settings dialogue also can be opened from toolbar Create as many duplicate plates as needed Carpathia will fill your material then add new masters as needed Delete plates starting with the selected plate any plates before that plate will not be deleted Font menu Install engraving fonts, only the purchased unlocked engraving fonts will appear in the font selection dialogue Part of the Font Module the font editor allows control of kerning, including the ability to import and export kerning tables Help menu See which version of Carpathia you have in the About dialogue Open the Unlock Dialogue 18

19 Left Side Tool Bar Material and Plate settings Number of masters and which master is being viewed. Click to open master materials dialogue Material width and height, click on to open the master material settings dialogue. Number of plates and which plate is selected. Click to open the plate margins dialogue Plate dimensions. Click to open master materials dialogue. Currently shows offset for selected plate. Object settings Number of objects in job and how many are selected. Click to open object properties dialogue. Width and height of object selected. Click to open object properties dialogue. X and Y origin show the object origin and the location of the origin. Click to open object properties dialogue. Properties button shows the type of object, or objects selected and how many. Click to open the corresponding dialogue. (more on properties in the next section) Clicking the text tool changes the curser to the text tool. Click a location on the plate, then the text dialogue opens allowing you to type text. When finished typing a line of text, press Enter, this will close the dialogue. To type another line, press enter, to return to the normal curser, either right click the mouse, or click on the text tool. 19

20 Object Types Carpathia breaks object types into 3 categories, text, vector/paths and bitmaps. In the example below we will show each type of object represented as text. The first two lines are text objects, one is an engraving font the other is a true type font. (for more information on fonts see the Text section of this manual.) The third line was text but using the convert to curves feature in CorelDraw has been turned into vector paths. The fourth line is text that was converted to a bitmap in CorelDraw. Once text has been converted to vector paths or a bitmap the font information is lost and can not be converted back. Object Characteristics Objects - All objects have height, width, and a location. Carpathia allows these characteristics to be altered in the Object Properties Dialogue. You control margins, and can retain or ignore the aspect ratio of the object in this dialogue. (For more information see the Object Properties Dialogue section of this manual.) Bitmaps - Currently any raster image whether a bmp, jpeg, etc. printed into Carpathia is converted to a bitmap. All raster images are a rectangle that contains pixels of information. There are no paths, or fills. When you zoom in on these objects you can see the blocky pixel appearance. Carpathia does not currently have an manipulation like, dithering, or raster to vector. The bitmap is passed through to the printer, laser, etc. as it is received. Vector/Paths - Any object that has a line path that can be plotted is a vector/path. Carpathia allows you to set an outline size or pen size to these path lines. If the paths form a closed shape like a circle, square, etc. the area inside can be filled with a color. True type fonts are typically filled with the outline turned off. Engraving fonts are typically given an outline size that matches the cutter to be used, and no fill is applied. Text - All fonts are vector/paths. True type fonts have an outline and a fill. Typically the outline is turned off, and the fill turned on. Engraving fonts are designed to allow a mechanical engraver or router to run each character as a single path to reduce cutter lifting. Font text can be edited, font point size and style can be changed as well. 20

21 Carpathia object management structure The properties button indicates the type of object or objects selected. Objects are categorized by type Object Any item that appears on the plate is an object. Vector object Any object that has vector lines and may or may not have fill Text True type or engraving fonts Raster object Any object that does not have any vector information BMP/JPEG There are currently no manipulations for raster objects The properties button opens the properties dialogue. Here you can adjust all variables that are specific to that type of object. In this example there is text information as well as vector information. If this had been a non text vector object the dialogue would not have any of the text related fields. 21

22 Properties button The Properties button becomes active when any object or multiple objects on the screen is selected. This dynamic button shows the type of object or objects selected, and when clicked opens the most specific control dialogue for that selection. If a single line of text or a group of text that shares the same font is selected then the Properties button will indicate Text and the font type. (click will open text properties dialogue) If you select text that has more than one font the Properties button will indicate how many text objects are selected but will not indicate the font type. (click will open Text Properties dialogue) If any path/vector objects are selected the Properties button will read Vector Objects and display the number of objects. If text items are selected along with path/vector objects the same is true. (click will open the Vector Properties dialogue) Any bmp, jpeg, or similar is printed to Carpathia as a bitmap. Currently there are no manipulations available. (click will open the Object Properties dialogue) If your selection includes a bitmap along with any type of vector object, Mixed Objects will be displayed. (click will open the Object Properties dialogue) 22

23 Quick Key Shortcuts Open Save Save As Print Exit Undo Redo Paste Select All Group Ungroup Duplicate Object Center to Plate Center to Plate Horizontally Center to Plate Vertically Evenly Space to Plate Vertically Align Horizontal Left Align Horizontal Center Align Horizontal Right Align Vertical Top Align Vertical Center Align Vertical Bottom Evenly space Vertically Space text evenly Ctrl+O Ctrl+S Ctrl+Shift+S Ctrl+P Alt+F4 Ctrl+Z Ctrl+Shift+Z Ctrl+V A G U Ctrl+D P H V F8 L C R T E B F9 F7 23

24 Text In this manual we refer to any font that is capable of being edited, by font style, point size, and content, as text. Technically fonts are not always text. There are fonts that allow graphics to be typed like hearts or smiley faces. Technically text is not always a font. Text can be converted to vector paths, or bitmaps, so it is still seen as text but it is no longer a font. To eliminate confusion in this section text must be a font. When we use the term text we are only referencing an editable font. Typing text in Carpathia To type text, select the Text Tool on the tool bar. If you hover over the button it lights green. When you click the button it turns red and the pointer turns into the text curser. Move the text curser to the area of the plate you wish to type text. The text will center to the location you select. Single left click to select this location. The Text Properties dialogue will open. The text dialogue is automatically selected so you can begin typing immediately. We suggest that you select the point size, and font before selecting OK If you select OK without typing the word text will appear on your screen with the point size and font selected. If you select Cancel at any time the dialogue will close without affecting the job. To exit the text mode and get the pointer back either select the Text Tool button or right click the mouse. 24

25 Text properties dialogue There are two ways to access the text properties dialogue. The first is used to modify existing text. Select the text on your plate then click the Properties button. If you have any objects other than text selected the text properties dialogue will not open. The second way is for creating new text. Select the text tool on the tool bar then with the text tool icon select the location on the plate to add text. This will open the text properties dialogue. Once open you have control of the font type, point size, base line location, and editing. The currently loaded fonts drop down menu contains any fonts that are currently used in your job even if those fonts are not currently selected. The true type fonts drop down menu contains all of the true type fonts you have loaded on your computer. The engraving fonts drop down menu contains only the unlocked engraving fonts in Carpathia. Point size not only controls the size of the font but always forces the proper aspect ratio even if that ratio has been changed through other manipulations. Checking the base line dialogue not only allows you to type in the desired base line but when this is selected, any text that is merged into this line will merge to the baseline and not the center of the line of text. The text entry box is where you edit or add text to an existing line. The text window displays the text in the font you have selected. At any time you can navigate to the Vector Properties dialogue, to change outline and or fill. From Vector Properties you can either move on to the Object Dialogue or return to the Text Properties dialogue. 25

26 Vector Properties Dialogue The Vector Properties dialogue allows you to control the outline and fill of vector/path objects. Choose between Solid and no fill. If you have a solid fill you can select the fill color. Enter the outline size you desire. If 0.00 is selected there will be no outline visible. With an outline size of.001 or larger you can select an outline color. Outline size and color Fill type and color 26 ABC ABC ABC

27 Object Properties Dialogue All objects have a size, location, and margins. These variables are controlled in the Object Properties dialogue. An important part of selecting an X and Y location for an object is determining what part of the object are you referencing. There are 9 different origin locations. Top left Top center Top right Center left Center center Center right Bottom left Bottom center Bottom right Select the object origin that best allows you to properly position your object. For typical plaque, name and data plate layouts we recommend center, center. The width and height of the object can be changed independently or with the Lock Size Ratio box selected change either the height or width and the other will be changed automatically keeping the proper size ratio. Margins restrict the placement of objects on the plate. To lock an object in place, click the Object Extents button. This will automatically extend the margins from left, right, top and bottom to the edges of the object. To unlock the object click the Plate Margins button and it will assume the margins you have entered in the Plate Margins dialogue. You can manually assign margins that allow your object to be place in any location, even off the plate. This can be used in a case in which you have a graphic, like a tree that you want to position so some of the branches are on the plate but most of the tree is not. You can assign margins beyond the plate dimensions and move the tree so only the part you want is on the plate. When you print from Carpathia only what is seen on the plate will print, the portions of the objects off the plate are cropped. 27

28 Margins Allow objects to hang off the plate by assigning negative numbers to the left and top or large numbers to the right and bottom than the plate size. A 1 x 3 plate with 24 pt text no margins A 1 x 3 plate with 24 pt text.5 margins left and right. 28

29 To adjust margins for an object you can use relative numbers In this example a man graphic was imported to a 4 x 4 plate. The default margins for the plate are the plate extents. We can move the man to any edge of the plate. With the man selected we can adjust the margins in the Object Properties dialogue. In this example you can see the margins default to the plate size with the left at 0, right at 4, top at 0 and bottom at 4. To set the offsets so the man can go no closer to the left edge we enter.5 in the left box. To do the same on the right we can either type in 3.5 or we can type in.5- Notice the negative sign is entered after the number. 29

30 If we now want to add an extra.25 of margin to the left side for a total of.75 we can either swipe through the current number of.5 and type.75 or.25+ To do the same for the right side we would swipe through the current number of 3.5 and either type 3.25 or.25- The left margin is now.75 and the right is 3.25 Multiple Plate To create a multi plate job go to Master Material 30

31 Create a job Open Carpathia software Click File then New For this example we will create a 1x3 template tag, that will be used for a text merge, to create multiple tags that then will be engraved and cut out of a 12 x 24 inch piece of material. Enter the plate dimensions, and material dimensions For this example we will be using grid cut. We select a grid cut size of.003 because that is a typical cut width for lasers Note we did not select an inter material offset. If we wanted to put some space between the job and the X,Y, rulers on our machine we would enter that value here, but for this example we do not mind cutting to the edge of the ruler. 31

32 Now the single plate is represented in white, and the material represented in gray. The plate is outlined in green, this represents the cut out. The red outline shows that the plate is selected. Hover over the plate with your curser, then single left click. Now the view is zoomed in to the single plate. (To see the full view again press F11) To type text click the Text button in the tool bar The Text button will now be red indicating that you are in text mode Single left click on the plate using the icon to indicate roughly where you want the text to begin. 32

33 The text properties box will appear For this example type in Name, select a font from the True Type Fonts list and assign a point size of

34 With Name selected press P to center horizontally, and vertically to the plate. Select the Object button to open the object properties dialogue. To set the margins first select center origin for both X and Y, then set the left margin to.25 and the right margin to.25- Press the OK button This sets the margins to.25 from the left and right sides of the plate. At this point you have a single line 1 by 3 template created. If you would like to save this template, to to File then Save As assign the name and save. Create a list of names in a document like, Word, Excel, Notepad etc. For this example we will have separate columns for first and last names. Once you have the list, select and copy the list of first names. 34

35 Back in Carpathia select Text then Text Merge The Text Merge dialogue will then appear. The Prefix and Postfix option allows you to add things like a sir name (Mr.) or quotes before and after the merged text. For example if you wanted quotes around all of the merged text you would select the Prefix box, type in the symbol then do the same for Postfix. Every plate would then have quotes around that merged text. For this example we will not be using any Prefixes or Postfixes. Select the OK button and a plate with each of the first names will be created. 35

36 Now return to the list of names, this time copy the column of last names. In Carpathia, select the first name on the first plate. Now select Text then Text Merge Extend You will notice that the Prefix box is checked but empty. This is because the default status of Text Merge Extend has a space already entered. If this space was not on then the last name would be connected to the first name. There are instances that you will want to text merge extend without a space, and for that you would uncheck the Prefix box. For this example we will leave it checked and select the OK button. Now the last names have been added to each plate. You can continue to extend with as many additional merges as you might need. 36

37 Multiple Plate/Masters Using the example here there are now 7 plates. At this point they are separate and will engrave one at a time, with the system stopping after each plate. If you want to engrave several plates on a single piece of material or a table full of objects in a jig or fixture then you will need to create master plates with the number of individual plates you need. To create a master click on either the Material Width or Material Height boxes on the left of the screen. The current Master size is the size of our individual plate. 37

38 The current master size is the size of our individual plate. Let us begin by changing the master width to 9 and leave the master height at 1 then select OK. That material size allows for 3 plates to fit on a master. There are 3 masters, the first 2 have 3 plates each and the last master has 1. Go back to the Master Material Settings dialogue by selecting either the Material Height or Material Width buttons. Now change the Master Height from 1 to 2. Now you have 2 masters, the first with 6 plates and the last with 1 plate. Go back to the Master Material Settings dialogue and change the material height to 12 and the material width to 12 Now you have a single master with all seven plates on it. 38

39 In the last example you have all 7 plates stretched across the top of your 12 by 12 master. If you would prefer them to line up down the left side of the master instead then go back to the Master Material Settings dialogue and change the Multi Plate Mode from Rows to Columns, and click OK. Grid Cutout To turn on grid cutout go to the Master Material Settings dialogue and check the Grid On button. The Grid Cut Size allows for the material removed when cutting with an engraving machine. Laser systems remove very little material when cutting, you can leave the grid cut size at 0 or you can use a value like.003. If you are using engrave by color you can select your grid cut out color here. If you would like to move the entire job away from the left edges of the material use the Inter Master Offset. 39

40 To see how the Inter Material Offset works select 1 for both X and Y. Also set the Grid Cut Size to.25 You can see how the entire job is shifted over and down 1. Also you can see the grid cut size shown by the green here. (It is showing green because that is the color we have selected for the cutout.) Printing to your laser To print, go to File and select print or you can use Ctrl P. Select your laser print driver and set the material size to the same size as the material height and width in CGI. Once you have your settings in the laser print driver the way you want them select Print. 40

41 CGI Print Driver The CGI Print Driver allows you to create a CGI file from any program that can be printed from. In this manual we use CorelDraw as an example. Select Carpathia Document Writer as your printer. The CGI print driver is the model of simplicity. Only the plate width and plate height need be entered. Make sure the file location is C:\ProgramData\One Small Step\Carpathia\Jobs In the advanced section there is only one option, and that is to turn off or on the Integrate Stacked Text Objects feature. Integrate Stacked Text Objects feature provides a way for text strings to remain in the proper order. The only time you would ever need to turn this off is if you deliberately wanted to place text on top of other text. 41

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43 Template Files There are template files installed with CGI software. The files are for some of the more commonly used jobs. There are three folders with different types of jobs. Grid cut templates - These templates are to be used when a solid piece of material like plastic will be placed into the machine, engraved, then cut using grid cutout. Jig templates - These are to be used when you have material that is already cut, like metal tags, dog tags etc. The folder contains the job to cut the jig out of material usually acrylic, then the engraving jobs line up with the jig holes. Tool marking templates - These are simple single line templates made to be used typically with center center origin. There is also a size example job that can be engraved on an aluminum business card for an easy visual reference. There are different template jobs in the grid cut, and jig folders depending on the number of lines of text you require. There is also a barcode template that is designed for black anodized tags or plastic that has a black surface and white core. Barcode has to be engraved with the bars as black and the spaces in between white. The template jobs for barcode have the barcode line inverted so the area around the barcode will be engraved white leaving the bars black. 43

44 How to create a Graphic or.cgx file Using your preferred graphic software, create your graphic using text, graphics and bitmaps. Once you have your graphic created, it is time to print a CGI file. Notes: If you have any objects that are outside of the plate size you have selected they will be cropped by CGI. You can use this capability to have items only partially on your job space in CorelDraw and CGI will clip it for you. Using the print driver to create a.cgi file Using the software of your choice, create the job you would like to engrave, then select print. Once in the print dialogue select the Carpathia Document Writer. Once selected choose the Preferences menu to select your plate size. 44

45 Set your plate width and plate height to match the plate in your job layout. Now you can select OK Then from the print screen select Print Opening cgi file Click the File menu to open your file Select Open... 45

46 You can double click on the file to open it or single click then select the Open button The job is now open in Carpathia. The material width and height will reflect the plate size you printed. Save as a graphic or cgx Go to File and save as graphic 46

47 Changing object order Depending on what type of objects you are using to create your graphic and the program you are using stacked objects may need to be re-ordered. In this example the jellyfish bitmap has a line of text on top and circle graphics partially on top and underneath This is the result when we send this to Carpathia The text is not showing because it is under the bitmap 47

48 Tab through the objects until the text is selected. Go to the object tab and select Move to front (draw last) The text now appears on top of the bitmap 48

49 Align and Distribute Center to Plate Center to Plate Horizontally Center to Plate Vertically Evenly Space to Plate Vertically Align Horizontal Left Align Horizontal Center Align Horizontal Right Align Vertical Top Align Vertical Center Align Vertical Bottom Evenly space Vertically P H V F8 L C R T E B F9 After selecting all the objects you need to align, hold Ctrl+Alt and select the master object for alignment 49

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