Guide

Cut-Ready DXF Checklist

Most cutting problems are file problems found too late — after the sheet is loaded, after the head has started, after a piece has dropped or a thin bridge has bent. Run this list before the file reaches the machine. Print the page, keep it by the computer, and tick the boxes for every job.

Size and scale

A file can look right on screen and still be the wrong size. Scale errors are quiet: nothing warns you, and the first sign is a finished panel that does not fit its frame or its opening. Check the numbers in the file, not the picture on the screen.

• Units are millimetres and 1 unit = 1 mm.
• Overall width × height match the order exactly.
• The design is not stretched — circles are still round.
• Panel size fits the sheet and the machine bed.

Outlines

The cutting head follows lines exactly as they are drawn. It does not guess what you meant. A small gap, a doubled line or a stray mark left in the file will all show up in the cut, so clean outlines matter more than a pretty preview.

• Every shape is one closed outline — no gaps at corners.
• No duplicate or overlapping lines (the head would cut twice).
• No stray text, points or construction lines left in the file.
• Corners meet cleanly — no tiny overshoots.

Bridges — the metal between cuts

A bridge is the narrow strip of metal left between two cuts. It has to survive the heat and the movement of cutting, and it has to stay strong in the finished panel. The rule is simple: the narrowest bridge should be at least 2× the plate thickness. So a 2 mm plate needs 4 mm, and a 3 mm plate needs 6 mm. Always measure the narrowest bridge, not the average — a panel fails at its thinnest point, not at its typical point. And remember, the number that counts is the width left after kerf, once the cut itself has taken its share of the metal.

• Narrowest bridge measured.
• Bridge rule passes for THIS plate thickness.
• No bridge is sliced by the panel edge or frame.

Islands

An island is a piece inside a design that is not joined to the rest of the sheet — the middle of a letter, a small shape inside a pattern. If nothing holds it, it is loose the moment the cut around it finishes.

• Every inside piece is connected to the sheet by a bridge, or removed on purpose.
• Nothing can drop through the slats mid-cut.

Kerf and the machine

Kerf is the width of metal the cut removes. If it is allowed for twice, parts come out small. If it is not allowed for at all, parts come out large and thin bridges come out thinner than drawn. Decide once, in one place, where that allowance happens.

• Kerf compensation applied — or knowingly left for the CAM software (never both).
• Pierce/lead-in points have room on scrap, not on a thin bridge.

Read the report

Good tools repair files: they close gaps, remove doubled lines and widen thin bridges. That help is only safe if you can see what was done. Read the report before you cut, while a change is still cheap to undo or redo.

• Every repair made to the file is listed and understood.
• The preview matches the intended design.
• The file name carries the size and plate (e.g. panel-3mm) so the shop floor cannot mix files.

A file with no change report is a file you have to trust blindly. If a line moved, a bridge widened or a piece was removed and nobody told you, the cut will tell you instead — and by then the sheet is already spent.

More guides: Minimum bridge width for laser cutting · Preparing a design image · All guides