Laser Settings Tab

The controls found here are comprised of the settings that will be changed most often.

Color

To properly control the delivery of laser beam to the application material, the printer driver must be able to interpret the graphic and assign a set of operating parameters to the print file that is transmitted to the laser system.  This is accomplished by creating the graphic in such a manner that the colors of the graphic can be “mapped” to laser beam delivery settings in the printer driver. This color-mapping feature will apply (map) Pen Mode, %Power, %Speed, PPI, and Gas Assist (some models) settings to the respective filled and/or outlined color in the graphic. Up to eight (8) colors can be mapped.  The colors that are used to create the graphic MUST match the colors displayed in the driver EXACTLY, otherwise, this feature will not work correctly and may produce unexpected results.  Grayscale bitmaps or color (not recommended) bitmaps are mapped to the Black color and are “halftoned” by the printer driver to produce the image.  Black and white bitmapped images are also mapped to the black color.  Please refer to the “Graphics” section of this manual for a more detailed explanation on how the printer driver handles bitmaps.

Pen Mode

Clicking on the square button next to the text will toggle your selection from RAST/VECT, to RAST, to VECT, and SKIP for the selected color.  It is called “Pen Mode” because it is similar to the operation of a pen plotter.  Instead of a pen plotter picking up a pen that is the same color as the color of the graphic and drawing the graphic in that color, the laser system applies a Power, Speed, PPI, and Gas Assist (computer controlled air assist models only) setting to the objects in that drawn color.

RAST/VECT will raster engrave color filled graphics OR will vector cut very thin outlines for the selected pen color.  This is the default mode of operation and is highly recommended until you become a proficient user of the laser system.

RAST will raster ALL graphics for the selected pen color including fills AND outlines regardless of its line width.  If any thin outlines exist in the graphic, they are automatically converted into a raster image.

VECT will ONLY vector cut lines for this color provided that the line width is set as thin as possible in your graphic.  It will ignore all raster commands and WILL NOT raster any filled object or thick outlined object that is this color.

SKIP will entirely skip raster and vector artwork drawn in this color.  If you assign SKIP to the color “Black”, then bitmapped images WILL NOT print at all.

Power, Speed, and PPI

To change the power, speed, and/or PPI of a color, position the mouse arrow on the color name and click once with the left mouse button.  This will highlight the color and allow the changing of the settings by using the scroll bars or by typing in each setting in the appropriate control box.  It is possible to click on more than one color to set them to the same setting at a same time.

NOTE: To obtain the desired effect, it is advisable to always practice on scrap materials when adjusting these settings.

Power

Available settings are from 0 to 100%.  The power setting is directly related to how deep the engraving will be.  The higher the setting, the deeper the engraving or cutting will be and vice-versa.  The effect of this setting is mostly linear meaning that 100% power will usually engrave or cut approximately twice as deep as 50% power.

Speed

Available settings are from 0 to 100%.  The speed setting controls the movement of the motion system, which guides the focus lens over the application material.  Power and speed work together in determining how deep the engraving or cutting will be.  Higher power settings and slower speeds will produce deeper results.  Keeping the power setting constant and lowering the speed will produce a deeper cut or engraving; increasing the speed will produce a shallower cut or engraving.  You might notice that on small objects, engraving or cutting at a faster speed as opposed to a slower speed might not produce a faster engraving time (faster throughput).

Engraving time (throughput) is dependent on the size of the graphic and the mechanical ability of the engraver to achieve the chosen speed.  If the laser system determines that it cannot achieve the chosen speed, due to graphic size, it will automatically adjust its speed internally to the maximum speed it can achieve.  This is evident when you see the motion system automatically slow down while cutting curves or circles as opposed to straight lines.  Automatic proportional pulsing (see PPI) of the laser beam will ensure that there is no difference in the depth of cut from straight lines to curves.  Keep in mind that depending on the graphic, increasing or decreasing the speed setting will not necessarily process the file faster or slower, respectively.

NOTE: 100% raster speed is different than 100% vector speed.  Due to the inertia of the X-axis arm moving in the Y-direction and depending on which Platform you have and the accessories installed, vector speeds will range from one-third to one-half the maximum raster speed.

PPI

This setting indicates how many laser pulses, per linear inch, the laser cartridge will emit.  The pulsing of the laser beam is electronically linked to the mechanical motion of the focus carriage.  These pulses will always fire, equally spaced, from one to the next, regardless of changes in speed and power or acceleration or deceleration of the focus carriage.  For example, when setting the PPI to 500 and using a standard lens that has a laser spot size of five thousandths of an inch (.005”), significant pulse overlap will occur.  The laser system fires a laser pulse, moves over two thousandths of an inch (that is 1 inch divided by 500), and then fires the next pulse and so on, overlapping the pulses significantly.  In vector mode, laser pulsing follows the path of the outline of the object.  Imagine the laser system working like a sewing machine where the stitching always remains consistent whether you sew fast, slow, or around curves.  In raster mode, the laser pulses are applied in bi-directional, horizontal scan lines just like a dot matrix printer.

When raster engraving filled objects, it is advisable to use a PPI setting of 500 or higher.  If using less, the image resolution of the engraving is reduced.  In some rare cases, using less than 500 PPI may produce better results.  When vector cutting or marking, any setting up to 1000 PPI may be used.  Keep in mind that using less than 150 PPI may result in the pulses being spread so far apart that they may or may not touch one another.  Perforated paper has this characteristic.  Higher PPI settings cause more of a melting or burning effect on the edges.  Low PPI settings may reduce burning, melting, or charring, but may result in a serrated or perforated-looking edge.  Increasing or decreasing the PPI setting has absolutely no effect on engraving speed.  The laser must either fire more quickly or slowly.

Set Button

In order for the adjusted power, speed, and PPI settings to take effect, this button must be clicked immediately following the adjustment.  If you do not click on Set, but click the OK button instead, the settings will revert back to the previous settings producing undesirable results.

Gas Assist

This option is ONLY used if you have purchased the computer controlled air assist option.  Available settings are LOW, HIGH, GAS, and Manual.  Leave this option set to Manual if the laser system does not have this option or if you have standard air assist.  For more details on how to use this option, please refer to the operations manual.

?

This selection, located in each tab, accesses the printer drivers help screens.

Quality/Throughput

Dual Beam (SuperSpeed only)

This unique feature is available only in the SuperSpeed Platform and may be used to raster engrave FLAT MATERIALS ONLY.  The Dual Beam mode harnesses the productivity power of utilizing two independent laser beam sources to engrave two successive raster lines of data at the same time, dramatically increasing throughput by reducing engraving time.  Vector engraving or cutting will automatically run in the combined, Single Beam mode, regardless of whether this feature is selected or not.

NOTE: Before attempting to use the Dual Beam feature, be sure that you completely understand and are comfortable with using the laser system in single beam mode.  A complete explanation on how Dual Beam mode physically differs from single beam mode can be found in the SuperSpeed's operations manual.

Selecting Dual Beam will change the appearance of the printer driver by displaying 8 settings instead of 6.  By moving the slider bar upwards, the spacing between each independent raster line decreases.  This produces a higher engraving density (quality increases), but also decreases your throughput (productivity decreases).  Moving the slider bar downwards increases the spacing between each independent raster line.  This produces a lower engraving density (quality decreases), but also increases throughput (increases productivity).  By running samples on scrap materials and practicing with different settings, you can find a compromise between throughput and engraving quality.

Image Density

This is a graphical representation of what happens when you move the slider bar up and down.  There are 6 choices in all models except the SuperSpeed model, which has 8 levels when in Dual Beam mode.  Higher Image Density settings produce better quality images, but reduce productivity by increasing engraving time.  Lower Image Density settings produce lower quality images, but increase productivity by decreasing engraving time.

Image Density settings will also have an effect on vector quality and vector speeds when vectoring other than straight horizontal or vertical lines.  For example, a circle is made up of very small straight-line segments linked together at very small angles.  If you choose a high quality setting such as 8, then these segments are as small as possible and they are high in quantity.  The result is the smoothest looking circle but will take longer to vector engrave or cut because the focus carriage must start and stop at the ends of each line segment.  Since there are many segments, it will take longer to process, but the quality will be the highest that the machine can produce.  If using a low quality setting such as 1, these segments become longer, but there are less of them resulting in more flat-edged looking curves that will process faster.

Speed

This is a graphical representation of what happens to the throughput as you raise and lower the quality slider bar.  Higher quality will be displayed as lower speed and lower quality will be displayed as higher speed.

Lens (SuperSpeed only)

From this dropdown list, please choose the focus lens that is installed in the laser system.  Different focal length lenses produce a different laser beam spot size, which has an effect on the spacing between the two laser beams and ultimately affects the appearance of the engraved image.  It is important that you choose the correct focus lens from the list.

NOTE: Due to the physical restraints of how the SuperSpeed controls two separate laser beams sources, the only lenses that can be used, while in the Dual Beam mode, are the 1.5-inch and the 2.0-inch lenses.

Settings

Load

To recall settings that have been previously saved, click on the “Load” button and choose the desired .LAS settings file.  The settings that are currently on screen will be replaced by the settings from the .LAS file.  You may abort this change by clicking Cancel; clicking OK will approve the change.

Save

A unique feature of the printer driver is the ability to store all of its settings in a file.  By clicking Save, the “Save Engraving Setup” dialog box will appear and will allow you to enter in a file name.  All settings will be stored in this file that has a “.LAS” extension.  DO NOT rename the extension; the driver will not recognize the file as a laser settings file if it does not have the “.LAS” extension name.  These files can be stored in any directory on your hard drive or floppy disks and you can have as many setting files as your disks can hold.

Default

This button will reset the driver settings to the originally installed values.

Print Mode

In this dropdown list, you can choose from 4 different printing modes, Normal (default), Clipart, 3D, and Rubber Stamp.

Clipart Mode

This control simulates laser printer output and is very useful if using a drawing with many colors, shades of gray, or many outlines.  It is recommended to turn this control ON when using DRAWN clipart because there may be some underlying cutting lines hiding behind filled areas.  Having this control ON gives a what-you-see-is-what-you-get output very similar to laser printer output.  The entire drawing will be raster engraved, including all outlines, and only the Black color setting is used.  The driver automatically turns OFF its color-mapping feature and all colors are engraved as different shades of gray, represented by a halftone pattern.  The halftone pattern is based upon the “Quality” setting of the driver the same way grayscale bitmaps are interpreted.  Since clipart images use a wide variety of colors, shades, and outlines, the only effective way of engraving these images is to have this control turned ON.  Clipart mode also provides greater compatibility with Windows software that does not work well with vector devices such as the laser system.  Do not activate this control when printing photographs or bitmapped images; use it ONLY with DRAWN clipart.

3D

This feature, in combination with grayscale bitmaps, automatically assigns laser power levels to the shades of gray of the bitmap without converting the image to a halftone.  These power settings are based off the setting you entered for the color black, in the printer driver.  The darkest shades of gray (black) will be assigned the value of the setting for the black color.  The lightest shade of gray (white) will be assigned a 0% power.  All shades of gray that fall between black and white will be assigned an appropriate power level that matches the darkness of the color.

Special 3D software is required to produce grayscale images that are compatible with this mode.  You cannot just use any grayscale bitmap and expect quality results.  Please contact our Applications Department for the latest 3D software recommendations.

Rubber Stamp

This mode causes a “shouldering” effect when raster engraving rubber stamp material or any other material that requires a “shouldered” engraving.  The effect looks as if the laser beam engraved the material on an angle, but in actuality it is the precise control of laser power that creates this appearance.  This is a “raster only” feature that only works with black colored graphics and uses the power setting of the black color in the printer driver.  Vectors are processed normally and can be used for vector engraving or cutting by assigning any of the seven other printer driver colors to the outline desired.

To obtain a “raised” engraving such as a rubber stamp, simply create a “negative” graphic so that the background is black and the text or graphic objects are white.  This way, the background engraves and the text or objects remain untouched, producing a “pyramid” effect.

To obtain a “chiseled” or “sunken” engraving, create a “positive” graphic so that the background is white and the text or objects are black.  This way, the text or graphic engraves and the background remains untouched, producing a “chiseled” effect.

Config Button

This button is only available when using rubber stamp mode.  Selecting it brings up a pop-up window so you can choose from the following settings:

Taper Selection

Choose from various types of shoulder angles.  Experiment with each setting and note the result.

Invert Page

Converts all black objects into white and all white objects into black for the ENTIRE PAGE.  This is very useful for engraving a full sheet of rubber stamps.

Mirror Page

Mirrors the ENTIRE PAGE from left to right (horizontally).  It will not mirror individual objects or selections.  This is very useful for engraving full sheets rubber stamps because the graphics on screen are non-mirrored and can be proof read easily.

Power

Notice that when you click on different Taper Selections, that the power table changes.  This is because the laser applies power in different profiles to produce different styles of taper.  If you would like to create a custom taper of your own, first select the Taper Selection that you would like to start with and then click the “NEW” button.  This will copy the taper as a “Custom Shoulder” that you can rename by typing a new name in the dialog box and clicking “Rename”.  You can also adjust the profile however you desire.  Each slider bar controls the lasers power for that step.  The numbers at the bottom of that slider bar define the width of the step in .001 inches.

From the diagram above, you can see that there are 8 steps used to create the Normal Rubber Stamp shoulder.  The surface of the material is considered the first step and the bottom of the engraving is considered the last step.  You can define as many as 16 steps but the first or the last steps are not definable because they are fixed at a power setting of 0% and 100% respectively.  You can only define the parameters for the steps in between the first and last steps in which there are 14 of them.  By adjusting the power setting for each step, the width in (.001) inches for each step, and the number of steps, different shoulder profiles can be created.

NOTE: The maximum shoulder width is .056 inches.

Engraving Field Tab

The settings included in this tab are Language, Start Options, Engraving Field, Dual Head and Rotary Fixture options, Orientation of the raster direction, and for technical support purposes, the Version of the printer driver.

Language

Select from many different languages in this drop down list.  Some language changes will not take effect until the printer control panel is closed and then re-opened.

Version

Clicking Version will display a pop-up dialog box containing information on the current driver version number as well as the driver’s copyright notice.  It is important to have the version number of your driver available if contacting technical support.

Start Options

Choose from either Auto Start or Manual Start.

AUTO START causes the laser system to begin engraving as soon as you click the OK button and without having to push the start button on the control panel of the laser system.  This option functions only when the laser system’s one file memory mode is activated.  Refer to the laser system’s operations manual on how to activate one file memory mode.

CAUTION: Before using AUTO START, please ensure that your exhaust system is powered ON and your material is loaded into the machine and properly focused.  Use extreme caution when using this feature because there will be very little time to stop the laser system from engraving or cutting once you have clicked OK in the driver.

MANUAL START is the normal mode of operation of the laser system.  The laser system will not start until the entire file enters into the laser system and the operator pushes the start button on the control panel.

Engraving Field

In this section, your input informs the driver of the page size and orientation being used in your graphics software.

Width and Height

The page size that you enter here MUST match the page size in your software program EXACTLY and it is up to the operator to enter in the correct settings.  Select the metric box if metric units are desired.

NOTE:  Incorrect use of this feature may cause no graphics, partial graphics, erroneous graphics, or a misaligned graphics output, relative to the application material, to occur.  To avoid problems, we recommend that you leave the width and height set to the maximum field size of your laser system (click the Maximum Page Size button).

Maximum Page Size Button

Clicking on this button restores the driver back to the default maximum page size that your model can accept.

Orientation

Orientation determines the raster direction of travel and MUST also match your graphics software’s page orientation EXACTLY.  The landscape mode is the normal mode of operation and causes the laser system to raster in the left and right direction.  Portrait mode causes the laser system to raster from the front to the back of the laser system.  DO NOT choose different orientation settings between your graphics software and the driver otherwise, your graphic may not print in the correct position or may not print at all because it may be inadvertently placed off the printable area of the page.

Rotary Fixture

This option is available for most models. Please refer to operations manual on how to install and use the Rotary Fixture.

Advanced Tab

For the advanced users, there are many features that can be found in this tab.

Dithering

Dithering settings are used when printing grayscale bitmapped images such as TIF and BMP formatted images.  We recommend that you DO NOT print colored bitmapped images to the laser system.  Due to the computer memory restrictions, most software programs have difficulty halftoning large colored bitmaps, and errors or computer system crashes may occur.  Because the laser system is not a color printer, it is useless to work with color bitmaps anyways.  It is best to first convert the color bitmap to grayscale, in your bitmap editing software.  Since the laser system is essentially a black and white printer (black turns the laser ON and white turns the laser OFF), and if you choose the correct settings, the driver will automatically convert grayscale bitmaps into a 1-bit “halftoned” black and white image.  This process is very similar to how newspaper photographs as well as laser printer photographs are printed.  For a more detailed explanation of the terms “grayscale”, “bitmap”, “halftone”, or “dither”, please refer to the “Graphic Software” section in this manual.

Halftone

This halftone pattern generator converts grayscale bitmaps into a halftoned image based on your Image Density choice in the driver.

IMAGE DENSITY	ANGLE	SHAPE	LINES PER INCH
6	45 DEGREES	ROUND	180
5	45 DEGREES	ROUND	90
4	45 DEGREES	ROUND	60
3	45 DEGREES	ROUND	45
2	45 DEGREES	ROUND	36
Error Diffusion

Unlike halftoning, error diffusion scatters the black pixels in a random pattern to represent shading.  Error diffusion, as opposed to halftoning, represents the grayscale bitmapped image by adjusting the quantity of black dots as instead of the size of the black dots.  The pattern created will be dependent on the quality setting that you choose in the driver with the exception that there is no chart to reference.  Higher quality settings such as 5 will produce a more densely packed, higher dot quantity pattern whereas lower resolution setting such as 2 will produce a loosely packed, lower quantity dot pattern.

Black and White Mode

This mode thresholds the image at 50% black.  Each pixel that is greater than 50% black will be converted into white and each pixel that is 50% black or less will be converted into black.  This effect is very similar to trying to duplicate a photograph using a photocopier.

Helpful Tip

Engraving grayscale bitmaps with a laser system requires some practice and a bit of trial and error to achieve perfection.  It also requires some knowledge of bitmap editing software.  These images will visually appear different on one material as opposed to another material even if you use the same driver settings.  As a rule of thumb, use an Image Density setting of 5 using halftone or diffusion pattern on harder materials such as marble, anodized aluminum or microsurfaced engraver's plastic.  Use an Image Density setting of 3 using the halftone or diffusion pattern for softer materials such as wood or materials that you intend on engraving very deeply.

Image Enhancement

These controls allow the user to “fine tune” the image which will enable the laser system to produce the highest quality, highest detailed images at high or low speeds. Image Enhancement may be used at any engraving speed and with any application material.

The following procedure may appear lengthy, but when you actually learn how to use the controls, establishing the correct parameters is easy and quick.  Once you have established those parameters you can “SAVE” them in the ULS printer driver as .LAS settings and recall them when needed. Many users choose to name these saved setting according to the application material’s name. Before stepping you through the procedure we must first define the parameters.

NOTE: IMAGE ENHANCEMENT ONLY WORKS WITH BLACK FILLED RASTER OBJECTS. YOU CANNOT ENHANCE OTHER COLORS OR VECTORS. ALSO, ENABLING IMAGE ENHANCEMENT FORCES THE BLACK COLORS PPI SETTINGTO 1000 FOR MAXIMUM ENGRAVING QUALITY.

Definitions

CONTRAST: Adjusts the difference between the unengraved and engraved areas in the high density part of the graphic or where there is the most concentration of graphic pixels (in between the dotted lines) as the following diagram illustrates:

Within this effective area, using too little CONTRAST may cause some parts of the letters to appear thin, faint, fuzzy, or even non-existent.  Having too much CONTRAST will cause the effective area to appear thick, bold, or over powered.

DEFINITION: Adjusts the difference between low density and the high density part of the graphic. The low density part of the graphic can be considered such as the ascenders and decenders of text, or single pixels that may be horizontally spaced far from other pixels, or the start of the graphic in the direction of the raster stroke. Refer to the following diagram:

Setting this parameter too low may cause the effective part of the graphic to appear thin, faint, fuzzy, or non-existent. Too high of a parameter will cause these objects to appear thicker, bolder, or more powered than the high density areas of the graphic.

DENSITY:  Adjusts the difference between the entire unengraved and engraved areas.  If the parameter is too high, then the entire engraved image may appear thick, bold or over powered. Too low of a setting may cause the image to appear thin and pixels or parts of characters may disappear altogether. The opposite effect would occur on inverted images such as white text on a black background.

TUNING: Adjusts the image so that the pixels vertically line up with each other during the left and right, bi-directional raster strokes, will line up properly. A misadjusted TUNING value will cause the image to appear double-imaged or inadvertently bolder than normal.  A typical non-Image Enhanced TUNING value can be from -4 up to 0, whereas a typical Image Enhanced TUNING value generally averages around +4.  Yes, TUNING will be different if you have Image Enhancements enabled or disabled. Saving the printer driver settings will also save the TUNING value.

Procedure

The following procedure assumes that you have some experience working with the laser system and you have a general idea of the Power, Speed, PPI, and Image Density settings that you intend to use for the chosen application material.

In the following example, we will be engraving painted brass choosing 100% speed for good throughput, and Image Density 5 for good quality.

Step 1:  Establish the nominal power setting.

In your graphics software, create a series of 5 rectangles that are about ¼ inch high and 6 inches wide as in the following diagram:

Starting with the top rectangle set the power setting to a value that you know will be too low.  For example, set it to 5% power and the rest of the parameters to 100% speed, 1000 PPI, and Image Density 5. At this time, ensure that Image Enhancement is NOT enabled.  Engrave the first rectangle at 5% power, increasing the power for each subsequent rectangle 5% finishing the series off at 25% power and note the results. What you are looking for is the LOWEST power setting that has the cleanest removal of material. This would be the nominal power setting.  While higher than nominal settings may also produce clean engraving, it will overpower the material and may cause highly detailed engraving, unlike these rectangles, to appear too thick, bold or washed-out. If 25% is not enough power, then engrave the rectangles again, this time starting at 25% and incrementing by 5% and so on.  In our particular example, we’ll say that 20% power looks good but 15% appears underpowered.  Since we know that this material happens to be sensitive to small power changes, we’ll need to narrow it down a bit further. Engrave the rectangles once again, but this time start the top rectangle at 15% then add 1% for the next rectangle and so on until you reach 20%. The results now indicate that nominal power setting of 17% power looks as if it is the LOWEST power setting that produces the cleanest results at 100% Speed, 1000 PPI, and Image Density 5.

Step 2:  Using text to set the CONTRAST parameter.

Type in a random line of text, using the Times New Roman font, set at 8 or 10 points in size. Make sure that the text string is at least 6 inches long and that the characters used include punctuation marks, spaces, and lower and upper case as in the following example:

Universal Laser Systems, Inc. produces the “BEST” laser systems in the world!

Engrave it with the settings determined in step one but this time ENABLE Image Enhancement and set the CONTRAST to 0, the DEFINITION to 0, the DENSITY to 100 and the TUNING value to +4.  You should expect the results to appear fuzzy, having parts of the characters missing, and overall engraving quality to be not as good as expected. This is normal. Now, move the line of text, slightly downward in your graphics software so that you will engrave a clean part of the material but keeping it close enough to the previous engraving so that you have something to compare it to. Keep engraving samples and adjusting the CONTRAST upwards in increments of 5 and note the results. The objective is to adjust the CONTRAST just enough to cause the high density areas of the text to be sharp and clear. Ignore the appearance of the ascenders (like quotation marks or the tops of h’s) and decenders (like commas or the bottom of lower case p’s) as they will appear faint and unclear. This is to be expected. DO NOT adjust the CONTRAST setting to try to force these to appear, we will use the DEFINITION adjustment for those. Right now, ONLY concentrate on the high density part of the characters. Setting CONTRAST too high can cause the characters to appear “fat” or “bold”. Adjusting the CONTRAST by just one number can make a big difference in appearance so continue adjusting the setting by first incrementing in 5’s until you get close, but then fine tune the setting by incrementing or decrementing by 1’s until the exact setting is achieved.

Step 3: Adjusting DEFINITION to enhance the ascenders and decenders.

Now, increase the DEFINITION in increments of 5 at a time until the ascenders, decenders, commas, quotation marks and any other low density area characters begin to appear.  The objective is to increase the setting just enough to cause these parts of the graphic to match the appearance of the high density areas. Setting the DEFINITION too high will result in ascenders and decenders appearing too “fat” or “bold” compared to the rest of the graphic.

Step 4: Reducing DENSITY as needed.

Once CONTRAST and DEFINITION have been set to the appropriate levels, the graphic may or may not appear to be “fat” or “bold”.  In most cases, the appearance will look great without making any more adjustments. However, if everything appears overpowered or bold, try reducing the DENSITY down from 100 in increments of 5 and note the results. If the characters begin appear to be “chunky” or appear as if pixels have been eliminated, then you have reduced it too much. Normally you can leave the DENSITY at 100.  However, there may be cases where you need to reduce it.  Reducing DENSITY can be very useful when the image is inverted such as white text with a black background. In this case, if the engraved area (the background) is overpowering the text (foreground) then reducing the DENSITY may help thicken the text.

Step 5: Fine tuning the raster strokes.

At this point, we are finished with Image Enhancements. Make sure that you save your settings. But your graphic may need a little more “fine tuning”.  The typical TUNING setting is +4 when Image Enhancement is enabled. However, this may or may not be the best setting for your system. To check this setting, you should perform this last test.  Engrave the same text, with all your Image Enhancement settings but this time set the TUNING value to 0. Then move the graphic down and engrave it again with TUNING setting +1, then +2 and so forth all the way to +8. Compare each one to the other and find the one that is the sharpest and clearest.  Go back and set the TUNING value to the appropriate number and SAVE your settings once again.

The Image Enhancement settings for that material are now complete. If you feel that you can “tweak” it a little more, go back to step 2 and try again, but this time start with your current Image Enhancement settings that you saved. It is not necessary to reset your nominal power setting and we recommend that you leave it the same as the value you determined in step 1.

Setting the Image Enhancement parameters using this procedure will cause all of your graphics, whether big or small, inverted or not, dense or highly detailed, to appear better than ever.  We suggest that you run this procedure for all your materials and save your parameters. This may sound like a big job, but the additional productivity and engraving quality that your system is capable of producing is well worth the small amount of time spent.

NOTE:  Image Enhancement will cause files to take longer to print.  Since most materials do not require the use of Image Enhancement, use this feature only as needed.  Also, Image Enhancement and 3D Effects cannot be selected at the same time.  The printer driver will automatically notify you if you attempt to do so.

In dual laser capable systems such as the X2-600, X2-660, SuperSpeed - 600, and SuperSpeed - 660, you may have two lasers installed.  In that case, you may benefit by running only 1 laser while raster engraving light materials.  For example, if you have an X2-660 with two, 60-watt lasers installed, running the combined laser power of 120-watts on a material such as engraver’s plastic is not recommended.  At that high of a power level, the power of the combined lasers is too low to be stable at the settings needed to engrave properly. In this case, you may want to unplug the bottom laser. The SuperSpeed systems have the ability to software select this option as opposed to physically unplugging the bottom laser.

Use 1 Laser (SuperSpeed – 600 and SuperSpeed – 660 models only)

Enables only the top laser and disables the bottom laser from emitting a beam during raster engraving.  This way you could obtain the correct material settings by using the lower power of a single laser as opposed to the combined power of two lasers.  This option only works for raster engraving and will automatically turn on the bottom laser when vector cutting.  Using the Dual Beam mode will automatically disable “Use 1 Laser” when engraving in case you accidentally leave it on.

Texture

Selecting this new feature produces a “textured” or “splattered” engraving background.  This helps improve the appearance of engraving large areas of material.  It only works when Image Enhancement is activated.

Rotary Rotation

If you have purchased the optional Rotary fixture, you may feel the need to calibrate your fixture if your application requires you to engrave or cut completely around the cylinder at least 360 degrees.  Only use this option if you completely understand and have used the Rotary Fixture in the past.  If you are familiar with the operation of the Rotary Fixture and as an application you create a vector line or raster graphic that extends from the top of the page (in your graphic software) all the way to the bottom of the page, you should expect that the Rotary Fixture would rotate a full 360 degrees.  If the fixture comes up short or long by a few degrees, you can compensate for this in the driver.  If your application comes up short, increase the number past 1.0000 as much as you need to and run your sample again. If your application rotates past 360 degrees, then decrease the number of degrees below 1.0000 to get the ends to line up.  You can calculate the exact number (refer to the Vector Scaling technique in the next paragraph) but it may be difficult to measure circumference.

Vector Scaling

This feature allows you to calibrate vector cutting or vector engraving to your particular application.  To calibrate the system, as an example, draw a precise, 5” x 5” square in your graphics software.  In the printer driver, set the laser power and speed setting to vector mark (do not cut through) this square onto some scrap material.  After marking, remove the material and with a precision measuring device such as a caliper, measure the square in both the horizontal (X) and vertical (Y) directions.  Let’s say that the measurement was 4.997”x and 4.996”y.  Use the formula (desired length/measured length) and enter the result into the X-axis and Y-axis boxes respectively.  In this example, the result would be X-axis = 1.0006 to 1.0000 and Y-axis = 1.0008 to 1.0000.  The printer driver will scale the images larger for numbers greater than 1.0000 and will scale the image smaller for numbers less than 1.0000.  After changing the numbers, repeat the marking procedure and verify that the square is scaled correctly.  We used a 5” by 5” square just as an example but you can use any size object that is smaller than the maximum size of the engraving field.  Using the Vector scaling feature with larger images produces more accurate results.  Keep in mind that this feature DOES NOT scale raster images so if you combine raster and vector images in one file, the raster image may not align with your vectors.  You will need to manually position your raster images in their desired position.

CAUTION: Do not attempt to use the vector-scaling feature when your graphic extends out to the absolute edge of the engraving field.  You may accidentally cause the driver to attempt to print past the edge of the maximum allowable page size.  Unexpected results may occur.  If you use this feature, the actual allowable page size decreases by the same amount that you are attempting to offset.

Graphics Software Setup

Choosing the right graphics software program to run the laser system is essential for maximum usage and control of the laser system.  Not all software can be used to run the laser system because many have limitations.  Because you may be using word processing software to output to your laser printer does not mean you should use it to output to your laser engraving system.  Setting up you software correctly is essential to running the laser system properly.

The following examples assume that you are configuring the software for an M-300 Platform.  If you have a different Platform machine, substitute the correct maximum page size.  For example:

M-360 = 24 x 12 inches (609.6 x 304.8mm)

V-460 = 24 x 18 inches (609.6 x 457.2mm)

X-600, X2-600, SuperSpeed – 600, SuperSpeed – 660 = 32 x 18 inches (812.8 x 457.2mm)

General Software Setup

There are many software programs that you can purchase off-the-shelf that will work with the laser system.  Some of them can access more features of the laser system than others may.  Whichever program you choose, it must be set up to work with the laser system otherwise unexpected results may occur.  Use the following guidelines when configuring your software program.

Page Setup

To properly generate and position artwork, most graphics software will permit the customization of the page size and orientation.  Set the page orientation, in the graphics software to Landscape, and the page size to match your maximum engraving area of your Platform.  The driver’s orientation and page size MUST then be set to match these specifications EXACTLY, otherwise the artwork may not print correctly.  When setting page orientation and driver orientation to Landscape mode, the laser system will operate in the horizontal direction, left to right.  If page orientation and driver orientation is set to Portrait mode, the laser system will operate in the vertical direction, front to back.  The laser system is designed to operate best in the Landscape mode and this orientation is highly recommended.  The page size may also be reduced to match the size of the engraving material, but remember to adjust the page size in the driver’s to correspond to the graphics software’s page size.  Note that in production situations it is often more efficient to leave the page size at its maximum page size and engrave or cut more than one object at a time.  This is accomplished by duplicating the image on screen as many times as necessary to fill up the entire page.

Ruler Setup

Usually the graphics software will provide on-screen rulers, which can be configured to match the rulers in the laser system.  Using rulers in the software and matching them with the ones provided in the laser system gives the ability to correctly align the graphic on the screen with the material in the laser system.  For now, consider that the laser system’s origin is fixed in the upper left corner of the engraving area and cannot be altered.  Later on you will learn how to relocate the origin.  But for right now, change the ruler position on screen to match the laser system with the origin (0,0) in the upper left corner.  It is also possible to use a page size smaller than the maximum engraving area.  For example, if you desire an 8-inch (203.2 mm) x 10-inch (254 mm) page size, set this page size in the graphics software as well as in the printer driver.  The laser system will automatically move the engraving area to the origin so place the object all the way up into the left-hand corner against the rulers in the laser system.

Power Control through Color Selection

The laser system allows the use of 8 different colors to access 8 different power settings when cutting and engraving.  The printer driver controls this feature.  When using this power change feature with driver, the colors that are used MUST exactly match the colors listed in the driver.  The colors are black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, and orange.  Some programs will provide these basic colors pre-defined and other programs may require the creation of each of the colors by defining them in RGB.  NOTE: To make it easy for you, we have supplied a CorelDRAW (all versions compatible) color palette on your driver disk called ULS.pal.  Load the palette from within CorelDRAW and save it.  If you are using other software and need to mix your own colors, use the chart below to create them.

COLOR	RED	GREEN	BLUE
BLACK	0	0	0
RED	255	0	0
GREEN	0	255	0
YELLOW	255	255	0
BLUE	0	0	255
MAGENTA	255	0	255
CYAN	0	255	255
ORANGE	255	102	0

If using a color other than the exact colors listed above, the driver will attempt to match it to a color in the driver that it most closely resembles.  The driver will then use that color’s power setting and apply a halftone pattern to represent the original color’s shade.  For example, if using a color like pink to fill a rectangle, the driver takes a reading of the percentage of different colors used to create that color and will use the power setting assigned to one of the eight colors of the driver that it most closely resembles.  It might be expected that the driver will use the power setting assigned to the color red but instead the driver may choose the magenta setting and halftone the rectangle as a representation of the pink color’s lighter shade.  To prevent the incorrect assignment of laser power, be sure to use the right colors.  If using graphics with colors other than the eight listed above or to simplify the assignment of power settings, try using the Clipart Mode feature in the driver.  This feature will cause the system to only use the power setting assigned to the color black and halftone all of the other colors.

Outlines and Fills

The driver distinguishes between raster mode (engraving) and vector mode (cutting) by the type of graphic artwork being used.  Basically, all graphics other than outlines of very thin line widths will be interpreted as engraved images and the raster mode will be used for output.  If laser cutting is desired, set the line thickness of the lines that are drawn in the graphics software to .00005 inches (.01 mm) or the smallest possible line thickness that is available. The printer driver will interpret these objects as vectors and will cut them out providing that your software has the capability of vector output.  Basically, all software programs have the ability to provide raster output.  However, not all programs have the ability to provide vector output even if you set the line width to the smallest thickness possible.  Check with Software Anomalies section in the back of this manual for software that can vector output. The use of color fills or bitmaps will cause the laser system to engrave.  The combination of engraving and cutting is available in most graphics software.  We suggest that when combining engraving and cutting objects, use different colors for the fills and outlines since engraving requires different power settings than cutting objects.  One thing to keep in mind when creating cutting objects is that if the outline thickness is set too thick, the driver might interpret the outline as a filled object and will engrave the outline instead of cutting.  This might be desirable if engraving thick outlines is necessary.  The outline thickness at which the driver will interpret cut lines as filled objects is dependent on the software used.  Usually, any line thickness .008 inches (.2 mm) or greater will engrave.  The only way to determine the cross over point for line thickness is to experiment with different line widths.  Software programs that do not have outline capabilities definitely will not have the ability to cut.

Image Processing Order

When cutting or engraving a graphic image, the laser system will perform all engraving first, and then proceed to cutting.  Engraving will proceed in the exact order of the colors listed in the driver.  For example, all black filled objects will engrave first, then all red filled objects, then all green filled objects and so on.  When all engraved objects have been completed, the laser system will proceed to cut any outlines present in the artwork.  Unlike engraving, cutting will proceed in the order from which the outlines are drawn regardless of color.  There are several different ways to control the order in which the outlines are cut.  One way is to draw them in the exact order in which they need to be cut, but this is not always practical.  Another way is to select the outline in the graphics software and “send it to the back”, behind the other objects, to cause the outline to be cut first.  Bringing the outline “to the front” will cause that outline to cut last.  A final way is to cut and paste each outline in the cutting order desired.  This effectively works the same way as the two previous suggestions.

NOTE: The Windows 2000/XP driver has the additional capability of printing vectors in the color order of the printer driver as well as “back to front”.

Overlapping Fills

If the artwork created has overlapping filled areas, the driver will automatically filter these fills to prevent the overlapped area from being engraved twice.  This is similar to color separation in the printing industry.  The entire filled area of the object on top will be engraved and only the visible part of the underlying filled area will be engraved.  The final result is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get output.  In this way the color white can be used as an effective drawing tool.  Since the laser system will not engrave the color white (this is the background color), it can be used to block out the undesired engraving areas of filled regions and/or bitmaps.  However, you cannot use a white fill to cover an outline, the outline will vector cut even though you cannot see it on screen.

Overlapping Outlines

The driver does not filter outlines that overlap each other.  If placing one outline one on top of another, both outlines will be cut by the laser system.  This is a useful feature that will allow deeper cutting by passing the laser over a single outline path twice or more.  To take advantage of this feature, duplicate the outline on top of itself.

Hidden Vector Lines in Artwork

The driver does not automatically filter out outlines that are overlapped by engraved objects such as fills.  If there are filled objects with some hidden outlines underneath, the laser system will then engrave out the fill and cut the hidden outline on top of the fill.  This is a common occurrence when using pre-drawn clipart designed for laser printers.  To prevent this from happening, turn on the Clipart Mode feature in the driver.  This feature disables the cutting mode and converts all visible outlines to engraved objects and ignores all hidden outlines.

Speed Optimizing

It is advantageous to engrave an object in its longest direction because total engraving time will be reduced when the motion system has to make fewer stops and starts.  If the engraving object is longer than it is tall, rotating the graphic 90 degrees and placing the material in the laser system sideways can achieve a greater engraving speed.  Be aware that some graphics programs do not allow the rotation of bitmaps.  In this case, it may be necessary to use a bitmap image processing software to first rotate the bitmap before importing the bitmap into the graphics program.  If the artwork contains engraved objects of the same color with a great deal of space between them in the engraving direction, processing time can be longer since the laser must make long strokes to engrave both objects at the same time.  To reduce engraving time in cases like these, use different colors for each of the objects but assign the same power setting to both colors.  This will cause the laser to engrave one object at a time, skipping over all blank space, which in many cases will reduce engraving time.  On the other hand, if the objects are relatively close together in the engraving direction, then leave them the same color because it will be quicker to engrave them both at the same time.  Experiment with these techniques to optimize the speed of engraving.

Bitmapped / Scanned Images

There are primarily three types of bitmaps available.  They are monochrome (black and white), grayscale, and color.  Bitmaps are patterns of dots (pixels) blended to form pictures.  Scanning artwork into a computer through a scanner creates most bitmaps.  Drawing them in a bitmap image-processing program creates others.

The laser system can print all three types of bitmaps providing that either the driver or the bitmap image-processing program converts the grayscale and/or color bitmaps into a monochrome bitmap.  Essentially, the laser system is a monochromatic printer, either it fires the beam to burn a dot or it does not fire the beam to leave an empty dot on the material.

There are several different bitmap storage formats available: TIF, BMP, PCX, and others. We prefer to use the TIFF format because it is most widely used format.  The format makes no difference to the laser system.  The difference in formats involves how they are stored on your computer’s hard disk.  Bitmaps cannot be edited in most graphics software.  Some basic functions such as cropping, scaling, or mirroring might be possible but it is usually necessary to use a bitmap image processing software to perform a dot by dot editing, rotation, or scaling of the bitmap.

Monochrome Bitmaps

If you scan the image in monochrome (black and white) mode, set your scanner to at least 600 DPI.  The higher the DPI, the smoother the image will be.  Scanning monochrome images at 300 DPI is the minimum recommended resolution but scanning them at 600 DPI will provide a significant improvement in the image quality.  Clean it up in your bitmap image-processing program and save it to your hard disk.  You can now either print the image directly from your bitmap image processing program, or import the bitmap into a graphics program and print it from there.  Monochrome bitmaps are engraved in the same manner as black filled text.  The black area will turn the laser on and the white area turns the laser off.

Grayscale Bitmaps

When scanning image in the grayscale mode, you should scan the image at no more than 300 DPI.  Scanning at a higher DPI does not improve image quality but it consumes more memory and will take longer to print.  Grayscale images cannot be printed directly to the laser system.  Since the laser system actually works like a black and white printer, grayscale images must be converted into black and white images.  To do this, either the driver will do it automatically or you can convert the grayscale image to a black and white image in your bitmap image-processing program.

The two, primary grayscale image conversion techniques are Halftone or Error Diffusion.  The printer driver can print either one and it is selected in the driver under the “Graphics” tab.  Please refer to the section on the printer driver for more details on how to set these parameters.  Since the driver has a fixed method of conversion, you may want to experiment by using your bitmap image-processing program to make the conversion.  These software programs usually have more options for controlling the size, angle, shape, and the amount of black and white dots (pixels) created when converting the image.  Experiment with all of the controls to see which looks the best.  Big dots look good on some materials and small dots look better on others.  Once the image is converted by your program, save it and either print it directly from that program or import it into your graphics program and print it from there.  Essentially, a Halftone image and an Error Diffusion image are actually both monochrome images and can be treated as such.  If you decide not convert the grayscale image to a monochrome image in your bitmap image editing program, then the driver will do it automatically and will use settings based on the Resolution settings in the driver.

Color Bitmaps

The driver handles color bitmaps the same as grayscale bitmaps.  Since color bitmaps use more memory, they are unnecessary and are therefore NOT recommended.  Many software programs have a difficult time interpreting large color bitmaps.  They sometimes can crash your computer or send scrambled images to the laser system.  It is much better to avoid using color bitmaps altogether.  You can scan color photographs by using the grayscale mode or if it is already color, convert it to a grayscale or monochrome bitmap in your bitmap image-processing program.

Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) Images

Bitmap images cannot be cut by the laser system only engraved.  The only way to have the laser system cut out or vector a bitmap is to first convert it to a vector file format such as an EPS.  Raster to vector conversion programs are available that trace the bitmap (this only works well with monochrome bitmaps) and creates a separate EPS vector file.  These EPS files can then be imported into the graphics program and printed out from there.  Since tracing programs have many adjustments, some practice with them is necessary to produce desirable results.

The laser system does not support Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) printing directly.  EPS files can only be edited and printed if they are first imported into a graphics program.  However, since EPS files support engraving and cutting objects, they are therefore useful for transferring artwork from one graphics program to another.  Once an EPS file has been imported into a graphics program, the objects can be outlined, stretched, rotated, mirrored, filled with different colors, or anything else desired just as long as your graphics software can edit EPS images.  Be careful when using EPS files in layout software as opposed to true graphics software.  Layout software may allow the placement of EPS files in the artwork but may not actually import and convert the EPS file to a useful format for the printer driver and therefore may not print correctly.  Please refer to your graphics software’s documentation on whether or not it can edit and print EPS images to a non-Postscript printer.

Postscript (PS) Images

The laser system is NOT a postscript device.  This means that postscript fills, postscript textures, and especially POSTSCRIPT FONTS WILL NOT be able to print to the laser system.  Sometimes using Adobe Type Manager (ATM) will allow some postscript fonts to print correctly but most of the time does not work properly.

Helpful Tip

If you are having any problems printing a font and you cannot figure out what is going on, select the font and “convert to curves” or “convert to paths” in your graphics software.  This will convert the font into a bitmapped image and will print correctly to the laser system.  Refer to your graphics software on how to convert fonts.  However, postscript textures and postscript fills cannot be converted and will not print to the laser system.

Software Setup

Windows 2000 or Windows XP CorelDRAW 9 Setup

1.	Make sure that you have installed all Service Releases and software patches from Microsoft. For Windows 2000, this includes Service Pack 1, Service Pack 2, and Service Pack 3.  If you are reading this document from the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, as a service to you, you can find these files on this CD.  For the latest releases, check Microsoft’s website, www.microsoft.com. Please contact Microsoft if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

2.	If you have not already done so, install CorelDraw on your computer, but do not open it yet.

3.	It is important that your version of CorelDraw is updated with the latest patches and service releases. At the time this document was released, the latest patch file names were GR9SP1EN.exe and GR9SP2EN.exe. Make sure that you perform the upgrades in that order.  If you are reading this document from the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, as a service to you, you can find these files on this CD. For the latest releases, check CorelDraw’s website, www.corel.com. Please contact CorelDraw if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

4.	The ULS Windows Printer Driver must be loaded before continuing. Your laser system should be connected to LPT1 and the ULS Windows Printer Driver should be set as the default driver. Refer to the Computerized Controls manual that came with your laser system on how to install and use the ULS Windows Printer Driver.  After the driver is installed, do not remove the driver disk from your computer at this time.

5.	Using Windows Explorer, locate the file named “ULS.CPL” and copy this file over to the C:\Program Files\Corel\Graphics9\Custom\Palettes folder.

6.	While still in Explorer, locate a file named “corelapp.ini” located in the C:\Corel\Graphics9\Config folder. Double-click on the file it will open up in Notepad. Scroll down past the semi-colons to the [Config] header. Then scroll down 22 lines to the line that reads “Fontrasterizer=1”. Change the 1 to a 0 (this is a zero, not an o). Save this file and then close Notepad.

7.	Open CorelDraw and start a new graphic.

8.	In the main menu at the top of the screen, click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “None”. Once again click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “Open Palette”. After the “Open Palette” pop-up box appears, double-click on "ULS.CPL". The color palette will now appear on the right side of the screen.

9.	On the property bar, click on the landscape orientation (the sideways rectangle). If you would like the drawing units in metric, choose millimeters from the drop down list. Now type in the page width and height that matches your laser platform.

10.	We now need to adjust the vertical ruler, on the left side of the screen, to match the rulers in the laser system. To do this, we need to adjust the ruler's vertical origin. Double-click directly on the vertical (side) ruler. The “Options” dialog box will appear. In the vertical origin box, type in the same height value as you did when you set up the page height in the previous step. For example, 12 inches for an M 300 machine. If you would like the scale to be displayed in tenths, choose “10 per Tick” in the “Tick Division” drop-down list box.

11.	While still in the “Options” dialog box, double-click on “Global” to expand the list. Then click on “Color Management” and deselect (no check mark) “Calibrate Colors for Display”. There should be NO check marks at all for this option.  Underneath “Color Management”, double-click on “Printing” to expand the list. Make sure that the laser system's name is displayed in the printer drop-down list. In the settings specific for this driver dialog box, make sure that ALL the check boxes are UNCHECKED. Now click on “OK” to close the “Options” dialog box.

12.	The next step is to set the default value for the line width and color when drawing graphic objects. To do this, click on the outline tool, then the outline pen dialog in the flyout. With graphic being the only one selected, click on OK, and then choose the color red from the color box. Next to the width box underneath the color box, click on the drop down list box and choose “Inches” as the units.  Now, in the width box click on the lower arrow button several times to make the line width as small as it will go (.00005 inches), then click on OK. This sets the default line width for graphics.

13.	Finally, at the top of the screen, click on “Tools”, then “Options”, then “Document”, and then select “Save Options as Defaults for New Documents”. Make sure ALL the options listed are CHECKED then click “OK”.

14.	The setup defaults for CorelDRAW 9 are now complete. Whenever you start a new document, all of the default settings that we had setup will automatically apply to the new document.

Windows 2000 or Windows XP CorelDRAW 10 Setup

1.	Make sure that you have installed all Service Releases and software patches from Microsoft. For Windows 2000, install Service Pack 3.  If you are reading this document from the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, as a service to you, you can find the file on this CD.  For the latest releases, check Microsoft’s website, www.microsoft.com. Please contact Microsoft if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

2.	If you have not already done so, install CorelDraw on your computer, but do not open it yet.

3.	It is important that your version of CorelDraw is updated with the latest patches and service releases. At the time this document was released, the latest patch file names were d10sp1en.exe and d10sp2.exe. Make sure that you perform the upgrades in that order.  If you are reading this document from the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, as a service to you, you can find these files on this CD. For the latest releases, check CorelDraw’s website, www.corel.com. Please contact CorelDraw if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

4.	The ULS Windows Printer Driver must be loaded before continuing. Your laser system should be connected to LPT1 and the ULS Windows Printer Driver should be set as the default driver. Refer to the Computerized Controls manual that came with your laser system on how to install and use the ULS Windows Printer Driver.  After the driver is installed, do not remove the driver disk from your computer at this time.

5.	Using Windows Explorer, locate the file named “ULS.CPL”, on the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, and copy this file over to the C:\Program Files\Corel\Graphics10\Custom\Palettes folder.

6.	While still in Explorer, locate a file named “corelapp.ini” located in the C:\Corel\Graphics10\Config folder. Double-click on the file it will open up in Notepad. Scroll down past the semi-colons to the [Config] header. Then scroll down 22 lines to the line that reads “Fontrasterizer=1”. Change the 1 to a 0 (this is a zero, not an o). Save this file and then close Notepad.

7.	Open CorelDraw and start a new graphic.

8.	In the main menu at the top of the screen, click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “None”. Once again click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “Open Palette”. After the “Open Palette” pop-up box appears, double-click on "ULS.CPL". The color palette will now appear on the right side of the screen.

9.	On the property bar, click on the landscape orientation (the sideways rectangle). If you would like the drawing units in metric, choose millimeters from the drop down list. Now type in the page width and height that matches your laser platform.

10.	We now need to adjust the vertical ruler, on the left side of the screen, to match the rulers in the laser system. To do this, we need to adjust the ruler's vertical origin. Double-click directly on the vertical (side) ruler. The “Options” dialog box will appear. In the vertical origin box, type in the same height value as you did when you set up the page height in the previous step. For example, 12 inches for an M 300 machine. If you would like the scale to be displayed in tenths, choose “10 per Tick” in the “Tick Division” drop-down list box.

11.	While still in the “Options” dialog box, double-click on “Global” to expand the list. Then double-click on “Printing” to expand the list. Make sure that the laser system's name is displayed in the printer drop-down list. In the settings specific for this driver dialog box, make sure that ALL the check boxes are UNCHECKED. Now click on “OK” to close the “Options” dialog box.

12.	The next step is to set the default value for the line width and color when drawing graphic objects. To do this, click on the outline tool, then the outline pen dialog in the flyout. With “Graphic” being the only one selected, click “OK”.  Click the down arrow in the Color dropdown box to expand the list and click on the color red. Click the down arrow in the “Width” dropdown box to expand the list and click “Hairline”.  The units can be “Inches”, “millimeters” or anything else you prefer. Click “OK to close the Outline Pen dialog box.

13.	In the top menu, click “Tools, then click “Color Management”. Click on the down arrow to expand the “Style” dropdown list. Click “Color Management Off”, and then click “OK”.

14.	Finally, at the top of the screen, click on “Tools”, then “Options”, then “Document”, and then select “Save Options as Defaults for New Documents”. Make sure ALL the options listed are CHECKED then click “OK”.

15.	The setup defaults for CorelDRAW 10 are now complete. Whenever you start a new document, all of the default settings that we had setup will automatically apply to the new document.

Windows 2000 or Windows XP CorelDRAW 11 Setup

1.	Make sure that you have installed all Service Releases and software patches from Microsoft. For Windows 2000, install Service Pack 3.  If you are reading this document from the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, as a service to you, you can find the file on this CD.  There is an update available for Windows XP included in the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, but it is not mandatory that you install it. For the latest releases, check Microsoft’s website, www.microsoft.com. Please contact Microsoft if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

2.	If you have not already done so, install CorelDraw on your computer, but do not open it yet.

3.	It is important that your version of CorelDraw is updated with the latest patches and service releases. For the latest patches and updates go to CorelDraw’s website, www.corel.com. As of the date of this publication there are no updates available for CorelDraw 11.  Be sure to check    for any updates from time to time to keep your version up to speed.  Please contact CorelDraw if you have any questions regarding these upgrades. ULS is not responsible for any problems as a result from the usage of these patches.

4.	The ULS Windows Printer Driver must be loaded before continuing. Your laser system should be connected to LPT1 and the ULS Windows Printer Driver should be set as the default driver. Refer to the Computerized Controls manual that came with your laser system on how to install and use the ULS Windows Printer Driver.  After the driver is installed, do not remove the driver disk from your computer at this time.

5.	Using Windows Explorer, locate the file named “ULS.CPL”, on the ULS Windows Printer Driver CD, and copy this file over to the C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel Graphics 11\Custom Data\Palettes folder.

6.	While still in Explorer, locate a file named “corelapp.ini” located in the C:\Program Files\Corel\Graphics11\Config folder.  Double-click on the file it will open up in Notepad. Scroll down past the semi-colons to the [Config] header. Then scroll down 22 lines to the line that reads “Fontrasterizer=1”. Change the 1 to a 0 (this is a zero, not an o).  Save this file and then close Notepad.

7.	Open CorelDraw and start a new graphic.

8.	In the main menu at the top of the screen, click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “None”. Once again click on “Window”, then “Color Palettes”, and then click on “Open Palette”. After the “Open Palette” pop-up box appears, double-click on "ULS.CPL". The color palette will now appear on the right side of the screen.

9.	On the property bar, click on the landscape orientation (the sideways rectangle). If you would like the drawing units in metric, choose millimeters from the drop down list. Now type in the page width and height that matches your laser platform.

10.	We now need to adjust the vertical ruler, on the left side of the screen, to match the rulers in the laser system. To do this, we need to adjust the ruler's vertical origin. Double-click directly on the vertical (side) ruler. The “Options” dialog box will appear. In the vertical origin box, type in the same height value as you did when you set up the page height in the previous step. For example, 12 inches for an M-300 machine. If you would like the scale to be displayed in tenths, choose “10 per Tick” in the “Tick Division” drop-down list box.

11.	While still in the “Options” dialog box, double-click on “Global” to expand the list. Then double-click on “Printing” to expand the list. Make sure that the laser system's name is displayed in the printer drop-down list. In the settings specific for this driver dialog box, make sure that ALL the check boxes are UNCHECKED. Now click on “OK” to close the “Options” dialog box.

12.	The next step is to set the default value for the line width and color when drawing graphic objects. To do this, click on the outline tool, then the outline pen dialog in the flyout. With “Graphic” being the only one selected, click “OK”.  Click the down arrow in the Color dropdown box to expand the list and click on the color red. Click the down arrow in the “Width” dropdown box to expand the list and click “Hairline”.  The units can be “Inches”, “millimeters” or anything else you prefer. Click “OK to close the Outline Pen dialog box.

13.	In the top menu, click “Tools, then click “Color Management”. Click on the down arrow to expand the “Style” dropdown list. Click “Color Management Off”, and then click “OK”.

14.	Finally, at the top of the screen, click on “Tools”, then “Options”, then “Document”, and then select “Save Options as Defaults for New Documents”. Make sure ALL the options listed are CHECKED then click “OK”.

15.	The setup defaults for CorelDRAW 11 are now complete. Whenever you start a new document, all of the default settings that we had setup will automatically apply to the new document.

AutoCAD 14, 15, LT 97 and LT 98 Setup

AutoCAD for Windows requires some special setup and considerations when used to output files to the ULS laser machines. ULS lasers can be used like a typical peripheral plotter device and all the same features available to users of other graphics programs are available to users of AutoCAD.  Both raster and vector motion can be used independently or in conjunction with each other.

AutoCAD 14 uses the laser system as a system-printing device.  In order to print to our laser systems, it is recommended that the print driver be set as the Windows DEFAULT printer.  When running AutoCAD, file setup will be the most important part of sending correctly formatted files to the laser.  Files should be drawn or located within the engraving field size of the laser, at (X0,Y0) and (X24,Y12) inches for example.  If objects within a drawing are moved to within this area from coordinates outside of this area, printing errors will likely occur (more about this later).  Once objects are drawn within the correct area, it should be noted that AutoCAD files have a DIFFERENT ORIGIN than other graphics software.  The origin on the laser is in the LOWER left-hand corner of the machine.  The rulers on the laser engraving table indicate (X0,Y12) at this point.

Pen Colors

It is recommended that line and text color be set to any of seven colors within the ULS Printer Driver (black, red, green, yellow, blue, cyan, and magenta).  These colors correspond to the AutoCAD standard colors assigned to pens 1 through 7.  Colors can easily be changed or checked using the DDMODIFY command.  AutoCAD White color corresponds to ULS Black color.  Any other colors may cause errors during engraving/cutting.  If other pen colors are used, the ULS printer driver will try to match the color that most resembles the pen color used, although some colors may not be recognized at all.

Printer Setup

Open AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT.  Select CANCEL if the Start Up window appears.  Select FILE then PRINTER SETUP at which time a Preferences Window will appear.  Select NEW, then highlight (single click) System Printer ADI 4.3 – by Autodesk, Inc and type in a printer name (M-300 for example) in the Add a description box, then select OK.  A window should appear named AutoCAD System Printer Configuration.  There are three boxes in this window.  Default to “Control Panel Settings, Allow Dithered Output and Update Pen Table on Device Change”.  ALL three boxes should be DESELECTED and then click OK.  The AutoCAD Text Window will then appear and ask if you want to change anything.  Type N and press the ENTER key.  The Preferences Window will appear.  Select OK.  You have completed the set up portion for our printer.

Printing Files from AutoCAD

The ULS Printer Driver can be accessed through the PRINT command.  Select Device and Default Selection and select the printer that was just set up.  Next, select CHANGE (under Device Requirements), and then Properties.  The only way to consistently print properly is to access the ULS Print Driver every time you print a file (even if you do not change any settings) and select OK when exiting.  It is also necessary to check (and possibly modify) pen widths within the Pen Parameters settings window.  From the Print/Plot Configuration window select PEN ASSIGNMENTS.  Set pen widths to 0.001 inches for vector output or above 0.008 for raster output.

For output viewing and proper printing, select WINDOW… then adjust the coordinates to top line (0,0) and bottom line (24, 12) then OK.  AutoCAD cannot plot the entire field.  It will lose 0.07” on both X and Y axis.  We have not determined why this is so, although it may be due to a page border default setting that we have not been able to modify.  To preview file, select "FULL" then "PREVIEW" before selecting "OK".  Previewing the print file is recommended before printing.  To print file select OK.

Objects that are moved from outside the (X0,Y0) - (X24,Y12) area

It has been experienced that some objects moved into the 24 x 12 area will not print correctly.  If objects are moved, the first step when running into printing problems is to see the full print preview of the file.  If there are printing problems, generally it is due to objects outside of the printing area.  This problem can be identified by picking the print window coordinates (using PICK, after clicking on the Window… box) and by drawing a box around the objects that are to be printed, then looking at the actual coordinates that AutoCAD has chosen for the print window.

Likely, the print window coordinates will be well outside of the desired X0,Y0 – X24,Y12 coordinates.  If this occurs, the file will need to be printed by picking the window rather than typing in the desired window coordinates.  Drawing a box on another layer which is set to be “unprintable” at a size of 31.93 x 17.93 (or 23.93 x 11.93) and selecting the lower left and upper right endpoints during the Pick Window routine is commonly done to properly place graphics on the laser cutting/engraving area.

For troubleshooting AutoCAD, check the following on your setup.

•	Set all lines to one of the standard (pens 1 through 7) colors.

•	Locate lines to within the engraving field area (ex: 24 x 12 inch area).

•	AutoCAD origin (0,0) is lower left corner of machine.

•	Set print area to print Window of appropriate size (ex: 24 x 12 inches).

•	Set ULS Print Driver print area to match the AutoCAD print Window area.

•	Always preview print as full preview and check pen width in pen assignments.

•	Is the file drawn 1=1 scale?

•	Keep in mind that lines will be cut in the order that they are drawn.  If objects are copied, then drawing order is randomized.

•	Draw objects as POLYLINES for best results!

AutoCAD 2000i Setup

Please note that AutoCAD version 2000 is not compatible with ULS laser systems and will have complex errors when used.  However, version 2000i is fully compatible with all ULS laser systems.

NOTE: Driver Version 4.17a (Win98) or later, or the Windows 2000/XP Driver is required and it will be necessary to install the ULS printer driver prior to setting up AutoCAD.

Setting up AutoCAD

Once the driver has been installed, AutoCAD must be configured to print to the driver properly.  It is very important that the following procedure be followed exactly step by step.  Failure to do so will most likely cause errors in the printing process.

Plotter Configuration Setup

With a drawing open, select File, then Plot which will open up the Plot Window.  There are two pages to the Plot Window - Plot Device and Plot Settings.  On the Plot Device page, select the ULS driver (example – M-300).  If a window appears with a warning of paper size, simply click on OK to close the window.  To the right of the plotter selection just made, click on Properties, which will open the Plotter Configuration Editor Window.  Near the middle of this window, click on Modify Standard Paper Sizes (Printable Area), then near the middle right of this window, click on Modify… which will open yet another window named Custom Paper Size – Printable Area.  This window adds a border (non-printable area) to the page being plotted to the ULS print driver.  This border is not necessary.  All entries into the Top, Bottom, Left and Right fields on this page should be set to zero.  After entering 0 into these fields, click on Next > and then enter a name for this driver configuration in the field provided (example - ULS M-300), then click on Next >, then Finish.  Do not print a test page.  The Plotter Configuration Editor window should now appear, click on OK, at which time another window appears named Changes to a Printer Configuration File.  Select Save changes to the following file, then click on OK.  This action will create (in this example – M-300.pc3) a file with specific page size and borders, which allow for full field printing to the laser system.  This new .pc3 file may or may not end up as the default plotting device.  If not, then it will be necessary to select this plotting device each time the laser is used.

Plot style table (pen assignments) Setup

It is now necessary to change the pen widths in the Plot Style Table to allow for proper vector output to the ULS print driver.  As a default, the ULS driver will send vector information to the laser machine if the pen widths are set to 0.001 inches (0.025 mm).  If the pen widths are set between 0.002 – 0.008 inches (0.050 – 0.20 mm), then the ULS print driver may or may not convert the lines to raster images – this will depend on the image being plotted.  Therefore it is recommended that for colors requiring vector output, pen widths be set to 0.001 inches (0.025 mm), and for colors requiring raster output, pen widths be set to greater than 0.008 inches (0.20 mm).

To set the pen widths – it is necessary to create a New Plot style table.  Near the middle of the Plot window (which should still be open from the previous procedure – if not, select File, then Plot from the main menu), click on New… which will open a window named Add Color-Dependent Plot Style Table – Begin.  Select Start from scratch, then click on Next >.  In the filed provided, enter a name (example – Laser1) then click on Next >.  Near the middle of the window that appears, click on Plot Style Table Editor… which will open a window of that same title.  On the “form view” page (default) there is a list of colors (pens).  AutoCAD can only plot colors 1 – 7 to the ULS print driver.  Any other colors (pens) plotted to the ULS print driver will most likely cause printing errors.  Near the bottom of this window click on Edit Lineweights…  and make a selection for the units to be used (in or mm).  It is necessary to add a lineweight of 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) to the Value column.  This is done by clicking on Edit Lineweight.  Type in 0.001 (or 0.025 for metric settings), then click on OK to close the window.  For this example, we will set colors 1 – 7 to output vector lineweights.  This is not mandatory.  If the user wishes to set specific colors to vector lineweights, this procedure would then apply only to the colors they wish to set to vector.  At this point, the form view page on the plot style table editor should be showing and Color 1 should be highlighted.  Hold down the Shift key and click on Color 7 to select Colors 1 – 7, then near the middle right side of the window find the Lineweight: selection box and click on the down arrow, then select the 0.0010 lineweight.  Now, click on Save & Close.  You have now created a Plot Style Table that can be called upon at any time in the Plot style table selection box.  The file should be named Laser1.ctb.

Plot Area Setup

The final portion of this setup is to create a plotting area that matches the laser engraving field size.  Select the Plot Settings page of the Plot window.  Below the selected plot device, the Printable area should be listed as the full field size of the laser system (Example – 24 x 12, for the M-300) and the Paper size should be listed as User-Defined LANDSCAPE.  The Plot Scale should be set to 1:1.  If it is not, or if you prefer to plot a different scale, set the scale at this time.  Near the bottom of the page, select Window <  at which time you should type in 0,0 then hit the space bar, then type in the full laser field dimensions (Example – 24,12) then press the Enter key.  The Plot window should now reappear.  To verify the correct settings, click on Partial Preview… and check that the Paper size Printable area are as you have chosen (Example 24 x 12).  The Effective area only applied to a drawing that you have open.  It may or may not fill the entire preview page.  Click on OK to exit the preview.  If the settings are correct, please review the above procedure to correct the problem.  Lastly, we need to create a new Page setup name.  In the upper right corner of the Plot window, click on Add… and in the space provided, type in a page name (Example – 24x12).  This will allow you to plot the same size, scale and orientation of page to the laser when this Page setup name is selected in the Plot window.  The graphics to be printed must be located within the 0,0 and (in this example) 24,12 coordinates in the actual drawing.  It is always recommended that the Full preview be used to verify correct plot output prior to plotting to the laser.

A note about window sizes – On some prior versions of AutoCAD, graphics that have been moved into the plotting area listed above will not plot correctly.  In some cases, the items cannot be seen at all in the Full preview.  If this is the case, then a new window should be selected using Window < and by “drawing a box” around the on-screen objects, which creates a new window setting.  The cause of this plot location problem is unknown.

Simple Plotting Instructions

Select File/Plot and choose plot device (pc3 file), pen table (ctb file) and verify/reselect plot window.

AutoCAD 2002 Setup Windows 2000/XP

Please note that AutoCAD version 2000 is not compatible with ULS laser systems and will have complex errors when used.  However, versions 2000i and 2002 are fully compatible with all ULS laser systems.

NOTE: Windows 2000/XP Driver Version 1.04K or higher is required and it will be necessary to install the ULS printer driver prior to setting up AutoCAD.

It will be necessary to install the ULS printer driver prior to setting up AutoCAD.  Please follow the driver installation instructions in the readme file included with the print driver.

Setting up AutoCAD

Once the driver has been installed, AutoCAD must be configured to print to the driver properly.  It is very important that the following procedure be followed exactly step by step.  Failure to do so will most likely cause errors in the printing process.

Plotter Configuration Setup

With a drawing open, select File, then Plotter Manager, then double-click on the Add a Plotter Wizard.  If the Autodesk Hardcopy System window appears, select the version of AutoCAD you are using, then click Continue, at which time the Add Plotter – Introduction Page will appear.  Click Next> to start the Wizard.   At the Add Plotter – Begin window, select System Printer, then click on Next>.  Select the appropriate ULS print driver from the list (example – X-660), then click on Next>.  You will probably not want to import a PC2 or PC3 file, so click Next> again.  Specify a plotter name (example – X-660 Laser), then click Next>.  Click on Edit Plotter Configuration, which should open the Plotter Configuration Editor window.  Click on Custom Properties in the Device and Document Settings Tab window and then click on the Custom Properties button to access the ULS printer driver.  Click on the Engraving Field tab then make sure the device is set to Landscape and then click on the Maximum Page Size button (example for the X-660 would be 32.000 inches width and 18.000 inches height).  Click on OK to exit the driver.  Click on Modify Standard Paper Sizes (Printable Area) in the Device and Document Settings Tab window, then click on the Modify button.  Change ALL margins to 0.00, then click on Next>.  Specify a PMP file name (example – X-660 Laser) then click Next> and then Finish.  Click OK to exit the Plotter Configuration Editor window and then click Finish to exit the Add Plotter – Finish window.  This has set up a new plotter named X-660 Laser.pc3 which can be selected via the AutoCAD main menu File>Plot>Plot Device tab.  If a warning appears stating that the devices paper size will be used, then click on OK.

To access power and speed settings prior to plotting, click on Properties from the Plot Device tab, then Custom Properties.  After modifying the driver settings, and clicking on OK, you will be asked if you want to make a temporary or permanent change to the PC3 file.  It is recommended that you select “Save Changes to the following file:” - which will change the default settings within the X-660 Laser.pc3 file.  Click on OK to save the changes made to the driver.

Plot Style Table (pen assignments) Setup

It is now necessary to change the pen widths in the Plot Style Table to allow for proper vector output to the ULS print driver.  As a default, the ULS driver will send vector information to the laser if the pen widths are set to 0.001 inches (0.025 mm).  If the pen widths are set between 0.002 – 0.008 inches (0.050 – 0.20 mm), then the ULS print driver may or may not convert the lines to raster images – this will depend on the image being plotted.  It is recommended that for colors requiring vector output, pen widths be set to 0.001 inches (0.025 mm), and for colors requiring raster output, pen widths be set to greater than 0.008 inches (0.20 mm).

To set the pen widths – it is necessary to create a New Plot style table.  Near the middle of the Plot window (which should still be open from the previous procedure – if not, select File, then Plot from the main menu), click on New… which will open a window named Add Color-Dependent Plot Style Table – Begin.  Select Start from scratch, then click on Next >.  In the field provided, enter a name (example – Laser1) then click on Next >.  Near the middle of the window that appears, click on Plot Style Table Editor… which will open a window of that same title.  On the “form view” page (default) there is a list of colors (pens).  AutoCAD can only plot colors 1 – 7 to the ULS print driver.  Any other colors (pens) plotted to the ULS print driver will most likely cause printing errors.  Near the bottom of this window click on Edit Lineweights…  and make a selection for the units to be used (in or mm).  It is necessary to add a lineweight of 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) to the Value column.  This is done by clicking on Edit Lineweight.  Type in 0.001 (or 0.025 for metric settings), then click on OK to close the window.  For this example, we will set colors 1 – 7 to output vector lineweights.  This is not mandatory.  If the user wishes to set specific colors to vector lineweights, this procedure would then apply only to the colors they wish to set to vector.  At this point, the form view page on the plot style table editor should be showing and Color 1 should be highlighted.  Hold down the Shift key and click on Color 7 to select Colors 1 – 7, then near the middle right side of the window find the Lineweight: selection box and click on the down arrow, then select the 0.0010 lineweight.  Now, click on Save & Close.  You have now created a Plot Style Table that can be called upon at any time in the Plot style table selection box.  The file should be named Laser1.ctb.

Plot Area Setup

The final portion of this setup is to create a plotting area that matches the laser engraving field size.  Select the Plot Settings page of the Plot window.  Below the selected plot device, the Printable area should be listed as the full field size of the laser system (Example – 24 x 12, for the M-300) and the Paper size should be listed as User-Defined LANDSCAPE.  The Plot Scale should be set to 1:1.  If it is not, or if you prefer to plot a different scale, set the scale at this time.  Near the bottom of the page, select Window <  at which time you should type in 0,0 then hit the space bar, then type in the full laser field dimensions (Example – 32,18) then press the Enter key.  The Plot window should now reappear.  To verify the correct settings, click on Partial Preview… and check that the Paper size Printable area are as you have chosen (Example 32 x 18).  The Effective area only applies to the drawing that you have open.  It may or may not fill the entire preview page.  Click on OK to exit the preview.  If the settings are correct, please review the above procedure to correct the problem.  Note that all graphics to be printed must be located within the 0,0 and (in this example) 32,18 coordinates in the actual drawing.  It is always recommended that the Full preview be used to verify correct plot output prior to plotting to the laser.

Simple Plotting Instructions

Select File/Plot and choose plot device (X-660 Laser.pc3) and pen table (laser1.ctb).  Click on Full Preview to verify placement and click on OK.