KSA Fab Lab

KSA FAB LAB > Laser Cutters > ULS Laser Cutter

ULS Driver Details

This document describes the options available to you via the ULS laser cutter print settings. In order to access these screens, you will need to open the "Custom Properties" for the laser cutter from whichever software package you are using.

There are three pages of settings that can be changed depending on the type of work you want to accomplish. They are: Laser Settings, Engraving Field, and Advanced.

Laser Settings

The Laser Settings page looks like this:

This page holds most of the settings you will change on a regular basis. There are four options on this page:

Color Settings

Set each color based on what type of operation you want it to perform (leaving any color you're not using on "skip"). The other choices are:

RAST/VECT
A good catch-all setting, it ensures that any data of this color will be processed in some fashion; it can also produce unpredictable results, however.
RAST
This will cause the laser cutter to process all data of this color as raster information.
VECT
This setting declares that all qualifying vector lines will be processed - but any lines that don't qualify (or any raster images in this color) will be ignored. For more information about how a line may qualify as vector information, please read the background information document.

You can change the power, speed, and PPI settings for each color by clicking on its name, adjusting the sliders, and finalizing your changes by clicking on the large "Set" button in the middle of the page. You will see your settings reflected in the table at the top of the page when you have pressed the "Set" button.

Image Density


1	0:19
2	0:46
3	0:56
4	1:13
5	1:57
6	3:51

This is a crude way of determining how quickly the laser cutter will process your file. The tradeoff is between plot quality and time - a "6" setting will take a long time but yield the best-looking results. A "1" setting will finish in very little time but may not look as good as you would like.

For example, the image at right was printed using each of the following settings. At a "1" setting, it took 19 seconds to print the image. At a "6" setting, it took 3 minutes and 51 seconds.

Settings

This area is used to save your current settings to an external file for re-use later. If you will be plotting many jobs using the same (or similar) settings, saving a copy in your User drive is probably a good idea.

Print Mode

There are four different modes available, that can quickly change the behavior of the laser cutter: Normal, Clipart, 3D, and Rubber Stamp. Most of the time the Normal setting will suffice - although if you are trying to produce a 3D effect (similar to a milling operation on the ShopBot), the "3D" setting may produce better results.

Engraving Field

The Engraving Field looks like this:

The settings on this page should almost never need to be changed. The only thing to keep an eye on is whether the "Engraving Field" area has the maximum page size set correctly. If it is anything other than 24" wide by 12" high, click the "Maximum Page Size" button in the middle of the page and those numbers will be re-set correctly.

Please note that we do not currently have a Rotary Fixture.

Advanced

The Advanced page looks like this:

This page has several settings, only some of which are useful.

Dithering

This setting controls how grayscale images are treated by the laser cutter. There is a preview icon that helps indicate what each setting will produce:

The Halftone setting:
The Error Diffusion setting:
The Black and White setting:

Image Enhancement

This setting shouldn't need to be adjusted in normal operation.

Tuning

This setting shouldn't need to be adjusted in normal operation.

Print Direction

This setting controls whether raster passes over your material start at the top and move down, or start at the bottom and move up. This can be useful if your material tends to smoke when cut, as cutting from the bottom up can reduce the amount of smoke stains.

Vector Optimizer

This setting can be useful if you are plotting out of AutoCAD or Freehand and want your lines to be cut as efficiently as possible.

Vector Scaling

This setting should not need to be changed normally - it controls the scaling of your vector lines, and should be set to 1 in both X and Y.

Rotary Rotation

This setting is irrelevant, as the laser cutter does not have a rotary attachment.

Questions?

If you have any questions about anything contained in these documents, please contact Matt Bernhardt at bernhardt.7@osu.edu, or 614.292.7595.