Text Layout Cutting with Lightburn and Longer Ray5

Longer Ray5 allows you to engrave and cut multiple types of materials. In particular, many users of Longer Ray5 prefer to create a custom text and then engrave or cut it on wood panels or similar material. Engraving a text using the laser beam is not a big problem, as it is sufficient to set the right parameters for the type of material chosen and the result will be excellent. However, if you want to cut (e.g. on wood or paper) your custom text, then setting the right parameters may not be enough.

In fact, depending on the type of text chosen, it may be necessary to make manual changes to the text, so that the cut can take place correctly. Analyzing the issue in detail, assuming you want to laser cut the word "NICE" then there is no problem; however, if the word is "HELLO" then it should be noted that the letter "O" consists of a closed surface, which when cut will fall away from the material and thus change the layout of the letter "O".

Specifically, this problem occurs with all letters that contain a closed surface within them, such as the letters "A – B – D – O – P – Q – R".

Using Lightburn software you can solve this problem really easily and quickly. In detail, first you proceed with the creation of your own personalized text within Lightburn. After entering the text, you will visually check for any letters that have problems when cutting.

In the example given here, there are some letters that cannot be cut correctly, and therefore need to be corrected first. The solution to this problem lies in eliminating the closed surface inside the letter: to do this, just create a "bridge" that connects this closed surface with the rest of the letter.

In this way, after making the cut, this closed surface will remain attached to the cut panel, and therefore the layout of the letter will not be changed.

In particular, you must manually create a small rectangle, which must be pasted inside each problematic letter in order to create a bridge between the closed surface of the letter and the letter itself, as shown in the example below. After that, you have to make a Bolean Subtraction between the letter and the rectangle.

We proceed to insert a rectangle for each letter that needs to be corrected, then we proceed with the subtraction (the procedure must be repeated for each letter, one letter at a time). Finally, the end result will look like this:

At this point, you can make a cutting preview or proceed with the export of the Gcode on the microSD of Longer Ray5 and perform the cut (always remembering to set the correct parameters first to be able to cut the type of material chosen).

This technique can also be applied when using different text layouts, such as italic text or number format, so that you always eliminate any closed surfaces that prevent you from making a correct laser cut.