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AFD need finer strokes, down to 0.001pt


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First of all, yes, I know that 0.01pt is already microscopic (that's what, a third of the finest stroke one can put down with a Linotronic?). Wanting 0.001pt is just insane except for an admittedly fringe but likely growing (and rapidly growing at that) use-case.

 

The software which drives many popular laser cutters (Epilog, Trotec) as well as other types of cutters uses vector data for etching and cutting materials. What they all seem to have in common is the special use-case for data which will actually be laid down as vectors eg by moving the laser in two dimensions to make continuous curves as opposed to scanning back and forth to etch a raster (or rasterized) image.

 

The software will not recognize a cut (or a vector-based engraving) unless it is set to: 0.001pt stroke.

 

There's more to it than that, of course, but from what I can see the only thing that prevents me from using Affinity Designer for manipulating the files I make for laser cutting/etching is that: I can't set my stroke width to 0.001pt.

 

Maybe someday vector programs will have a special "color" for "cut" or something like that. But until then, we rely on these cheats, and having a stroke width of 0.001pt is necessary to use vector graphics for laser cutting and etching.

 

Thanks!

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We support thin strokes. If you enter 0.001pt, the user interface will display it rounded as 0pt, but it uses 0.001pt internally and if you zoom in far enough (x500,000%) you should see the line being drawn. (In the next release, you will be able to the decimal places used for points so it displays the 0.001pt too.)

 

What format are you exporting to? In SVG we restrict the precision to 0.01px.

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  • Staff

Hi splicer,

 

You should be able to type that value in and it will work - but it will probably display incorrectly rounded off to 0... If you use the latest Designer beta you should find that you can adjust in the preferences how many decimal places to display for each type of unit, you could set points to use 3 decimal places for example and it should display correctly :)

 

Thanks,

Matt

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OK, if the display option is coming soon (and is in the beta) that's awesome and you've fulfilled my request before I made it!

It's a bit comforting knowing that the 0.001pt stroke is supported, just not correctly displayed. However, without the display, that means I can't preflight a file by opening it and checking the strokes. 

 

I'm using EPS files; the cutters/etchers at TechShopSF are all attached to workstations with Illustrator CS6. I'm told CorelDraw! is on them too but I haven't bothered with the workflow on Corel (I assume it's pretty much the same tho.) I have CS4 which is fine for building files (from a technical standpoint anyhow; Illustrator has always been horrid as a creative tool) but when someone else gives me one of their files, I have to ask them to save off a CS4 version. Not the end of the world, but I'd like to open Illustrator as infrequently as is humanly possible.

 

I love SVG. But just for screen, not for the laser cutters. :-)

 

Thank you very much!

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  • 9 months later...

Has there been an update on this issue? I just purchased a license of Affinity as a test to see if I can start incorporating in our school. We have CS6 but are looking for alternatives. Being able to 0.01strokes is an important feature for our students working in a makerspace setting. It would be nice to not have to filter all student projects through Illustrator or Corel before sending off to a laser cutter.

I am otherwise convinced this software will be a great for us.

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Has there been an update on this issue? I just purchased a license of Affinity as a test to see if I can start incorporating in our school. We have CS6 but are looking for alternatives. Being able to 0.01strokes is an important feature for our students working in a makerspace setting. It would be nice to not have to filter all student projects through Illustrator or Corel before sending off to a laser cutter.

 

I am otherwise convinced this software will be a great for us.

 

Welcome here and congrats. Which “0.01strokes” (issue) do you mean?!

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Oval,

It refers to the thinnest possible stroke width - not necessarily 0.01 - (sometimes also designed hairline) for special printing cases like laser cutting.

 

Thanks, but amathewson did not tell us the unit and his issue.

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  • 1 month later...

To add to this issue- I have set the preferences in beta to see that I've set a .003 or smaller stroke, but in printing to the laser cutter using the cutter's driver it's still being see as a raster, not vector. Saving the file to eps or other(not SVG) to import keeps the width. 

 

Thanks for the word about SVG export, that explains why I've been having to re-set strokes on import to Corel Draw.

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