Print and Cut giving offset Issue

[NostalgicArt (Justin)]

Hello, I’m still fairly new to laser cutting/engraving I’m using a brand new Acmer S2 12 watt laser which is great! I print and cut out video game character sprites and I’ve been trying to properly use the print and cut feature to cut my images out perfectly but not having much luck. I believe I set everything up correctly but I’m not 100% sure.

Here are the steps I take from start to finish:

1.) I set my registration marks and print my images out in photoshop which is a basic 11x8.5 .jpeg document with a 300dpi.

2.) Import the image into LightBurn, go to tools, trace image, and get rid of the original image and left with the outline, I ungroup everything, then regroup my circle registration marks.

3.) I home my laser, then proceed to line up my registration marks by jogging to each crosshair. I set the first position, then jog to the second position and set that. Then I align outputs to targets. It gives me the green thumbs up saying print n cut is ready. I do the preview window and everything looks great.

4.) I press start and the machine starts to cut along the edges of where I want however it starts to slowly skew outside of the boundary of where it’s’ supposed to be cutting leaving a 1mm border around my cut image particularly on the left side of the image. I have no clue what I’m doing wrong. If someone can assist with this issue I would gladly really appreciate it

Thank you

I’ve attached an image of my screen and test results if that helps.

[thelmuth (Tim Helmuth)]

As the last step in Print and Cut do you select scaled or not scaled? Try the other option.

[NostalgicArt (Justin)]

I will try that and get back to you.

[NostalgicArt (Justin)]

So I tried that last step and chose “no scale” it seemed to fix the issue a little bit.

However, I’m still getting uneven lines towards the left side of the image. I think I may try a workaround by adding a 1mm inward offset to counteract this issue.

Or do you have any other suggestions?

[thelmuth (Tim Helmuth)]

If you’re using the same image that was printed and sure that nothing moved in the image from the time it was printed and you’re certain that you are aligning the targets perfectly it should cut correct.

That being said, a small offset will probably fix your issue, but you will lose some of the print in the process. This is a standard practice in the print industry. They call it bleed. The print is larger than the cut so there is no white edge shown in the finished product.

[NostalgicArt (Justin)]

Thank you for your help.