I RECEIVED THIS FILE AND WANT TO ETCH EVERYTHING THAT IS INSIDE AND CUT ONLY THE OUTSIDE. HOW DO I SELECT ONLY PART OF A LINE TO ENGRAVE AND PART OF A LINE TO CUT.
I ATTACHED THE FILE. IT IS THE ONE ON THE LEFT
You have layer 2 set to fill, which will cause problems for your overall project, but that’s secondary to your request. You want one continuous line around the shape in order to perform the cut. Even though it’s currently layer one, it should be dragged into second place, if you have cut order based on layer position. That’s also trivial/secondary.
A suggestion for workflow is to hide the second layer. This leaves the outer shape plus some inner “tails” that have to be re-directed. As an example, consider the portion of the hat under the stars, a simple curve.
Use the node tool and extend the near vertical outer hat lines to meet the curved portion. Insert a node at the intersections, then break them. Select the inner curved section and move it to the second layer. If you turn off “show” for the second layer, it will disappear, making it easier to determine the next segment to manipulate.
It may be necessary to turn layer two on periodically to check your progress. You’ll want to change the power settings to match your material, and also move layer one to the second position, as I did not do this in the file below. Use the preview feature to observe the action, to ensure the desired results.
unclesam nat.lbrn2 (96.5 KB)
I’ve performed the outline as described above and attached the result to this message. If this isn’t your objective, pass along your suggestions.
In my opinion the fastest way is to put all those lines on an engraving layer. Then select everything, select the offset tool and put a new line around the object at a very close distance or zero distance. This will create the outline and you can put that one on a cutting layer. The only drawback is that the outer lines get engraved as well, so it will take some additional time to get it lasered. If time matters, Fred’s solution is better.
Sorry to step in.
You can select the left one
Duplicate shapes and move to the side
Offset Outward lets say 14.00
Then ungroup, select only outer shape and move to side
Offset that shape 14.00 Inward
Align to original UncleSam.
_Uncle_SAM_offset.lbrn2 (174.6 KB)
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