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Hello, and thank you for reading my post.
I own a high-end guitar pick company. For centuries guitar picks were made from the Hawksbill Sea Turtle, which has now been endangered for decades. I am developing a model that will sell for $50, with $10 of that going being donated by us directly to non-profit organizations that protect sea turtles and protect their habitat.
Here is the initial design that will probably change, but all three shapes with be in play.
Here are the things I need this image to do.
1) The outside shape is for laser cutting. I believe the line needs to be much thinner. I also need this image to be scalable.
2) The sea turtle shape is for laser-engraving only. The lines need to be much thinner (I actually don't know how to do this, but would like to learn). The image must be scalable and moveable as well.
3) The Shamrock at the center is our company. I need the same properties as listed in #2, above.
4) Finally, all the elements must be tied together and scalable, so if I enlarge or reduce the outer shape, the two inner shapes will enlarge or reduce proportionally.
Thank you for any assistance you may provide.
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Engraving/ cutting machines only care for the actual lines, not the parametric strokes. If you wanted strokes, you'd have to convert them to outlines and/ or fill them with hatching so the laser actually has lines/ dots it can follow. So far no problem there. The rest is just basic AI stuff liek grouping objects and applying uniform strokes (or none), so the more interesting question here really is whether this actually already exists as soem vector artwork or if you would need to re-create it.
Mylenium
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Is this an image of something you've already created in AI, or something else?
The exact properties of the paths for cutting and engraving will depend on the machine you are using. Some might need a certain named spot colour, or a specifically named path, or a particular line weight. You will need to talk to whoever is doing the engraving to establish these things. They may already have a template file you can use.
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Thanks to the two of you for your responses. The images were created for me in PS by someone who does great work for me. However, he has no AI background. It would be easier and faster for me to pay someone, if that's permissable here. Please PM if interested.
Thanks,
Scott
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Laser cutters need actual vector designs. Work done in Photoshop must be redone as shapes in Illustrator. But, as said, the work can ONLY be finished once you have the detailed technical specs from the actual engraver you will use. You can't just say to an engraving machine - cut round the outside and engrave the rest (at least I doubt it). The best person to pay might be the engraver; many will offer a service of taking designs to product, I would think. Don't just go for the cheapest bid, especially if someone else is including the design service...
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This is a ten minute job for a skilled user, but finishing it properly requires information on the kind of file the output machine needs.
Here I've made an AI file that tries to cover a few bases:
The cut line has a red spot colour, is 0.5 px wide, and is on a layer called 'Cut line'.
The engraving lines have a green spot colour, are 0.25 px wide, and are on a layer called 'Engraving line'.
I looked up standard pick sizes and made it 28 x 32 mm.
But as I said above, you will need to ask whoever is doing the cutting exactly what setup their machine needs and edit it accordingly.
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Doug, thank you so much. Very much appreciate this. I will work on it in a few days, then let you know.
Thanks Again.
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BTW, I am the one doing the cutting. I own a very nice Epilog CO2 laser. I do all my own laser-engraving and cutting.
Thanks again.
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You should find settings for Illustrator in the manual for your device, in that case.