How to prepare photo for laser cutting

[januszw53019186]

Hi - i am looking to buy Ilustrator to work with my A0 size laser cutter.

Can some one advice if its possible to prepare any image for laser cutting (like attached) ?

Any help would be appricitated.

[jdanek]

You should refer to the documentation that comes with the laser machine.  It will likely work with bitmap image files ( i.e., Photohop .tiff ).

[carlosgarro]

Hi.

I think you need to understand how the laser cutter works and decide how you are going to prepare the artwork:

• Do you want to use Image Trace or by hand?
• Can you use strokes or compound paths?

After you establish your workflow is easier to recommend some tips and tricks.

Keep in contact.

[TomaD]

IMHO, you have to prepare your picture in Photoshop (convert to bitmap (B&W), levels, Threshold...) Then import it in Illustrator > Image Trace + handrawn to join floating shapes with the main shape.