<p>If your laser cutter is treating vectors as raster information, there's a good chance that it's receiving incorrect instructions.</p>
<hr />
<p>One such example of this might be in Adobe Illustrator where you can combine raster and vector into layers and it will often output only raster information from that point forwards.</p>
<p>If this matches your case, try turning off all raster layers so nothing is being output except vectors.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-14T16:50:43.283Z
You can also set your layers to be different colors, then set those different colors to use different settings in your laser software. So Red might be a fast speed and low power for an etch while Blue could be a high power slow pass to cut, while green is somewhere in between. Of course, this depends on the materials as well as the laser software you use. I think I've done as many as 5-6 colors for different passes. I also tend to do all raster passes before any vector passes.
computercarguy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-14T00:05:01.103Z
2022-06-14T00:05:01.103Z
Seph Reed
<p>Why is my laser cutter trying to engrave super thin lines that it should be cutting?</p>
<p>I'll post the solution I found, but other answers are also welcome.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-14T09:48:09.917Z
What software are you using? What is your laser cutter device? What material are you cutting? What is the thickness of the material, is it within the limits of your device? This may be a digital but also a physical issue, and it's hard to determine without any context.
Neinstein
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-20T02:10:06.063Z
@Neinstein I'm just trying to post the solution to an issue that I couldn't find mentioned anywhere on the internet.  As other people run into similar issues, they can post their answers here too.  It's better than nothing.
Seph Reed
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-06-20T11:43:27.050Z
@SephReed That's a great thing to do! However, I think you should still narrow down your question to software issues, or at least expand your answer to at least briefly mention other possible issues, like the ones I mentioned. If this wasn't a self-answer, it would be closed for lacking any details. In the answer you start off assuming that the laser treats vectors as raster information (which can't be implied from the question without massive assumptions), this could be a great starting point to add to the question's body. If you encountered this yourself, a picture could be very useful too
Neinstein
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T03:58:34.473Z
If there was any overlap here, I'd find the need for specificity very important.  As it stands, this is the only thing that comes up on the internet pertaining to the issue as it was being seen.  In my case it had to do with software, for someone else it could be different.  But this is a good starting point at which other links, answers, or research can possibly coalesce.  If this is the only answer or permutation of this question that ever happens, that's fine too.
Seph Reed
<cutting-machine>
Laser cutter engraving when it should be cutting
Seph Reed
# Laser cutter engraving when it should be cutting

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-06-14)

Why is my laser cutter trying to engrave super thin lines that it should be cutting?

I'll post the solution I found, but other answers are also welcome.

**Tags:** cutting-machine

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What software are you using? What is your laser cutter device? What material are you cutting? What is the thickness of the material, is it within the limits of your device? This may be a digital but also a physical issue, and it's hard to determine without any context.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I'm just trying to post the solution to an issue that I couldn't find mentioned anywhere on the internet.  As other people run into similar issues, they can post their answers here too.  It's better than nothing.  
> **username_1**: @username_0 That's a great thing to do! However, I think you should still narrow down your question to software issues, or at least expand your answer to at least briefly mention other possible issues, like the ones I mentioned. If this wasn't a self-answer, it would be closed for lacking any details. In the answer you start off assuming that the laser treats vectors as raster information (which can't be implied from the question without massive assumptions), this could be a great starting point to add to the question's body. If you encountered this yourself, a picture could be very useful too  
> **username_0**: If there was any overlap here, I'd find the need for specificity very important.  As it stands, this is the only thing that comes up on the internet pertaining to the issue as it was being seen.  In my case it had to do with software, for someone else it could be different.  But this is a good starting point at which other links, answers, or research can possibly coalesce.  If this is the only answer or permutation of this question that ever happens, that's fine too.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2022-06-14. Score: 6

If your laser cutter is treating vectors as raster information, there's a good chance that it's receiving incorrect instructions.

---

One such example of this might be in Adobe Illustrator where you can combine raster and vector into layers and it will often output only raster information from that point forwards.

If this matches your case, try turning off all raster layers so nothing is being output except vectors.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: You can also set your layers to be different colors, then set those different colors to use different settings in your laser software. So Red might be a fast speed and low power for an etch while Blue could be a high power slow pass to cut, while green is somewhere in between. Of course, this depends on the materials as well as the laser software you use. I think I've done as many as 5-6 colors for different passes. I also tend to do all raster passes before any vector passes.  

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