Help with quick Zing job?

I’m not certified on the Zing but I’d like to do a quick etch job on acrylic to get a feel for the quality I can expect vs the Thunders.

Does anyone have time this week to help me out? I can be up there during the day or in the evening. If someone can tell me how I should prepare my file I’ll get it done ahead of time. To define “quick job,” the entire etch took ~10 seconds on the Thunder at 500mm/s.

Thanks!

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pdf file is required.

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Raster quality is substantially higher on the zing, but it can’t cut through 1/4 very well at all. If you’ll be at the space tomorrow night i can help

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If Pearce is unable to help tonight, I will likely be at the space wednesday night. I can pop it on there for a quick job.

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Do I just print to a PDF using whatever software I like?

Stuff you need to know about the Zing, and were not afraid to ask!

First off, do not use what you know about using the Thunder lasers when using the Zing. While it uses a laser to cut, HOW it does it is pretty different, so let’s start from the beginning.

To use the Zing to cut/vector and engrave/raster you will need a PDF of your art. The PDF needs to be setup in a very specific way.

  1. Open your art in your favorite or available program. I’m using Adobe Illustrator but this works with anything.

  2. For any line you want to Cut/Vector, set the line width to (.001in) or (.072pt). This is critical, if you make your line any thicker than that it will be etched/rastored instead. So double check your lines.
    image

  3. For any area you want to engrave/rastor either fill the object, or set the line width to anything thicker than .001in.
    image
    image

  4. Once you have your line widths set, simply print your art to PDF, and you have what you need for the Zing.

That was easy right? Well that’s just part one. You still need to know how to actually send the job to the Zing and that’s best learned from someone authorized to train you.

The Zing has a bed size of 16"x12". Something I like to do, is to set the size of my art board, or canvas in Illustrator to 16" x 12". Even if I am only cutting/engraving a small object. Then I print to PDF, making sure the page size is also set to 16"x12". Now I am guaranteed to have the right dimensions for my job when I send it to the Zing.

Anyway, that’s my tip on getting your PDF ready. If you do the above, sending your job becomes as simple as opening it, sending it to the software, and setting your Cut/vector, engrave/raster settings correctly.

(p.s. I also prefer the engraving on the Zing. it’s little, but it’s nicer than the Thunder in my opinion. )

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One more thing: If it’s not “dark” enough, you can run the job multiple times for engraving.

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“.02” .02 will cut

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