Leather patterns ready for your laser cutter

What a laser needs from a pattern

A laser cuts exactly what's in the file. A pattern ready for it has outlines that are joined into one line, holes that cut out whole, everything at its real size, and cut lines kept apart from the lines you only want to score or engrave. PatinaCAD exports with all of that in mind, from the same drawing you print.

Export a pattern

1. Choose Output ▸ Export SVG or Output ▸ Export DXF.
2. Choose how the stitching holes come out (see below).
3. Tick what to include: text, templates, only the selected shapes.
4. Click Export and save the file, then open it in your laser or cutting software.

One unit in the file is one millimetre, so the file carries the pattern at the size you drew it.

How the file is organised

• One layer per line type. Every line type goes on its own layer in a DXF file and in its own colour in an SVG file. Draw cut lines in one line type and score or engrave lines in another, then give each its own power and speed in your laser software.
• Joined outlines. Lines of one type that meet end to end are joined into one path, so an outline cuts as one continuous line.
• Nothing left out by surprise. Tracing images aren't exported. If any shape is left out, PatinaCAD says so.

Stitching holes for a laser

Setting	What you get
Export as is	Each hole in the shape of the iron's blade, as a closed outline that cuts out whole
Export as dots	A small circle at each hole's centre, at the radius you set (0.5 mm to start with)
Blade width 0, set in the iron	Each hole as a single line, for machines that should cut a slit

The holes stay at your pricking iron's spacing. A laser-cut panel can then be stitched to a piece you pricked by hand with that same iron.

SVG or DXF?

Choose the format your laser or cutting software reads best. Both carry the same pattern.

• SVG also opens in drawing programs such as Inkscape and Illustrator. Tick Draw every line solid (no dashes) to export dashed lines as plain solid lines.
• DXF is the usual format for CAD programs. Choose R14 for true arcs and curves, or R12 for older software, which gets curves as fine straight segments instead. Flip the Y axis in DXF files is on by default, because most CAD programs count upwards from the bottom.

Tips

• Cut a test piece in scrap first, and check it with a steel rule against the printed pattern.
• Holes and outlines are on different line types from the start, so you can cut the holes first, while the piece is still held by the leather around it.
• Fix the warnings from the pattern check before you export. A tiny gap leaves an outline as two open lines instead of one closed shape.
• Construction lines you hid when printing still export. To leave them out of the file, hide their line type (Ctrl+click its swatch) and tick Leave out shapes whose line type is hidden.
• To cut a single piece, select it and tick Export only the selected shapes.

Good to know

• PatinaCAD doesn't add an allowance for the width the beam burns away. If your laser needs one, set it in your laser software.
• Card, banknote and coin templates you stamped to size a pocket are left out unless you tick Include library templates, so a size reference doesn't get cut by mistake.
• If your laser software reads PDF, Output ▸ Export PDF works too. Holes come out as solid outlines by default, so they cut whole. See printing patterns.
• Text is drawn from the letters' outlines, so names and marks engrave exactly as they look on screen.