Festive Cupcake
or muffin Case

Step by step guide

This tutorial shows you how to laser engrave and cut a muffin or cupcake case made of TroLase Thins.

Follow our simple tutorial, which also has the option to change the size of the graphic or use different material colours. The finished product can be also used for cupcakes or as a festive decoration around a candle in a glass.

Preparation

Required material:

1/64" TroLase Thins Port Wine/Gold

Used Trotec Laser:

Speedy 300
80 watts
2.0 inch lens

Step by Step

Step 1: Design

Create the graphic in a graphics program or import our template. The parcels are defined as engraving areas by the black fill. The snow crystals and border lines must be defined as cutting lines (width: hairline; R: 255; G: 0 B: 0). Additionally, you can add text at the bottom of the graphic for a personal touch.

Step 2: Bend graphic

To bend the strip later to a muffin case, bend the graphics in Adobe Illustrator with the warping tool or in Corel Draw with the 'Envelope' tool (menu: Effects > Envelope > Simple arc > putty). Hold Ctrl and then drag the lines to the desired arc.

Step 3: Settings

Speedy 300 80 watts parameters:

Cutting: Power: 300% - Speed: 1.5% - Frequency: 1000Hz- Air Assist: ON
Engraving: Power: 70% - Speed: 80% - Frequency: 500ppi - Air Assist: ON - Z-Offset: 1mm - High Quality: ON

In the menu plate setup, choose the bottom start position. Remove the protection foil from the laminate and check the vacuum. Focus the laser on the material and off you go!

Step 4: Tips & Tricks

Consider the cutting sequence: The cutting lines are done bottom up in the production process. Therefore, place the outline at the top position in Corel Draw Object Manager.
For an increased vacuum, cover unused parts of the table with paper.
Select the engraving start position as 'bottom'. This prevents deposits from setting on engraved areas which could discolour the product.
First, clean with a damp cloth and then dry the material, preferably while still in the machine.
If discoloured residue is present, check the parameters, focus and check on the rest of the laminate on the table.