Plant
identification signs

Step by step guide

Cut and engrave custom gardening signs with your Trotec laser and label herbs, fruits, and vegetables with them. Choose from three different variations: garden gnome, clear or retro design.

Preparation

Required material

1/4" acrylics or
1/8" colorful acrylics

Trotec laser used

Speedy 400
80 watts
2.5 inch lens

Tip:

cutting table

Step by Step

Step 1:

Import the PDF file into Corel Draw and select the desired graphic (see the tabs below the working area in Corel Draw). The file contains the following graphics:

garden gnome (optimized for transparent acrylics)
retro design
clean design

various plexiglass garden plates — transparent acrylic plates

some kind of gardening signs made of plexiglass and acrylics

Step 2: Customize the Graphic

Use the text tool to edit the name of the plant or herb and send the graphic to the laser.　

a range of acrylics and plexiglass garden signs

Step 3: Laser Settings

Hint - Cutting table:

Using an acrylic cutting table will prevent beam reflections on the backside of the material. Moreover, it is especially important when cutting acrylics to extract the gases produced, in order to avoid flames and to get crystal-clear edges.

Below are the laser settings we used with the Speedy 400 (80 watts with 2.5 inch lens). Depending on the laser power and the material used, the settings may vary.　

Used parameters for 1/4" acrylics:

Engraving: Power: 70% - Speed: 100% - Frequency: Auto - Air Assist: ON
Cutting: Power: 100% - Speed: 0.1% - Frequency: 20,000 Hz - Air Assist: ON - Z-Offset: -1.50mm

Used parameters for 1/8" acrylics:

Engraving: Power: 35% - Speed: 10% - Frequency: Auto - Air Assist: ON
Cutting: Power: 30% - Speed: 0.1% - Frequency: 8,500 Hz - Air Assist: ON