How to print / laser from Adobe Illustrator®

Alternatives to CorelDraw®

Again and again we are asked the question: “Do I really need to work with CorelDraw^®? I’d much rather edit my designs in another program, such as Adobe Illustrator^®.” The answer? No problem. Use this guide to determine the optimal settings.

Guide to the optimal settings

Select the following settings right at the beginning to make sure that the laser can interpret the graphics information correctly.

Step by Step

Create your graphic in Adobe Illustrator

Step1: Create your graphic

Use following settings in Adobe Illustrator:

Line width for cut lines must be 0.001 mm
Use RGB color space (the same like in the Job Control material database)
The stroke must be aligned to the center

Adobe Illustrator: Set Align Stroke Center — Adobe Illustrator: Set Align Stroke "Center"

illustrator print settings laser engraving

Step 2: Continue to the print dialog

Now your design is ready, and you want to send it to the laser. Just like CorelDraw^®, Adobe Illustrator_® also communicates with the laser via the printing dialog.
Click on “Print”, and the Adobe Illustrator^® print window opens. In section “Output," make sure that RGB has been selected as the color space.
Then click on “Setup," and the classic print dialog opens.

print dialogue illustrator — Adobe Illustrator: Printer dialogue

Step 3: Select Trotec Engraver and adjust laser settings

Now select the Trotec Engraver and click in “Preferences” or “Settings”. Here you can adjust the printing parameters for your laser.

Adobe Illustrator: Set printing parameters

Step 4: Set the printing parameters

Set the size: Width and Height must be bigger or equal the graphic size
Mark "Minimize to Jobsize" if you only want to print visible areas of the job.
Chose the material settings from the material database.
Click the JobControl^® logo button to print

Step 5: JobControl®

When you are finished, click “Print," and you will be automatically redirected to JobControl^®.

In the JobControl^® window, you will see the plate, and you can select your current job (or older jobs if so desired) from the menu on the right and place it anywhere on the plate.

For more information about JobControl^®, please see here.