3-4 The Printer Driver
Power Setting
Laser power is controlled by assigning the percentage of power from 0 - 100% to each color
used in the graphic drawing. Since the laser is proportionally pulsed, this percentage
represents how long the laser remains on for each laser pulse fired. Basically, the power
setting is directly related to how deep the engraving will be. The Power setting is linear
meaning that 100% power will engrave or cut twice as deep as 50% power.
Speed Setting
This setting controls how fast the motion system moves in a percentage of the maximum speed
of the system. For example, 100% Speed is equivalent to 25 inches per second straight line
velocity. Therefore, 10% Speed is equal to 2.5 inches per second. When engraving, this is
the rate in which the motion system moves back and forth. When cutting, this is the speed of
the straight lines. If cutting curves or circles, the motion system automatically slows down. For
example, there is no speed difference when cutting a circle at 50% or 100% Speed because
curves will run slower than straight lines even if it is set to 100%. Proportional pulsing of the
laser will ensure that there is no difference in the depth of cut from straight lines to curves.
Power and speed work together in determining how deep the engraving will be. Higher power
settings and slower speeds will produce deeper engraving or cutting.
PPI
PPI stands for laser pulses per inch. This setting determines how many laser pulses, per linear
inch, the laser system will fire. Again, since the laser system is proportionally pulsed, all
pulses will fire equally spaced from one to the next regardless of changes in Speed, Power,
acceleration, deceleration, or the cutting of curves. For example, when setting the PPI to 500
and using a standard lens that has a laser spot size of five thousandths of an inch(.005”),
significant pulse overlap will occur. The laser system fires a laser pulse and moves over two
thousandths of an inch (that is 1 inch divided by 500). It then fires the next pulse and so on,
overlapping the pulses significantly. Lines are formed by pulsing the laser pulses so close
together and slightly overlapping each other that it appears to be a continuous line. Dot matrix
printers work the same way except the laser system uses laser pulses instead of ink dots.
When engraving, it is advisable to use a PPI setting of 500 or higher. If using less, the image
resolution of the engraving is reduced. For cutting, a PPI of 150 and above can be used.
Using less than 150 will result in the pulses being spread so far apart that they will not touch
one another. This is a good example on how to perforate paper. Increasing or decreasing the
PPI setting has absolutely no effect on engraving speed. The laser must either fire more quickly
or slowly. Experiment with using different PPI settings on some scrap material when cutting or
engraving and note the results.
Set
This button must be pressed after adjusting the Power, Speed, and PPI settings in order for
these changes to take effect. If forgetting to click on “Set”, and clicking on the “OK” button
instead, the settings will go back to the previous ones and will engrave the object with the
incorrect settings.
To Next Page
Loading...