File preparation

Accepted formats

We take eight formats: DXF, DWG, SVG, AI, PDF, STEP, IGES and EPS, up to 25 MB per file. Drop several at once and each becomes its own part, checked and priced on arrival.

If you have a choice, send DXF. It carries real-world units, our checks understand it best, and nearly every CAD and drawing program exports it. DWG is just as good. SVG, AI, PDF and EPS suit artwork and signage drawn in design software. STEP and IGES suit parts modelled in 3D CAD, with one rule covered below: the part must be flat.

No file at all? Open the quote workspace and build your part from a template, or email a sketch to hello@kerf.au and we will sort it out with you.

Units and scale

DXF and DWG files carry their units, so a 100 mm bracket arrives as a 100 mm bracket. The design formats, SVG, AI, PDF and EPS, do not: they are measured at their printed size. If the artwork was laid out at half scale, the part will be half size.

Every part card shows the measured width and height next to the preview, and that is the size we cut. Check it before you order. If the number is wrong, the Resize control fixes it in one step: it keeps the proportions locked and has one-click corrections for files drawn in inches or out by a factor of ten.

Program-by-program export steps, including where each one hides its units, are in the DXF export post.

Closed contours

The jet follows outlines. For a shape to be priced and cut, its outer edge must be one closed loop, and every hole inside it another closed loop. Gaps where two lines nearly meet, doubled-up lines and stray segments leave the checker unsure what is part and what is not.

The automatic check flags geometry it cannot resolve the moment the file lands, and the part card explains what it found. If you cannot see the issue, the "Get help fixing it" link on the part sends us the file and the problem, and we will find it with you.

Layers and colours

We cut geometry, not styling. Colours, line weights and fills are ignored, so there is no colour code to learn.

Send only what should be cut. Delete dimensions, notes, title blocks, borders and construction lines before exporting. Anything left in the file reads as geometry, and geometry reads as a cut.

Text to outlines

Fonts do not travel with a file. If your design includes text, convert it to outlines (also called paths or curves) before exporting, so the letter shapes become geometry we can cut. A file with live text is refused with a note asking for exactly that.

Remember that the cut goes right through: the middle of an O falls out unless you use a stencil font or add bridges. If the text is meant to read on the finished part, that is worth a minute of design thought before you upload.

Nested parts

One part per file works best. Each upload becomes one part with its own material, thickness, quantity and price. Quantity is set on the quote, so there is no need to repeat an outline ten times to order ten.

If one file holds several different parts, split it into separate files and upload them together. A drawing with several disconnected outlines prices as a single part, which is rarely what you want.

Material is priced on the rectangle a part takes up on the sheet, not just the metal in the part. The one exception to one part per file is shapes that fit inside each other, like crescents or triangles. Drawn nested in one file, they share one rectangle and cost less in material than the same shapes uploaded separately. Keep them from touching.

STEP and IGES

We check 3D files for flatness before pricing. A flat part modelled in 3D CAD prices instantly, and for STEP files the thickness is read straight from the model.

Bent, folded or machined parts cannot be priced automatically. If your part has bends, export the flat pattern and we will cut the blank, or email the file to hello@kerf.au and we will look at it with you.

Common rejection reasons

Almost every refused file fails for one of these reasons, and every one has a quick fix. The five we see most, with worked fixes, are in five mistakes we see in uploaded files.

• A scanned or photographed drawing. A scan is a picture, not geometry. Redraw it in CAD, or email it to hello@kerf.au for a checked quote.
• Live text. Convert text to outlines and export again.
• AI or EPS saved without PDF compatibility. In Illustrator, save with "Create PDF Compatible File" ticked, or export an SVG or PDF instead.
• Open contours. Close the gaps so every outline is a complete loop.
• A 3D file with bends. Export the flat pattern, or email the file.
• Wrong size. Not a refusal, but the near miss we catch most: a design-format file measured at the wrong printed size. Check the size on the part card and use Resize if it is off.
• Over the limits. Files are capped at 25 MB, parts at 4,000 mm in any dimension, and quotes at 100 line items. For anything past those, email us first.