Which kinds of line are there?
| Role | What goes on it |
|---|---|
| Cut | Part outlines and inner cut-outs |
| Drill or punch | Holes punched or drilled |
| Notch | Alignment notches |
| Pen or crease line | Lines drawn, not cut: stitch, sew, grain |
| Text | Part labels and notes |
| Reference only | The hide (outline, defects, grade zones) or the marker frame |
| Leave out | Nothing: the layer is dropped from the file |
How does each layer get its role?
From its name, unless the profile sets it. AAMA/ASTM layers 1 and 11 are cut, 4 and 80 to 84 notches, 13 drill holes, 7, 8 and 14 pen lines, 15 text, and other numbers, such as turn points and grade references, are left out. Names with DRILL, PUNCH or HOLE are drilled, NOTCH notched, MARK, STITCH, SEW, GRAIN, PEN, CREASE, FOLD, ENGRAVE, ETCH or SCORE drawn, TEXT, LABEL, INFO or DIM written as text, and DEFPOINTS left out. Every other layer is cut.
The profile lists the layers found in your part libraries with the role each would get, and you change any of them.
Which layer and colour does each role get?
Each role is written on one output layer with an AutoCAD colour number. The Generic DXF template starts with:
| Role | Layer | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | CUT | 7, white or black |
| Drill or punch | DRILL | 1, red |
| Notch | NOTCH | 3, green |
| Pen or crease line | PEN | 5, blue |
| Text | TEXT | 2, yellow |
| Reference only | REFERENCE | 8, grey |
Change any layer name or colour to what your table’s software maps to its tools. The reference, the hide outline, defects and zones or the marker frame, can be kept in the file or left out.
What does single cut do?
On a knife table, two parts nested edge to edge at a 0 mm gap share their straight edges. With single cut on, a straight edge two parts share, within 0.1 mm over at least 5 mm, is cut once: the later part’s outline opens there. Curves are never changed. It is off by default, and on a job nested with a gap it finds nothing to merge, which the file’s information text says.
Common-line cutting with a kerf, for lasers, plasma and routers, is different: it needs a centre line and a gap the width of the kerf, and stays with your CAM software.
Which profile does a download use?
The default cutter profile is used for every download unless the job page picks another; without any profile, downloads keep your original layers. Through the API, a download names a profile, or none for the original layers.
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