Quick start — one page for the wall
Print this and put it beside the machine.
⭐ Everything here is covered properly elsewhere in this manual. This page exists because most shops will print exactly one page of any manual, and this is the page to print.
The whole job, in six steps
| 1 · Artwork | Open a Library blank, or File ▸ Import artwork… (Ctrl+I). ⭐ Bring vectors in as vectors — a logo imported as a picture can only ever be engraved as a picture. |
| 2 · Colour | One process per distinct colour. Give the cut lines one colour and the engraving another. This is the one idea the whole application is built on. |
| 3 · Settings | Pick your Material. Then check the process list: each colour has a job — engrave, cut, score or skip. |
| 4 · Order | ⛔ Engrave before you cut. A part cut free can move, and everything after that lands wrong. |
| 5 · Focus | Focus on the material you are cutting, away from the rulers. |
| 6 · Send | Then start the job at the machine. Sending is not starting. |
⛔ Before you press go — the three that cost material
- Which process runs first? Look at the list and say it out loud. Two seconds, and it is the single most common ruined job.
- Is the material what the settings say it is? Settings belong to a material and a machine.
- Is anything in the way? Clamps, the last job's parts, the exhaust.
⛔ Before you leave it — the two that cost more than material
- Never run a job unattended. A laser cutter can start a fire. This is not a software problem and no setting changes it.
- QUEUED does not mean running. It means the machine accepted the job. Someone still has to start it at the machine.
When it goes wrong
| what you see | first thing to check |
|---|---|
| Everything came out as one process | Two colours that look alike are still two colours — and two shapes you meant to differ may share one. |
| It cut in the wrong order | Engrave before cut. Check the process list order. |
| Nothing happened after sending | Queued ≠ running. Go and start it at the machine. |
| It is sitting there doing nothing | Look for AWAITING ALIGN — a print-and-cut job stops and waits for you. |
| The engraving is in the wrong place | The camera photo is a moment, not a live view. Re-capture if the material moved. |
| A tool is missing from the screen | Your skill level is below it. Settings ▸ General ▸ Skill level. |
| The size came out wrong | Check the import's size on arrival — programs disagree about how big a drawing is. |
⭐ Three questions solve or halve most problems: Is it the artwork, the settings, or the machine? · Did it work before? · What changed?
Worth knowing
- Version, for support: Help ▸ About ALPS — the Help menu also shows it inline.
- Report a problem: Settings ▸ Advanced — saves logs and system info as a ZIP. Nothing leaves your computer until you send it.
Ctrl+K(Break Apart) splits an imported logo that arrived as one stubborn object.- Convert text to path (Object ▸ Convert Text to Path) before a file leaves this computer, or it reflows wherever the font is missing.
- ⭐ Run one before you run fifty. On the real material, with the longest name in the list.
Full manual: Contents · stuck on a message: Section 14 · symptoms: Section 12