Copyright: Copyright (c) 2001  Epilog Corporation


Information about this help file

This Help file contains context-sensitive Help for dialog boxes. You can view this Help by clicking the “?” button and then clicking an item in a dialog box, or by right-clicking an item in a dialog box and then clicking What's This?. For overviews of features and help with specific tasks, click Start, and then click Help.


GENERAL: General setting section for the printing job.


JOB TYPE: Job type allows you to designate whether you want to engrave in Raster Mode, cut in Vector Mode or Combine the two functions.


PRINT QUALITY: Print Quality determines how many cuts, or lines per inch, the machine will engrave. Available resolutions range from 150 to 1200 DPI.  300 DPI is normally a minimum for production work. 600 DPI would be used when quality is more critical.  The greater the number of lines per inch, the greater the engraving time required.


PIECE SIZE:  The “Piece Size” must match the layout size of your drawing package. If the settings are different, the engraving will not be in the correct position.  The maximum area for the Legend 32 is 32” horizontally and 20” front to back.  The maximum area for the Legend 24 is 24” horizontally and 12” front to back.  Generally, jobs will print faster given a smaller page size, even if the size of the image is the same.


VECTOR:  Vector mode is normally used to cut or make a thin line drawing.  You can use vector mode to cut through acrylic or wood, mat board, plastic, cork, paper, etc. When using vector mode, it is necessary to design your job to give the intended result. Objects and text should be unfilled and drawn with the thinnest possible (other than zero) outline.


VECTOR SORTING: This option will reorder the sequence of vector cuts.  If sorting is enabled, then vectors will cut from the inside out.  As an example, if you have a small circle surrounded by a large circle, the small circle will cut first.  If sorting is disabled, the vectors will cut in the order in which they are presented, which with most software applications will mean in the order they were drawn.  This definition applies to vector only jobs.


FREQUENCY AUTOMATIC:  Frequency Automatic is used when vector cutting to allow the engraver’s software to adjust the pulsing of the laser.


VECTOR SPEED/POWER BARS: Only the Vector Speed, Power bars will be enabled when you have selected Vector under Job Type.  Set the bars to the appropriate settings for the material that you are cutting.  (Range: Speed -- 1% to 100%.  Power -- 0% to 100%)


FREQUENCY BAR:  Only the Vector Frequency bars will be enabled when you have selected Vector under Job Type and set Frequency Automatic to No. Frequency sets the pulsing interval of the laser.  If you set it to very low values, the laser will turn on and off very slowly producing a perforated edge as opposed to an edge cut completely through. (Range: 10 to 5000 Hz)


RASTER:  Raster mode is used for marking or engraving materials.  Typical uses would be reproducing clipart, scanned images, photos, text and graphic images.


RASTER TYPE:  There are three types of raster job: basic, 3D, and stamp. The basic mode is used for marking or engraving materials. The 3D mode enables the contouring or depth control feature.  Art works should be drawn in shades of gray.  White will produce no laser output.  Black will produce full laser output, or maximum depth.   By blending from white to black you can produce smooth transitions in depth.  Alternatively, the gray level can change abruptly, which will produce a step or level change in depth. The stamp mode is used to engrave rubber stamp formats.


BASIC OPTIONS:  There are two basic raster options: Clipart and Photograph. You need to select one of these two options. In general, clipart mode should be used for artwork created in a drawing program like Corel DRAW.  Photograph mode is used for artwork that has been imported from a scanner or digital camera where subtle shades of light and dark are important.


RASTER ORDER:  There are two options: Top Down and Bottom Up. You need to select one of these two options. If the Top Down option is selected, the raster image will be engraved from the top down to the bottom. Otherwise, if the Bottom Up option is selected, the raster image will be engraved from the bottom up to the top. The Top Down option is default.


RASTER SPEED/POWER BARS:  Only the Raster Speed and Raster Power bars will be enabled when you have selected Raster under Job Type.  Set the Speed and Power bars to the appropriate settings for the material that you are engraving. (Range: Speed -- 1% to 100%.  Power -- 0% to 100%)


STAMP OPTIONS:  This section includes all of the unique stamp attributes.


SHOULDER:  Use the bar to determine the size of the shoulders. A small number will give steep shoulders, with large number giving very broad shoulders.  Shoulders of 25 or 30 are recommended. (Range: 0 to 50)


WIDENING:  Use the adjuster to determine the width of the character as it is engraved.  A low value (1 or 2) will produce a narrow character.  A high value (6) will produce wider, or bolder, character.  A value of 1 is recommended. (Range: 0 to 6)


MIRROR:  This feature will mirror your design.


MORE OPTIONS:  This section includes some advanced options.


MAP COLORS TO SPEED/POWER:  The Legend has the capability to assign different power and speed settings to objects in a design. Make sure that the MAP COLORS TO SPEED/POWER box has a YES in it and then click on the “Setup…” button.


COMPUTER CONTROLLED SPEED/POWER:  When this box has a YES in it, the speed and power are controlled from the computer. The Legend will disregard any attempt to alter speed or power from the control panel on the engraver.  The settings for raster and vector are independent, and are made using the four slide controls.  If this box is NO, the Legend will use the settings on the control panel of the engraver as set under the “Setup” menu heading.


AUTO FOCUS:  A “YES” in the auto focus box will enable the auto focusing system of the Legend.  The table will automatically move the object to the correct height for processing.   Please be careful when you auto focus on the inside of anything like a bowl or a dish.  If the edge is more than an inch higher than the area to be lasered, the part may contact the carriage prior to reaching the correct focus point.  Longer focal length optics are available for doing deeper parts.  Contact your Epilog Representative for more information.


CONFIGURATION:  The “Configuration” box allows you to save all of your different print settings in the Legend setup window as a custom setup into “.DAT” files.  On the “Configuration” pull-down menu, you can select “Save as…” to save the current settings into a file, or you can select “Load…” to retrieve your different custom job setups from a file.