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Adobe Illustrator by Equipment
Adobe Illustrator by Equipment

Adobe Illustrator by Equipment

Project

Status
Complete
Date Created
March 23, 2026
Author
U
Untitled
Tools & Skills
Aiillustratorlaser cutternomad 3dtgzunduv printertinkercadglowforgecricutPCB
[CoF] Careers of the Future
Advanced Manufacturing
Launch Lab Connection
Competency
  • Equipment List
  • Ai for Embroidery
  • Organization
  • Grouping
  • Overlap
  • Outline
  • Examples: Not Overlap & Not Outline
  • Examples: Overlap & Outine
  • Ai for Laser Cutting
  • Engrave, Cut, Score
  • Grayscale Engraving
  • Relief Engraving: Gradient
  • Ai for PCB
  • Cut/ Outline
  • Marking/ Silkscreen
  • Ai for UV Printer (UV to Zund)
  • Sizing
  • Add Images & Save
  • UV to Zund
  • Save .Ai File & Save a PDF File
  • Ai for Zund

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to prepare Adobe Illustrator files for multiple Fab Lab & Design Lab machines, including embroidery, laser cutting, UV printing, and PCB workflows.

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💡

This document assumes basic Ai knowledge and familiarity with Adobe workflow.

See Adobe Illustrator Basics

Equipment List

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Laser Cutter

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3D Printer

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DTG

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Embroidery

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Cricut

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Nomad

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PCB

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UV Printer

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Zund

Ai for Embroidery

File type: .Ai (before exporting)

[Description on what is going to be covered in this step]

Start with a full color vector file.

Here is the File we will be referring to:

Tubs_Embroidery.ai1.2 MiB

If you don’t have a color vector file see Adobe Illustrator Basics: Photos and multi-color traces

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Organization

For the embroidery machine, file organization and order matters. The embroidery machine will perform layers starting from the BOTTOM UP

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Fill and base colors should be on the bottom of the layers

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Any outlines or details should be towards the on the top

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Grouping

Like colors should we in the same layer- with the exemption of small details like white in the eyes.

Small details should be the last to be added [moved to the top layer]. That way they dont get lost.

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Overlap

To ensure seamless blend on stitches and no fabric gaps, layers need to overlap with each other.

Here you can see that the bottom color extends well over what will be visible

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Exaggerated example (but you get the idea)

Outline

Last tip. All details should be a shape with a fill. Strokes with a thick width will not translate.

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To fix this go to Object- Path-Outline Stroke

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Once your File is completed you can head to the Embroidery i² Design Software on the PC in the Fab Lab Textile Space.

See Tajima Embroidery ABCD’sTajima Embroidery ABCD’s

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Examples: Not Overlap & Not Outline

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In this example I did not overlap the artwork fully, the border was very thin and strokes where not all outlined (hat, cheek and mouth).

You can see where the overlap did not happen there is a bit of fabric exposed.

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Examples: Overlap & Outine

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Now bringing back our first example. We have a large overlap, thicker border and outlined stroke (hat, cheek and mouth).

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Ai for Laser Cutting

File type: .Ai or SVG

In this section we will prep Illustrator files for laser cutting by using color-coded strokes for engrave, cut, & score and convert artwork to grayscale for photo engraving.

Engrave, Cut, Score

We use color to help separate what settings we would like to apply to each part of our artwork. (We set these in the software)

  • Black: Engrave
  • Red: Cut
  • Blue: Score
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Grayscale Engraving

Laser Cutter is able to self adjust its power to match brightness of colors in an image. I works with between the range of white (255,255,255) to Black (0,0,0). If we attempt to engrave a full image in color, we may get disappointing results due to colors being to close on the color spectrum and not having enough contrast. With this we Convert to a greyscale.

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  • Start with Full color vector art
  • Convert Color image into a Grayscale
    • Edit - Edit Colors - Covert to Grayscale
  • Get Laser Engraving!
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Relief Engraving: Gradient

Info referenced from Trotec Relief Engraving. See article for more information

A relief engraving means a deep engraving with differing heights, which are created by gray shades in the graphic. The Trotec laser automatically regulates its performance using these grayscales and thus generates different heights in only one pass. Recommended Materials:

  • Solid wood
  • MDF
  • transparent and colored Acrylic
  • Delrin
graphic-files-relief-engraving.pdf1.6 MiB
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Let’s make our own

  • Start with Grayscale artwork
  • Select section to start on
  • Click on gradient fill [center]
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Linear Gradient

In the Gradient setting you can adjust the range of white vs black. To give us a lot of contrast I pull back the black by move the diamond to the right.

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You can adjust the direction of the gradient by editing the angel of the gradient.

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Radial Gradient

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In the gradient setting select the center setting for circular gradient effect.

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Freeform Gradient

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The last type freeform allows you to customized your gradient further by placing color points in your artwork.

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This technique is great for creating shadows.

Ai for PCB

File type for Printed Circuit Boards.

KiCad [Creating PCBs]KiCad [Creating PCBs]
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File type: SVG

Cut/ Outline

  • Stroke only
  • No specific stroke width
  • Export as .SVG
TubsPCBImageoutline.svg4.6 KiB
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Marking/ Silkscreen

  • Fill or Fill & Stroke
  • No specific stroke width
  • Same size as Outline
  • Export as SVG
TubsPCBImageLines2.svg12.1 KiB
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Ai for UV Printer (UV to Zund)

File type: PDF

To print on the UV printer you will need to save your image as a .PDF file.

Sizing

Open a new file and make a new artboard the size of the material you plan to print on.

Poster boards available is 22 x 28 inch.

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Add Images & Save

UV works well with high resolution raster images or vector images.

If setting up a file to go from UV printer to Zund make sure image is on its own layer.

If not you can save your image as a Adobe PDF.

Head to File-Save as and set Format to Adobe PDF. Then hit Save PDF

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UV to Zund

If you are looking to print on the UV printer and then cut out your prints on the Zund then we will need to add registration marks to our work.

  1. On a separate layer from your image create 1/4 inch dots (.25).
  2. Add at least 3 dots to your file
  3. Lock registation marks
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Save .Ai File & Save a PDF File

Once finished you can save this file as am .Ai File. This file will be used again to create the cut file for the Zund.

Save this File with the registration marks as a PDF as seen above.

Ai for Zund

File type: Ai and SVG

Zund needs a vector file or a path for cutting operations.

  1. If going from UV printer
    1. make sure to open saved.Ai file with registration marks.
    2. Hide UV image layer
    3. Make visible registration mark layer (keep locked)
    4. Make a new layer separate from locked registrations.
  2. Create or image trace a shape in new layer.

    3. See 🏮Custom Paper Star Lanterns - Designing for the Zund - Mistakes to Avoid

  3. Remove Fill and set stroke to black.
  4. Save image as and .Ai file or .SVG
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The Possible Zone