3. Computer-controlled cutting
This week I worked on computer-controlled cutting, focusing on the laser cutter (and preparing to work with vinyl cutters). For my assignment I designed a Chinese paper-cut–style box inspired by the famous sculpture “Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow (马踏飞燕)”.
Image compression tool
To keep this page fast to load and friendly for the Fab Academy repository, I compressed my photos before uploading them to the site using Photoshop:
- Open the original image in Photoshop: Start from the full‑resolution photo.
- Export for web: Go to File → Export → Save for Web (Legacy).
- Select JPEG and quality: Choose JPEG format and set the quality between 40–60 to balance file size and visual quality.
- Resize the image width: Reduce the width to about 1000 px, 800 px, or 600 px depending on how large the image needs to appear on the page.
- Check the estimated file size: In the bottom-left corner of the dialog, confirm the final file size is reasonable before saving.
Laser cutting workflow
- AI-generated paper-cut design: I used Jimeng AI to generate a Chinese paper-cut–themed design based on the famous sculpture “Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow (马踏飞燕)”. This gave me a high-contrast image suitable for vectorization and laser cutting.
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Vectorizing the design in Illustrator:
I imported the image into Adobe Illustrator and used the Image Trace tool to convert it into vector paths.
Then I refined the curves and simplified the shapes so that the design would cut cleanly on the laser cutter.
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Ensuring structural connectivity for laser cutting:
I carefully adjusted the paths so that the horse, swallow, and decorative details were all structurally
connected to the outer frame. This prevents any isolated pieces from falling out after cutting and makes the
whole design behave like a single, continuous paper-cut.
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Designing the six-sided box:
Using LaserMaker’s box-making feature, I generated a six-sided box and tuned the length, width, height, and
joint parameters so the paper-cut panel could be integrated into one side of the box while keeping the
overall structure easy to assemble.
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Preparing cutting paths in LaserMaker:
I imported the cleaned vector file into LaserMaker, extracted the outlines as cutting paths, and adjusted the
routing settings (power, speed, and pass count) according to the material thickness and the laser cutter’s
capabilities.
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Cutting the design on the laser cutter:
I set the laser cutter to the cutting mode and started the cutting process.
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final result:
The final result is a beautiful paper-cut box with the famous sculpture
“Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow (马踏飞燕)”.
