Ok, so i know that the pro version has an auto align feature to allow the user to cut an infinitely long piece as long as it’s only 20 inches wide. My question is whether the auto align can be used in the other direction as well. Say you want to engrave a tabletop, naturally the tabletop wont all fit in the GF, but individual planks can. So you put two planks through the GF, sliding the planks through till you’ve completed those engravings. Can you then remove one of the planks, put in a new one, and use the auto align feature to engrave on the fresh board? Using this process as long as the software permits it, it should be possible to cut/engrave items larger than the GF originally intended, right?
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I don’t know the answer to this in the exact terms you’re mentioning. However, one could use some pretty simple work arounds (for Illustrator) to divide a design into multiple art boards to accommodate your material length.
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In addition to being a masterful palm reader, I also can read the future.
I envision someone saying “in the hopper” very soon.
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Remember that your plank can only be 1/4" thick if you are using the pass-through slot.
I believe @dan has said the auto-align feature will initially only be for use with the pass-through but he has added a few variants to the “feature hopper”.
@jbmanning5’s idea of dividing the artwork in your design software of choice can work. I use Vectric Aspire with my CNC router. Yesterday, I divided a design into multiple pieces for a cut I plan to do this weekend that is bigger than my CNC can handle at one time.
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I think we’ll find a lot of designs coming out that incorporate bits that look decorative but also serve for registration.
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My thought is that for this scenario, you’d be best to divide your design in stripes the width of your planks, and leave the planks a few cm overlength. Then, use the passthrough with its auto-registration for each plank with its own slice of the overall design, including the end cuts. Then, it should be pretty simple to align the individual planks with each other during the assembly phase. If you also have more traditional woodworking tools, you could also leave the extra length on each plank and then trim them to the desired length after assembly with a saw.
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The term for splitting the design up before-hand is “tiling”. Most design programs should have a function for this somewhere, but it will probably be in an end-function area: print settings or cut settings.
The AI plugin that controls my vinyl plotter has a tiling pane in the UI that lets me set a tiling size using numerical input, GUI sliders, or automatically based on the size of the vinyl roll. I have a 4’-wide plotter; Depending on what sizes of vinyl I have on hand, I could use two 15" rolls to make a 30" design, or four 48" rolls to make a 16’-wide design.
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When you’re working with a Pro, registration will maintain alignment along a long board (for example). You can certainly print a few long boards that interlock or otherwise combine to make something larger.
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