Laser Cut Cube
New to laser cutting? This tutorial teaches you how to create a cube design in Adobe Illustrator, add custom images, and prepare the file so that the laser cutter can engrave / cut it.
Overview:
For this project, you'll start by making two of the six sides of the cube. Then, you'll make copies of those two sides in order to complete the cube. You will be “cutting” off pieces of each shape so that they fit together with "tabs." Once laser cut, you should end up with a 3" x 3" x 3" cube.
Set-Up:
Create a new Project in Adobe Illustrator and set the width to 24 in and the height to 12 in.
Create Your First Square
Click and drag with the mouse to create the rectangle.
Change the dimensions so that the height and the width are both set to 3 in.
You should now have a 3 in by 3 in square.
Create the "tabs" for the top and bottom of your cube
You'll now make the piece that you will use to “cut” off pieces from the square. (These will become "tabs" to fit the sides of your cubes together once all the pieces are cut.)
Make a new rectangle that is .5 inch wide by .125 in high.
Make a copy of it [Ctrl+C then Ctrl+V]
Select the 3 in by 3 in square and the two rectangles. The align option should appear on the right hand side. Select Center Horizontally and Center Vertically
Select the square and one of the rectangles. Then, using the align options, select Vertical Align Top
Select the square and the rectangle left in the center and select the Vertical Align Bottom option.
Click on the inside part of the square to create a new shape.
Rotate the square 90 degrees. If you hold down the Shift key as you rotate, the shape will rotate in 45 degree increments
Select the square and the rectangles and then chose the Shape Builder Tool on the left side of the screen and click on the inside part of the square to create a new shape
Next, create a copy of this shape to use as the bottom of the cube.
Create the sides (four faces) of your cube
Create another 3 by 3 square
Create a rectangle that is .125 wide by .5 high
Make a copy of each of the rectangles, so you now have two of each.
Select the four rectangles and the new 3 by 3 square and select Center Horizontally and Center Vertically
Select the square and one of the horizontal rectangles. Then, using the align options, select Vertical Align TopSelect the square and the other horizontal rectangle left in the center and select the Vertical Align Bottom.
Select the square and one of the vertical rectangles then using the align options select the Horizontal Align Left option
Select the square and the other vertical rectangle left on the center and select the Horizontal Align Right option.
Focus on the top part of the square, hold down the Alt key, drag the rectangle to the left, and as you are dragging hold down the Shift key, without letting go of Alt, so that the rectangle moves in a straight line. Drag the rectangle until it is touching the left side of the square (a pink “intersect” will appear when it happens).
Drag the right side of the rectangle you just moved, until it touches the left side of the rectangle in the center.
Select the center rectangle and drag its left side until it touches the right side of the big square.
Focus on the bottom part of the square, hold down the Alt key, drag the rectangle to the left and as you are dragging hold down the Shift key, without letting go of Alt, so that the rectangle moves in a straight line. Drag the rectangle until it is touching the left side of the square (a pink “intersect” will appear when it happens).
Drag the right side of the rectangle you just moved, until it touches the left side of the rectangle on the center.
Select the center rectangle and drag its left side until it touches the right side of the big square.
Focus on the left part of the square, hold down the Alt key, drag the rectangle to the bottom and as you are dragging hold down the Shift key, without letting go of Alt, so that the rectangle moves in a straight line. Drag the rectangle until it is touching the bottom side of the square (a pink “intersect” will appear when it happens).
Select the center rectangle and drag its bottom side until it touches the top side of the big square
Select the square and the rectangles and then chose the Shape Builder Tool on the left side of the screen and click on the inside part of the rectangle to create a new shape
You will use this for one of the sides of the cube.
Create 3 copies of this for the other sides.
Delete all the other small rectangles so that you are left with just the two pieces [top/bottom and sides] you created.
Set the correct colors / line thickness for laser cutting.
The laser cutter recognizes only three colors: black (infill), blue (outline) and red (cut).
Add images to your cube
You can now add black and white images of your choice to the sides of the cube.
Look for black and white images on Google and save them using Save Image As. Or, save images you've created to the computer.
Go back to Illustrator and go to File->Place…
Choose your image and click anywhere on the screen to place it. Do not resize the image yet.
Select the image, click the Image Trace button on the right side of the screen and select Black and White Logo
Click the Expand button
Place the image on one of the cube pieces (top, bottom, or one of the sides). You can now resize the image to fit within the square.
Repeat the previous steps, adding images to the sides, top, and bottom as desired.
Save your file and either email it to yourself or put it on a USB to transfer it to the laser cutting PC.
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