Universal Laser Systems Laser Platform M-300 User's Guide

Table Of ContentsThis User Guide has been edited for content. Only the Safety, Operation and Accessories chapters have been includedChapter 1 – Specif

Fixture TypeNoneIf you are not using any type of fixture, set the drop down menu to NONE.RotaryIf you have purchased this accessory, read how to insta

Can be Vector CutSelect this switch if the material can be cut and enter information in the vector cut section.Fixed ThicknessSelect this switch if th

Apply ButtonThe APPLY button saves all changes made to the printer driver settings.Default ButtonThe Default button will reset the driver settings to

Manual Printer Driver Interface Tab (advanced users)This tab of the printer driver is for the advanced user and allows the user to manually configure

that there is no difference in the depth of cut from straight lines to curves.% Power and % Speed work together in determining how deep the engraving

Z-AxisThis control lets you set the Z-Axis table to a specific height. When the auto Z feature is turned on in the UCP and a Z height is set for a col

Raster Sub-TabThe raster sub-tab on the manual control tab of the printer driver setting interface displays a group of settings which affec

Rubber stamp modeThis mode is specifically for rubber stamp creation and is used for creating shoulders on characters and graphics when

PowerThe Power table graphically represents the shoulder characteristics of the predefined rubber stamp shoulders and also allows you to adj

1-Touch Laser Photo SwitchThis switch is automatically selected when printing photos from Universal Laser Systems 1-touch Photo laser photo printing s

Chapter 2 - Safety8

DitheringDithering settings are used when printing graphics that contain grayscale or color bitmaps such as photographs in a

Image EnhancementsThis section contains settings for enhancing and improving raster imaging.TexturizeTexturize is a special feature which adds random

decelerating to change direction for the next raster stroke. If engraving or marking near the edges of the laser processing field these margins are au

How to Tune Image Enhancement SettingsThese three parameters (CONTRAST, DEFINITION and DENSITY) work together to compensate for laser

Step 5: Establish the tuning value.Once the Contrast, Definition and Density are determined, an easy way to set the tuning value on a given material

scaling feature respectively. Keep in mind that this feature DOES NOT scale raster images. If you are combining raster and vector images in one file,

Merge PagesThis setting allows you to treat multipage documents in different ways. By default, multipage documents are treated as separate jobs with e

The Universal Control Panel (UCP)When a graphic has been printed through the printer driver a laser job is created and passed to the queue in a piece

Focus ViewThe Focus View allows you to quickly manually move the focus carriage to a desired position in the material processing field.• To have full

File ManagementAs jobs are printed they are added to the print queue until the queue reaches the print queue limit set in the system tab. Once the Pri

Description of Appropriate UseThis device is designed for laser cutting and engraving in an office, laboratory, workshop o

System TabThe System Tab allows you to configure certain features of the laser system. If your laser system needs to be calibrated, you will need to d

• If you would like the laser system to re-home the X and Y axes before it processes each job, select the‘Home XY Before Engraving’ switch.• Your lase

Control PanelThe control panel on your laser system provides the functions necessary to setup and run jobs on your laser system.Safety Interlock Stat

DisplayMain Menu: When your laser system is initially powered up the laser system model name will appear on the displayed. This scree

Loading and Processing MaterialsBefore laser processing material, you will need to load material into the laser system and then focus the laser system

FocusingOnce you have positioned the material, you will need to focus the laser system by adjusting the Z axis up or down until the top surface of the

A final focusing method is to use the auto-focus feature to focus on the material. In the Cell 2 and Cell 3 laser systems, the autofocus sensor is a l

Third-Party Graphic Software CongurationULS Windows Printer Driver will work with a wide variety of Windows based graphic software to create laser jo

Vector Output for Vector Cutting and MarkingThe printer driver distinguishes between raster objects (raster engraving) and vector objects (vector cutt

AutoCAD and AutoCAD LTNote: AutoCAD version 2000 is not compatible with ULS laser systems. You must upgrade to version 2000i or higher. Vector outputL

DANGEROUS VOLTAGES ARE PRESENT WITHIN THE ELECTRONICSENCLOSURES OF THIS SYSTEM. Access to these areas is not necessary during normal operation.

Chapter 5 – Accessories83

Rotary FixtureThe Rotary Fixture allows the laser system to engrave and mark on cylindrical objects. The Rotary fixture is equip

5. With the power to the system still OFF, connect the rotary fixture control cable to the receptacle on thelaser system (6).Loading MaterialBefore lo

8. Power ON the laser system. If you are using the rotary for the first time or replaced the laser system’sCPU, rotary calibration may be needed, so p

5. After focusing, press both SAVE buttons on the Rotary Calibration dialog. If asked to overwrite an existingposition, accept the new value by pressi

Determining Graphic PlacementThe next step is to align the graphics to be printed with the material inserted in the rotary fixture. Again, a wine glas

7. Once you have the new engraving field size, exit the printer driver properties dialog.8. In your graphics software change the page size to equal th

3. Once you are ready to print, select print in your graphics software and open the printer driver preferencesdialog. In the materials driver tab sele

48Chapter 4 - OperationNOTES:We reccomend the Manual Printer Driver Interface (page 56) over the Materials Database Printer Driver Interface that is r

Important OverviewCAUTION: Please refer to the Safety section before operating the laser system.All ULS laser systems are designed to operate like a

The Printer Driver InterfaceThe printer driver is a piece of software that allows you to create jobs for the laser system using the Windows print syst

Dene Job (material only)Add a sub-material record underneath the main record. This sub-material record captures all user-defined settings in the mate

3D mode:This mode affects raster elements of your image. In this mode, instead of a dither pattern being applied to all raster data, the laser power l