Commissioned work
Logo or lettering as DXF
A logo as a JPG or PNG cannot be cut. We vectorise it, place the bridges without which the inside of an O drops onto the shop floor, and deliver a DXF file a laser or plasma machine takes straight away.
A logo becomes a cut-ready DXF file by converting the graphic into closed vector contours and preparing it for the cutting process. The real work is not the tracing but the bridges: on letters like O, A, B or D the inner areas fall out unless they are connected. Where those bridges sit decides whether the sign holds together and still reads.
Cutting or engraving — two different files
The same graphic needs a different file depending on the process. Cutting leaves a hole where the colour was, and anything free-standing has to be held. Engraving leaves the material intact, but line width and depth start to matter. Running both from the same file gives you either alphabet soup or an illegible slab.
| For cutting | For engraving | |
|---|---|---|
| Inner areas | Need bridges, or they fall out | Stay in place, no bridges needed |
| Fine lines | Minimum width set by process and material thickness | Hairline is possible |
| Type | Converted to curves, contours closed | Also converted to curves, or the type is lost |
| Filled areas | Become holes | Become a filled area or hatch |
| Gradients and shadows | Cannot be represented, they are dropped | Only as a raster, depending on the machine |
| Layers | One layer for the cut | Separate layers for cut and engraving |
So tell us before quoting which process and which material thickness you have in mind. In two-millimetre steel a three-millimetre bridge carries the load; at twelve millimetres the same bridge looks like a design mistake.
What you receive
- A DXF file with closed contours, ready to cut on laser, plasma and waterjet machines.
- Bridges on the inner areas, placed where they intrude least on the finished part.
- Type converted to curves — the file looks the same on any machine, even without your font.
- Separate layers for cutting and engraving where both occur.
- On request also as DWG, or in an older DXF version if your machine requires one.
What we need from you
A logo in the best available quality saves the greater part of the work. A screenshot from your own website is the hardest possible starting point.
- The artwork in the highest quality you have — SVG, EPS, AI or PDF for preference.
- The intended size of the finished part in millimetres.
- Material and material thickness.
- The cutting process — laser, plasma or waterjet.
- Whether it should be cut, engraved, or both.
How it works
Four steps from logo to finished file. Nothing is charged until you accept the quote.
Upload the logo
You create an account, upload the artwork and tell us the size, material and process.
Fixed-price quote
We look at how much rework the artwork needs, settle the bridges with you, and send a binding quote.
Approval and prepayment
You accept the quote and receive an invoice with VAT shown. Work starts once payment arrives.
Delivery of the DXF file
The finished file is ready to download in your customer area. If something is off, it gets corrected.
What does it cost?
The price follows the drafting time. Lettering from a clean vector file is finished quickly; a pixelated coat of arms with hatching that has to be rebuilt contour by contour is not. You receive a binding fixed-price quote up front.
- Simple part
- €30–€50
- Medium-complexity part
- approx. €100
- Highly complex part
- approx. €200
The price depends on the design time required and is calculated individually for each order.
Request a free quoteFrequently asked questions
Can I have any logo cut?
We make what you commission and do not check trademark rights. With your own company logo that is unproblematic. With third-party logos, coats of arms or club emblems, clearing the rights is your responsibility — a picture being findable online does not make it free to use.
What are bridges, and do I really need them?
Bridges are narrow connections that hold free-standing inner areas in place. Without them the ring in an O, the bar in an A and the middle of a B fall out during cutting and end up loose in the machine. Only lettering whose letters are joined throughout can do without them.
I only have the logo as a JPG or a screenshot.
That works but takes more time: the edges are ragged and get rebuilt by hand rather than carried over automatically. Ask your marketing department or your agency for the original file first — an SVG or EPS often halves the effort.
You do not have my font installed. Is that a problem?
No, quite the opposite: we convert every typeface to curves. After that the lettering is pure geometry and looks identical everywhere — on your machine, on ours and at the cutter. The text can no longer be edited afterwards, though.
How small can the lettering go?
The process decides that, not the file. A laser cuts sub-millimetre detail in thin sheet; a plasma torch has a considerably coarser kerf depending on machine and material thickness. Tell us the material and the process and we will say up front what survives of your design.
Related
A different kind of source, or the background reading: