You've got a sketch, a template, a PDF, or a worn part off an old job - and the laser shop wants a DXF. If you're a fabricator, signwriter, cabinetmaker or metalworker, this is the job that lands on your desk every other week: something needs to be drawn up properly before anyone can cut it.
Here's how we turn whatever you've got into a clean, cut-ready DXF - for laser, plasma, waterjet or CNC router.
Table of Contents
The problem: you've got a shape, not a file
Laser, plasma, waterjet and CNC routers all cut from DXF files - not photos, not hand sketches, not PDFs. But most custom cutting jobs start life as exactly that: a dimensioned sketch on the back of a job sheet, a cardboard template, a snap of the original part, an old PDF, or a rusty bracket you're trying to replace.
Somebody has to turn that into geometry a machine can read, and it has to be right - because the cutter will follow your file precisely, mistakes included. That "somebody" is usually you, at 9pm, fighting with CAD you don't use often enough to be fast in. Or it's us, in SolidWorks, in a fraction of the time - that's what fabrication drafting is for.
What we can work from
You don't need a drawing to start. We regularly produce DXF files from:
- A physical sample or worn part - measured and reverse-engineered, with the geometry cleaned up and failure points fixed rather than copied.
- A cardboard or paper template - scanned or measured and rebuilt to true dimensions.
- A hand sketch with dimensions - the classic back-of-the-job-sheet drawing.
- A photo plus a few key measurements - enough to reconstruct the part accurately.
- An old PDF or legacy drawing - re-drawn as clean, editable vector geometry.
What we make DXFs for
Just about anything that gets cut flat. Common jobs across the trades:
- Structural steel - base plates, gussets, cleats, brackets, flanges and end plates.
- Architectural & decorative - privacy screens, balustrade infill panels, feature panels and perforated designs.
- Signage & lettering - laser-cut letters, logos, number plates and wayfinding.
- Cabinetry & joinery - CNC router profiles, jigs and templates.
- Door hardware - custom lock plates, striker plates, escutcheons and cover plates.
- One-offs - gaskets, shims, adaptor plates, name/ID plates and mounting patterns.
Cut from any process
We build files to suit the machine doing the cutting - laser, plasma, waterjet or CNC router - with the right allowances for each. Tell us your cutter (or your supplier's) and we'll match the file to it.
What you get back: a cut-ready DXF
Not every DXF is a good DXF. A file that looks fine on screen can still jam up a cutting shop. Every file we send is built for the machine:
Try it yourself: the free DXF plate generator
For straightforward rectangular and round base plates with bolt holes, you don't even need us. Our free DXF Base Plate Generator lets you punch in your dimensions and hole pattern and download a cut-ready DXF on the spot - no CAD, no account, no cost.
It's perfect for simple plates. When the geometry gets more involved - custom profiles, curved edges, decorative patterns, matching an existing worn part, or a full set of parts for a job - that's when it's worth sending it to us. We did exactly that for Metro Steel Windows, producing a full set of laser-cut door and window plates delivered as production DXF files straight to their cutting supplier.
How to get a quote
Send us a photo of the part, template or sketch plus the key dimensions, and we'll come back with a fixed-price quote and a cut-ready DXF. No obligation.