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Vector design programs for laser cutting

BEST OF BREED

Gravit

nother free option available is

Gravit Designer. Like Illustrator and

Inkscape it’s available for Mac and

PC, but it also has a free web app

that can do everything the desktop

versions can.

Gravit is a bare-bones, basic vector design

program. It’s not trying to compete with the ever-

expanding feature-set of Adobe. It knows what you

need to do 95% of the time, and focuses on making

that as easy as possible.

Getting started is incredibly intuitive, so much

so that this has become our go-to vector design

software for teaching kids. The pen tool behaves

exactly as you would expect and smart guides pop

up to help you align your points with other objects.

Along with the pen is a freehand drawing tool that,

like other applications, will automatically smooth

your line and minimise control points. Like most of

its features, though, the freehand tool lacks settings

to fine-tune how it smooths. Another example is the

basic alignment tools that are there (and they work

for objects and control points), but there isn’t an

option to align to the page.

Key laser-cutter design features, like working with

multiple measurement systems and allowing maths

within text fields, let you create and edit objects

that require precision, and a dashed stroke within

the line options (which you can expand to individual

paths) lets you prepare an object to be lasered

as perforations.

Other features that let you go beyond the basics

include Boolean operations and symbol creation

(allowing you to create linked clones of objects). It

even has a robust text tool with an extensive web

font library and the ability to import your own fonts.

You can then convert that text to paths, as you

would need to do to make it laser-ready.

One thing missing that we find critical is the

ability to perform transforms on multiple objects

simultaneously from each object’s origin. Let’s say

GRAVIT FREE designer.gravit.io

A

you have four holes around a case you’re going to

laser-cut and you decide to make them all 5 mm

instead of 3 mm. Ideally you want a tool that lets

you select them all and scale them, while keeping

their centre point in the same place. Gravit’s more

advanced counterparts all have that ability. A

bitmap image trace feature would also be nice for

converting existing art, but it won’t be missed by

most users.

Gravit has some interesting and useful features

among its limited arsenal. In addition to layer control,

it has the option to create pages that mimic the

artboards in Illustrator and allow you to view, move,

and resize them all side by side.

Overall, Gravit makes a great beginner and even

intermediate vector design program. It’s easy to

get started, does pretty much everything you might

need, and can export an SVG or PDF file with all the

right settings to make it ready to laser.

Above

Gravit has most of

the tools you would

need for vector work

and presents them

with a clear and

intuitive UI

Quick and easy

for basic work.

Has the core

features but

lacks tools

for experts

VERDICT

6 / 10