1. Connect xTool F1 Ultra to XCS

(1) Use the USB cable to connect xTool F1 Ultra to your computer.

(2) Open XCS on your computer. On the top-right corner of XCS, click the + New project button.

(3) On the top of the project editing page, click Please connect a device. 

Note: If you have connected an xTool device in XCS before, click the name of the device > select Connect device.

(4) On the pop-up window, click the name of your device to connect to it.

Note: For more information on other connection methods, see Connect xTool F1 Ultra to XCS.

2. Select the processing mode and material name

(1) On the right side of XCS, select Process on flat surface as the processing mode.

(2) In the top-right corner, click User-defined material, select the name of your material, and click Confirm.

3. Place the material and perform laser focusing

(1) Lift the protective enclosure, and place the material on the baseplate, allowing the blue light spot to fall on the surface of the material.

Note: 
- To cut a material, you are advised to place the slatted panel under the material, so as to reduce the burned area on the back of the material and protect the baseplate.

- If the material is too light, you are advised to use tools such as tape to fix the material. Otherwise, the airflow of the exhaust fan may cause the material to move during processing.

(2) Hold down on the Up/Down button for laser module to lift or lower the laser module. When the red and blue light spots overlap, the focus is successfully set.

Note: The blue light spot does not move. If the laser module moves up, the red light spot moves towards the left. If the laser module moves down, the red light spot moves towards the right.

After you finish focusing, you can see the measured material thickness on the right side of XCS.

Note: xTool F1 Ultra supports auto-focus and manual-focus. Here we use manual-focus. For more information on how to use auto-focus, see Focus the Laser.

4. Shoot background and design processing objects

(1) On the right of XCS, click Refresh under Snapshot preview.

Note: XSC takes a photo of xTool F1 Ultra’s processing area and uses it as the canvas background. You can position processing objects based on the background.

Note: To ensure positioning accuracy, set the laser focus before shooting the background.

(2) Use the left-side tools to create objects on the canvas. 

Note: Ensure that the objects are placed inside the material.

Note: You can import images, insert shapes, enter text, draw vector graphics, and so on. 

(3) Select the objects to further edit them using the features on the right panel.

Note: For more information on how to use XCS to design objects, see Software Learning Center.

5. Set the processing parameters

Select objects on the canvas. Then, click the icon to unfold the EasySet panel and set parameters for the selected objects on the panel.

Note:
You need to set parameters for every object. A missed object may fail to be processed.
The parameters that can be set for bitmap objects and vector objects are different. You can select multiple objects of the same type and set parameters for them at once.

Processing type

Image - Engrave: Laser beams hit on the surface of the material to change the color of the surface. By creating different shades of color on the material surface, xTool F1 Ultra prints an image on the material.

Vector - Score: Laser beams walk along the path of the vector graphic, drawing the vector on the material with lines.

Vector - Engrave: Laser beams walk through the entire area enclosed by the vector path, engraving the vector on the material with monochromatic fillings.

Vector - Cut: Laser beams cut the material along the path of the vector graphic.

Setting

If you have saved settings for the same type of material before, you can use your saved settings.

If you want to manually set the parameters, select User-defined. Then, set the parameters below. After setting the parameters, you can click Save setting to save it for further use.

Note: For more information about the processing parameters, see The Processing Parameters for xTool F1 Ultra.

6. Set the processing path

On the right side, set the processing path at the bottom of the panel.

(1) Turn on or off the Evade smoke mode.

When this feature is enabled, the device follows a path less affected by the smoke to process the material.

Note: You are advised to enable this feature for scoring on materials such as wood and corrugated paper that produce heavy smoke. Otherwise, the heavy smoke may block the laser beams and interfere laser processing.

(2) Set the Processing path.

• Auto planning: XCS automatically plans the processing path based on intelligent algorithms.
• User defining: Manually set the processing paths for some objects.

7. Preview the processing area

You can preview the processing area on the material by framing. Framing means laser dots walk along the border of the processing objects on the material. Take the following steps to start framing:

(1) At the bottom-right corner of the software, click the icon next to the Framing button to set the parameters for framing.

● Light power: Sets the laser power for framing.

● Mode: 
In the Rect mode, laser dots walk along the rectangle border of the processing objects.
In the Outline mode, laser dots walk along the outline of the processing objects.

(2) Click Framing in the software. The laser dots will move along the boundary of the processing objects on the material, allowing you to preview the processing area.

To stop framing, click the Stop Framing button at the bottom-right corner of XCS.

Note: If the processing area is not ideal, you can adjust the material position or adjust the object positions in the software.

8. Start processing

(1) In the bottom-right corner of the software, click Go to process.

(2) Preview the processing pattern and path.

On the bottom-left corner, click the button, and XCS will show you the processing path.

(3) Close the protective enclosure. In the upper right corner of XCS, click Start. When the software shows “Ready”, press the XTOOL Start/Stop button on the touchscreen controller to start processing.

Note: During laser processing, keep the protective enclosure closed or wear goggles that can shield laser beams of 455 nm and 1064 nm wavelengths.