Minimum and recommended PC requirements

Item	Minimum configuration	Recommended configuration
Processor	Intel Core i5-6200U	Intel Core i5-11600
Operating system	Win 10 (64-bit) macOS 10.14 or later
RAM	8 GB	16 GB
Display resolution	1280 × 720 (pixels)	1920 × 1080 (pixels) or higher
Hard drive	8 GB	12 GB

• With the minimum configurations, all the functions of XCS can be used properly. When you import a complex image, such as an image larger than 50,000,000 pixels or an SVG image larger than 1 MB, however, XCS may fail to run smoothly.
• With the recommended configurations, XCS can run more smoothly when you import and edit a complex image, the software delay may be shorter, and the performance is better.

Download and install XCS

Click Yes when you are asked "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" and then continue the installation as prompted.

Processing modes

XCS supports multiple processing modes for xTool P2.

The processing modes are described as follows:

• Slats flat: to process flat materials with the slats in place
• Laser cylindrical: to process regular or irregular cylindrical materials

In this mode, you need to use xTool Rotary Attachment. For details about how to use xTool P2 with Rotary Attachment, see "Use xTool P2 with Rotary Attachment."

• Open plane: to process thick materials

In this mode, XCS allows you to place the material surface to be processed below the reference plane, that is, the plane formed by the upper sides of the slats.

• Conveyor feeder: to process long flat materials

In this mode, you need to use xTool Conveyor Feeder. For details about how to use xTool P2 with Conveyor Feeder, see "Use xTool P2 with Conveyor Feeder."

• Curve process: to process materials curved surfaces

Currently, this is a beta function and is being improved. In this mode, you need to remove all the slats and can measure a curved area on a material and map objects onto the area before processing the material. For details, see "Process Materials with Curved Surfaces Using xTool P2."

Example projects

You can start with a simple project. The following are some examples.

Engrave a star on a 3 mm basswood board

1. Insert the star shape on the canvas.

2. Select the Slats flat processing mode.

3. Place a basswood board on the slats, and move the object to the position where you want it to be processed.

4. Measure the thickness of the material.You can use either the aimed-measure or quick-measure to measure thickness.

5. Set processing parameters for the object to be processed.

6. Press the Process button.

7. Preview the object and click Process.

7. Press the button on xTool P2 to start processing.

   

8. Wait for the processing to complete.

This is what you get after the processing.

Cut a star from an acrylic sheet

The steps for cutting a star from an acrylic sheet are similar to those of engraving a star on a basswood board.

1. Insert the star shape on the canvas.
2. Select the Slats flat processing mode.
3. Place the acrylic sheet on the slats, and move the object to the position where you want it to be processed.
4. Measure the thickness of the material.
5. Set processing parameters for the object to be processed.

6. Press the Process button.
7. Preview the object and click Process.
8. Press the button on xTool P2.
9. Wait for the processing to complete.

This is what you get.

Engrave a pattern on a jewel case

1. Measure the height of the jewel case.

The height is greater than 25 mm, you need to remove the slats.

2. Remove the slats.

3. Select the Open plane processing mode.

4. Disable the baseplate detection function (required only for Class 4 xTool P2).

Note: By default, baseplate detection is enabled for xTool P2. For Class 4 laser machines, if you don't disable this function, XCS keeps prompting you to remove the baseplate in Open plane processing. For Class 1 laser machines, you don't need to disable it.

You can identify whether your machine is a Class 1 or Class 4 one based on the sticker on the back of the machine.

5. Place the case in the working area, and click aimed-measure to allow the red spot to fall on the material.

5. Move the object to the position where you want it to be processed.

6. Set the processing parameters for it.

7. Press the Process button.
8. Preview the object and click Process.
9. Press the button on xTool P2.
10. Wait for the processing to complete.

This is what you get.

With the rise base, conveyor feeder, and rotary attachment, xTool P2 can process thicker, longer, and a wider range of materials.

More examples

To process regular and irregular cylindrical materials, see "Use xTool P2 with Rotary Attachment."

To process long materials, see "Use xTool P2 with Conveyor Feeder."

XCS function description

• Smart fill

• Align

• Combine

 

Menus

① Settings

• General

• • Unit: sets the unit for displaying the size and position of a design element
  • Hot keys: You can click View to view all the hot keys supported by XCS
  • Auto-snapping: enables or disables the auto-snapping function of the canvas. The function is enabled by default.
    • When it is enabled, guides appear when you move an element on the canvas to help you align the element with another element or the grids.

• • • When it is disabled, no guide appears when you move an element. 

• • Precise vector path selection: By default, this function is disabled.

• • Precise DXF file parsing: sets whether to parse DXF files with new algorithms. The new algorithms ensure better parsing results without line missing or deformation and therefore use more PC memory. It is disabled by default. You are advised not to enable this function when your DXF files are properly parsed on XCS. 
  • Imported image too large for the canvas: sets how to process an imported image that is too large for the canvas, including the following options:
    • Ask me every time: XCS asks you every time when you import an image that is too large for the canvas.

• • • Auto-scale it: XCS automatically scales an image that is too large for the canvas when you import it.

• • • Keep its size: XCS displays an image that is too large for the canvas in the original size when you import it.

• • Language: sets the language of the UIs
  • Custom parameter settings: allows you to export the processing parameter settings you've saved before or import parameter settings into XCS from a local disk
  • Software update: displays the software version and checks for later versions
  • About: displays information about the software
• Developer mode

xTool P2 does not support forced firmware update.

② File

• New: creates a new project file
• Open project...: opens a local project file, supporting only .xcs files
• Import image...: imports an image file. Currently, XCS supports the importing of only JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, SVG, DXF, and WEBP files.
• Save: saves all the changes to the project
• Save as: saves the project to another file

Project name

It displays the name of the project, and you can double-click it to enter a project name.

Links

• Announcement: links to the announcement window of XCS, where you can find the latest announcement released
• Community: links to the XCS community, where you can find more information about XCS, share your projects, discuss with others, and get inspired
• Projects: links to the example project center, where you can find various example projects
• Support: links to the xTool support website, where you can find online help for xTool products
• Shop: links to the xTool online store, where you can purchase xTool products, accessories, and materials

Vertical toolbar

Image: click to import an image Insert: click and select to draw a basic shape Shape: click to insert a shape Text: click to insert a text Vector: click to draw a vector path xArt: click to enter your prompt or upload an image to generate a new image Select: click to select one or more elements Hand: click to move the canvas by dragging it

• • Filter: You can add a grid filter for the image.

• • Sharpness: With other settings unchanged, sharpness is related to the clarity of detail in an image.

• • Grayscale: The grayscale is related to the contrast of light and shade. Slide the block on the left to the middle to enhance the shade. Slide the block on the right to the middle to enhance the light.

• • Invert: You can invert the colors of a bitmap image. This function can be useful for the processing of some dark materials, such as engraving bitmap images on transparent or translucent acrylic, black slates, ruber, and mirrors. The engraving results can be improved by using this function.
    XCS supports color inverting of black-and-white, grayscale, and color bitmap images, as described in the following:
    • Black-and-white images: White pixels are inverted into black ones, and black ones are inverted into white ones.

• • • Grayscale images: Light pixels are inverted into dark ones, and dark ones are inverted into light ones.

• • • Color images: A color image is converted into a grayscale image first, and then light pixels are inverted into dark ones, and dark ones are inverted into light ones.

Note: For an image with a transparent or translucent background, the background is not inverted, and only the colors of the pixels in the image are inverted.

In addition to the preceding settings, you can further edit an image.

• • Magic wand: deletes the area you want to delete from the image

Fuzziness: This parameter is available only for the magic wind, indicating the range of pixel colors you delete at a time. The larger the value, the wider the color range, that is, the colors of the pixels to be deleted can be quite different; the smaller the value, the narrower the color range, that is, the colors of the pixels to be deleted are very similar.

• • Eraser: erases the area where you click from the image

Size: This parameter is available only for the eraser, indicating the size of the eraser. The larger the value, the larger the eraser.

• • Crop: keeps the area you select

• Insert: selected to draw a common shape. You can press Shift to draw a square, circle, or horizontal or vertical line.

• Shape: Click to insert a shape

• Text: click to insert a text. The default text is HELLO. After inserting the text, you can change the words, and set the font size, typeface, style, spacing, leading, and aligning mode. In addition, you can weld the character strings in a text.

Weld
This function is used to unite the character strings that overlap one another partially in a text. After being welded, the text becomes vector paths and the text setting panel is not displayed after you select it.

If no character strings overlap one another partially in the text, the text looks the same but becomes vector paths after you weld it, and the text setting panel is not displayed after you select it.

• Vector: selected to draw a vector path

You can press the Esc key or click any other menu to finish the drawing.

After drawing a vector path, you can double-click it to edit it as follows:

• • Double-click an anchor point to convert it to a rounded corner or back to a corner.
  • Drag an anchor to change the curvature.

• xArt: click to enter the xArt image generation portal, where you can generate images by entering prompts or uploading images. Currently, this is a beta function and is being improved. If you use xArt for the first time, you need to sign up an account and get your initial points, and every time you use xArt to generate an image, a number of points is cost.

• Select: click and select one or more items

• Hand: selected to move the canvas by dragging the mouse.

Horizontal toolbar

Undo: cancels the last action Redo: performs the last action again Outline: adds an outline to an element Array: creates multiple copies of an element at a time Smart fill: duplicates a design element for multiple materials Group: groups two or more elements Ungroup: ungroups the grouped elements	Align: aligns two or more elements Arrange: arranges the order of an element Combine: combines two or more vector paths Reflect: reflects an element horizontally or vertically Position: sets the position of an element on the canvas by the x and y coordinates Size: displays or sets the size of an element Rotate: rotates an element by angle

• Undo: cancels the last action
• Redo: performs the last action again
• Outline: adds an outline to the elements. In addition to adding outlines for bitmaps, vector paths, and texts, you can add inner outlines for bitmaps with transparent backgrounds.

• Array: creates multiple copies of an element at a time and lays them out in grid or circular mode. Select an element, choose an array mode, and complete the settings.

• Smart fill: duplicates a design element for multiple materials, helping you process multiple materials at a time. Edit your design for one material, and then click Smart fill. The same design is generated for other materials.

• Group: groups two or more elements you've selected
• Ungroup: ungroups the elements you've grouped
• Align: aligns multiple elements

For example, to align the elements shown in the following figure.

• • Align left
  •  
  • Horizonral align center
  •  
  • Align right
  •  
  • Align top
  • 
  • Vertical align center
  • 
  • Align bottom

For example, to distribute the elements shown in the following figure.

• • Distribute horizontally
  • 
  • Distribute vertically

• Arrange: arranges the order of elements. You can bring an element to front or send it to back, or bring it forward or send it backward one layer by one layer.

For example, to arrange the elements shown in the following figure.

• • Bring forward
  • 
  • Bring to front
  • 
  • Send backward

• •  
  • Send to back

• Combine: combines two or more elements

When you unite the two elements:

When you subtract the two elements:

When you unite the two elements at overlap:

When you subtract the two elements at overlap:

• Reflect: reflects an element horizontally or vertically

When you reflect the element horizontally:

When you reflect the element vertically:

• Position: sets the position of an element on the canvas by the x and y coordinates. The point (0, 0) is in the upper left corner. By default, when you insert a shape or import an image, it is positioned in the upper middle of the canvas. The unit can be set in Settings.

• Size: displays or sets the size of an element. The unit can be set in Settings.

• Rotate: rotate an element by angle. A positive value indicates rotating clockwise, and a negative one indicates rotating counterclockwise.

 

Canvas

Manage canvases

You can add, delete, or rename a canvas. A project file can include multiple canvases to store multiple objects.

Zoon in/out the canvas