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Center Origin

Center OriginThe default Easel origin is the bottom left of the material. Centering any multiple object drawing on the material can be a PITA, especially when text is involved. While using a center origin is not visually intuitive, it is relatively easy to setup. The easiest way is to select all the objects in the drawing (Ctrl A), select the Shape tab, click the center circle and enter 0/0 for X/Y. While this works in simple cases, it is not very precise (center circle and origin are not aligned) and probably won't work as expected when text is involved.

The problem with text is that it doesn't center (its bounding box does) or center isn't the best place for it. For precise center origin alignment of text, or any set of objects: add a square to the drawing, set Cut to Outline and Depth to 0, set Shape to a Size that's bigger than all bounding boxes (blue lines), e.g. material size (if that's big enough). Use Edit > Center to Material to center it on the drawing, select all objects and (as above) set Shape position to 0/0 (center circle selected). While the added perimeter shape shows up in the drawing, the depth was set to 0 so it won't be cut/visible in the preview/simulation (deleting it is optional).

Mark the center of the material with a pencil, align the router bit over the mark and hit carve. Center origin is also handy if you want a reference point that can be used on both the X-Carve and the laser, e.g. route paths/pockets and then laser cut and/or engrave the part (or vice versa). If one or the other operation will cut away the pencil mark, do that one last. While the laser default origin is the top left, it has a center-center option.

Note: the only reason for work area and material dimensions is for visualization and to insure everything will fit. The only information sent to the X-Carve is how and where it should move the router (example image). When designing stuff in Easel, reducing the Machine Work Area dimensions to match the material dimensions will make previews and simulations easier to see (set to 1x1mm for the example image).

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