Production files for patterned panels.
You set the dimensions, the material and the process, you get DXF and SVG back. For laser, waterjet and router, in sheet metal, wood, acrylic, cardboard and plastics. For architecture, interior fit-out and design.
Patterns are everywhere. What you buy is a file that runs on your machine without rework.
Light is part of the panel
A panel does more than divide a room. It sorts the light passing through it, and the pattern appears a second time as a shadow on floor and wall. Over the course of the day that shadow travels, and the room travels with it.
The effect is a number, not a coincidence. The open area decides how much light gets through. Web width and edge margin decide how hard the shadow stands. The direction decides where it runs. All three are parameters in the drawing. That way a panel can be shifted towards more light or more privacy without leaving the pattern family. Two offset layers add depth and keep more sun out.
The numbers are in the draft: number of openings, open area, narrowest web. On request a raster image for visualisations comes with it, and the detail printed 1:1, so the pattern can be held against the light before anything is cut.
Where cutting runs into trouble
Setting a patterned panel by hand in CAD costs an afternoon. Every change to spacing or web width costs it again.
And that does not mean it will cut. It snags at the inside corner the router cannot reach. At the web that holds on screen and breaks in the material. At the contour that folds over on itself when offset, and that the operator then redraws by hand. Anyone who has had a cutting file sent back knows the feeling.
Sheet metal on the laser, aluminium on the waterjet or MDF on the router: what changes is the kerf, the minimum radius and the web width the material still carries. Those three figures go into the drawing here, not into the rework afterwards.
For architecture and design
A pattern is a design decision. On the finished piece it should still be the same one. For architecture, interior design, joinery, metalwork, exhibition and shop fitting.
It usually starts with a vague idea rather than a drawing: you tell us where you want to go, we come back with a few proposals, you decide from the images. That becomes the file the machine understands.
If you have a photo of an existing panel, it works the other way round. We read spacing, web width and edge distance from it and rebuild the pattern. Whether that works cleanly we tell you after looking at the photo, not on the invoice.
The design stays with you: spacing, density, direction and edge distance are parameters, not defaults.
Acoustic panels come up most often. That is where a panel carries the most openings, and where drawing by hand hurts most.
- Partition and room divider
- Door, gate and door panel
- Fascia and cladding
- Grille and balustrade, in the stairwell and on the balcony
- Facade, privacy screen and solar shading, layered if you like
- Ceiling, ceiling raft and acoustic panel
- Cabinet and wardrobe fronts
- Lamp and lampshade
- Exhibition stand, shop window and decor
- Cardboard for print and packaging
How it works
- 1
Enquiry
You tell us what you have in mind. A photo, a sketch or a reference to a pattern is enough to start.
- 2
Draft
We send two or three variants as images, with the key figures: number of openings, open area, narrowest web. That tells you straight away whether it suits your material. The draft costs CHF 90. On request we print the variant you pick as a 1:1 sample and post it to you, CHF 60 and two or three days more.
- 3
Approval
You pick one, we adjust: spacing, web width, edge distance, fixing points. One round is included in the draft. Then you order the file, and the CHF 90 is credited.
- 4
Files
You get DXF and SVG, plus a PDF to check against. STEP on request. The file starts at CHF 280, and the invoice comes with the delivery.
What we need from you
The panel size. And whether it will be milled: then the cutter diameter, because it sets the corner radius. That is all we need to start.
Helpful, but not required: material and thickness, the process, the kerf width for laser and waterjet, the position of the fixing points and the minimum web width your shop still handles cleanly. Whatever is missing, we ask for. It is two questions, not a tender document.
What the file already accounts for
Corner radius to your tool
The corner radius matches your tool. An inside corner ends up rounded when milled anyway, so it is already round in the drawing. Drawing and workpiece agree.
Critical webs flagged
Openings that would become too narrow for your process are detected and named. We close them or adjust the spacing, instead of letting them break during cutting.
Clean layers
The DXF comes with separate layers for outer contour, openings and engraving. Dimensions in millimetres, origin at bottom left.
On the kerf: the correction by half its width is normally set on the machine, on a CNC router as much as on a laser or waterjet. That is why the nominal contour is our default. Only if your machine does not correct, or you prefer it the other way, do we put the compensation into the geometry. Nothing is ever corrected twice.
A sample to hold
On request we print the panel as a model, up to 250 by 250 mm, at full size or scaled down so the whole panel fits. The print shows geometry and the play of light, not the material or the cut edge.
Materials, patterns, formats
Materials
Sheet metal, steel, stainless steel, aluminium, brass. Wood, MDF, multiplex, plywood. Acrylic, composite panels, felt, cardboard, plastics. Above all, the material decides how narrow a web may get. A finer web holds in thin aluminium than in thick MDF, and that feeds straight back into the pattern.
Patterns
From strictly geometric to free and irregular, each with adjustable spacing, density and direction. Which family suits your project is something we settle on an example. If you want an existing pattern rebuilt, send us a photo.
Formats
DXF R12 with layers, SVG with dimensions in millimetres, PDF as a check view. STEP for 3D planning and a raster image for visualisations on request.
Common questions
Do you also cut the panels?
No. We deliver the files, the cutting happens at your shop. That is exactly why we set the file up for your machine and not for ours. If you do not have one: online services such as Blexon, Xometry or Spanflug cut from DXF or STEP, and we supply both.
Which processes and materials are covered?
Laser cutting of sheet metal, steel, stainless steel and aluminium. Milling and laser cutting of wood, MDF, plywood and multiplex. Acrylic, composite panels, felt, cardboard and plastics as well. Waterjet is covered just the same, for us it differs only in kerf and minimum radius.
Which files do I get?
DXF R12 with separate layers for outer contour, openings and engraving, SVG with dimensions in millimetres, and a PDF to check against. STEP for 3D planning and a raster image for visualisations on request.
Can you rebuild an existing pattern?
Yes. Send us a photo. We read spacing, web width and edge distance from it and rebuild the pattern, fitted to your size. Whether it can be rebuilt cleanly we tell you after looking at the photo, not on the invoice. Clearing the rights to the source is your side: whether a pattern is protected and may be rebuilt is not our call.
How long does it take?
A few days. How many depends mostly on the number of rounds: a pattern from our library with one approval is quick, several rounds of changes take longer. You see a proposal as an image well before the file is done.
Do you do acoustic panels?
We deliver the file for them, with the figures your acoustician needs for the design: open area, hole size and web width. Calculating the absorption belongs to them, not to us.
Who owns the file I get?
You do. You may cut it as often as you like, with no unit limit and no time limit. What stays with us is only the software we make it with.
What it costs
The draft costs CHF 90: two or three variants as images, with the key figures, and one round of changes. If you order, we credit that amount.
The finished file starts at CHF 280, for one panel with a pattern from our library, in one format, checked and delivered. A series with several formats, matched transitions between panels or a rebuilt pattern costs more. You get the price up front, no surprise on the invoice.
To hold in your hand: the variant you pick, printed 1:1, about 150 by 150 mm, CHF 60, also credited. A presentation piece up to 250 by 250 mm, scaled down, costs CHF 90.