Answer
What File to Send for Laser Cutting: DXF, STEP or PDF
The DXF carries the shape, the STEP carries the form, the PDF carries everything else. Here is what each one needs.
Send a DXF or a STEP model plus a PDF print. The DXF is the flat pattern at 1:1 scale with closed contours and text converted to outlines; the STEP carries anything that bends or gets a machined feature; the PDF names material and grade, thickness, quantity, hole and thread callouts, bend direction and finish. Most laser cutters work to these same file rules. Any file type is accepted at /quote/; a person reads it and the quote lists anything missing.
Updated October 2026
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The DXF is the flat pattern, and it has to be clean
A laser DXF is a flat drawing of the part’s edges at 1:1 scale, nothing else. The rules the quote needs are the ones most cutters share: build the file at the exact size you want it cut, in inches or millimetres, put only the part in the file (no dimensions, notes, borders or title block), convert all text to outlines, make every cut path a closed shape, and keep the cut geometry on one layer with no intersecting or shared lines. A DXF that meets that list drops straight into a quote for laser-cut parts. One that does not comes back with questions.
Units are the first thing checked, because a 100 mm bracket exported as 100 in is a common error. State the units in the file name (BRACKET-REV-B-INCH.dxf) and check one overall dimension against the print before sending. Duplicate lines stacked on each other make the beam cut the same edge twice, which widens the kerf and can leave a burnt notch; a wireframe view in your CAD shows them. Etched logos or bend-line marks go on a separately named layer (CUT, ETCH, BEND), noted on the print, so they are read as marks, not cuts. One part per file is simplest; a nest of several parts is fine when each is labelled with its quantity.
When a STEP model is the better file
A STEP model is the better file for anything that bends, takes hardware or gets a machined feature after cutting. The flat pattern is derived from the model and the bend callouts, so flange lengths, bend radii and K-factor come from geometry rather than from a hand-drawn flat that may not match the formed part. The right model is a true sheet metal body of uniform thickness, modelled at stock thickness, not an extruded flat pattern, and that is what to send for a formed part in 0.060 in 5052-H32 or 0.125 in 304.
Send the STEP together with a PDF print. The model carries shape; the print carries intent: which holes are tapped and which are clearance, bend direction (up or down) and inside radius, hardware part numbers, the finish, and the dimensions that matter to function with their tolerances. A laser-cut plate that also needs a milled pocket, a reamed bore or tapped holes is quoted as one order from the model and the print; see laser cut, tapped and machined as one order. For a fully machined part with no cut sheet in it, what file to send for a CNC quote covers the same ground for milled and turned work.
What a good PDF print includes
A good laser print answers every question the quote would otherwise have to ask. Material and grade (5052-H32, 6061-T6, 304, 316L, A36), thickness as a decimal (0.125 in), quantity, hole sizes with thread callouts (0.201 in thru, tap 1/4-20), bend lines with direction and inside radius, hardware part numbers, finish (powder coat or passivation, for example), critical dimensions with their tolerances, and a revision letter. Everything else sits under a general tolerance note. A finish called out on the print is quoted with the part. A print that carries those items gets quoted without a question back.
Dimension the print the way the part will be inspected. ASME Y14.5, Dimensioning and Tolerancing, at asme.org/codes-standards/find-codes-standards/y14-5-dimensioning-tolerancing is the standard for the symbols and rules, and the 2018 edition covers models defined in digital data files as well as drawings. A bracket does not need full GD&T; it needs the two or three dimensions that control fit called out with a tolerance, a datum edge the inspection can measure from, and a note that everything else follows the general tolerance. How a cut-edge tolerance is written is on laser cut tolerances; tighter callouts are quoted as a machined operation after cutting.
If all you have is a PDF or a sketch
A PDF print with no DXF still gets quoted. A person reads it, builds the cut geometry from the dimensions, and the quote lists every dimension that was missing or ambiguous before anything is cut; a fully dimensioned PDF is quoted without a CAD line. A dimensioned hand sketch, photos with a ruler in frame, or a new sample part are all workable starts, and drawing the cut file from one is quoted as its own line; getting a custom part made from no CAD walks through what to send, and how to order covers the steps once files exist. Expect a question or two back on a sketch; that is the process working, not failing.
What a PDF alone cannot carry is the exact contour of a curved outline. A gasket profile, a logo cut-out or a cam shape needs vector geometry; scanned or raster images (JPEG, PNG) are not cut files and have to be redrawn. A flat original can be traced, but the trace inherits any wear; reverse engineering covers remaking an obsolete part from a new sample part. When the choice is between a rough DXF and a clean PDF, send both: the DXF for shape, the PDF for everything the DXF cannot say.
Common file mistakes and a pre-send checklist
The five file errors that stall a laser quote are scaled drawings, open contours, holes smaller than the thickness allows, features too close to a bend, and text left as a font. The fix list is short: scale the drawing to the exact size of the final part, close all open curves, remove duplicate or overlapping entities, keep everything in the XY plane, and put specifications in a separate file. A common rule for laser minimum geometry is 50% of material thickness, so a 0.125 in hole in 0.250 in plate is at the limit. For bends, the rule is to divide the die width by 2 and keep cut features at least that far from the bend line, or they distort.
Before you send: one overall dimension on the DXF matches the print; units are stated; every contour is closed, no duplicates, text as outlines; holes are at least half the material thickness; no hole or slot sits inside half a die width of a bend line; the print names material, thickness, quantity, threads, bends, hardware, finish and revision; the file names carry the revision. Then upload at /quote/. Any file type is accepted; DXF or STEP plus a PDF print is ideal. A person quotes it in 24-48 hours with anything missing listed, and every part is inspected against your print before it ships. If you are still choosing between laser, waterjet and a milled part, laser vs waterjet vs CNC sorts that first.
Questions
Before you send a job.
01 Do I need to compensate for kerf in my DXF?
No. Draw the part at its finished size. The cut program offsets the beam path by half the kerf so the finished edge lands on your line, so the file should show the part exactly as you want it to turn out. Where kerf still matters is small features: a slot narrower than the kerf cannot be cut, and holes under about half the material thickness lose quality. Those are drawn at size and drilled or reamed after cutting when the print calls for it.
02 Can I send a DWG, AI or SVG instead of a DXF?
Yes. Any file type is accepted at /quote/, and DWG, AI, EPS and SVG all carry vector outlines that convert to a cut file. The same rules apply: 1:1 scale, stated units, closed contours, text as outlines, no dimensions or title block in the cut geometry. What does not work is a raster image (JPEG, PNG, a phone photo of a drawing); those are redrawn from dimensions, so send a PDF print with them and expect the quote to list any dimension it could not read.
03 For a bent part, should I send the flat pattern or the formed model?
Send the formed STEP model plus a PDF print with bend direction, inside radius and flange dimensions. The flat pattern is derived from the model using the bend radius and K-factor of the actual tooling, which is why a customer-drawn flat often does not match the formed part. The inside radius is quoted as drawn, with a note if it won’t form. If you only have a flat DXF of a bent part, send it with the print and say which lines are bends; the quote will confirm the formed dimensions before anything is cut.
04 What if I only have a physical part and no drawing at all?
Measure it and send a dimensioned sketch with photos that include a ruler, or send a new sample part. Flat parts can be traced, but the trace inherits any wear, so critical holes and edges should still be measured and written down. The quote lists every dimension that was missing or assumed. Get a custom part made walks through the no-CAD route step by step, and reverse engineering covers an obsolete part remade from a sample.
05 Does the file I send change how the quote comes back?
A clean DXF or STEP plus a PDF print gets quoted in 24-48 hours with no questions. A sketch or a PDF alone still gets quoted in 24-48 hours, but the quote may carry questions or a list of assumed dimensions to confirm. Either way the quote covers the whole part as one order: cut, formed, hardware, machined features and finish, inspected before it ships. Part lead time gets quoted per job, rush available. The laser cutting page covers what the process handles.
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