Tabs (bridges) for clean cuts

When you cut a part fully out of a sheet, gravity (or a stray draft from the air assist) can shift it. The next cut pass at that location lands in the wrong place. The classic fix: tabs, small intentional gaps in the cut where the laser pauses, leaving a thin bridge of material connecting the part to the rest of the sheet.

You break the bridges by hand after the job. Clean parts, no shifting.

What you need

• A vector cut path that will produce a free-floating part.
• The Tabs tool or equivalent surface.

Steps

1. Set up the cut

Lay out the parts and assign them to a cut layer (Line mode at full power). Verify with Preview that everything is going to cut.

2. Activate the Tabs tool

• Hotkey: Ctrl+Tab.
• Or from the Creation Toolbar.

3. Place tabs

Click on the cut path's edge where you want a tab. The tab marker appears.

For most parts, 2-4 tabs evenly spaced around the perimeter is enough. Bigger parts need more tabs; smaller parts can use just 2.

4. Position considerations

• Place tabs where you do not mind a small bump when you snap the part out. Bottom edges or hidden surfaces are good.
• Avoid tabs at delicate spots like thin necks or pointed corners.
• Symmetric placement looks more intentional than random.

5. Remove a tab

Click on an existing tab marker to remove it. Or just click again on the path to add another.

6. Configure tab pulse width

In the active machine profile (Device Settings → Machine), the Tab Pulse Width (ms) field controls how long the laser pauses for each tab. Bigger pulse = wider gap = stronger bridge but more visible.

Start with default. Adjust if bridges keep tearing or are too obvious.

7. Cut

Frame, preview, cut. Parts stay attached by the bridges until you snap them out by hand.

When to skip tabs

• The part is small enough that air assist will not move it.
• You have a vacuum bed or magnets holding the material down.
• You are doing many short / overlapping cuts where tab management is more work than risk.

When tabs are essential

• Long, slim parts (the most likely to shift).
• Parts cut at high speed (more wind from the head).
• Big parts that span many other cuts.

Material-specific notes

• Acrylic: tabs leave a small bump; sand or flame-polish if visible matters.
• Plywood / MDF: tabs are usually invisible after a quick sanding.
• Cardboard / paper: usually no need for tabs; the material does not shift much under air assist.

Verify it worked

• After the job, parts are still attached to the surrounding material by the tabs.
• Snapping a tab cleanly separates the part with minimal residue.
• Preview shows the tab locations.

Related

• Tabs tool
• Device Settings dialog: Tab Pulse Width
• Cuts / Layers panel
• Frame and preview