HingeLab
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Getting around

Make your first cut

Pick a product and a preset, adjust it, check it and export an SVG for your laser.

The start gallery with the three products and their presets
  • Open the app and pick a product: Hinge Box (a box whose walls bend round the corners), Letters (boxes, signs and stencils from text) or Parametric (a 3D model sliced into flat parts).
  • Pick a preset from the gallery. Every preset is a finished design, so you can export it straight away or use it as a starting point.
  • Set your material first: its thickness and kerf decide every slot and hinge. Then change the size and options in the panels on the right.
  • Read the checks under Analysis. Anything that will not cut well is listed with buttons that fix it; Auto-fix all applies the safe ones.
  • Export the SVG and open it in your laser software (LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, Glowforge, RDWorks, LaserGRBL or Inkscape).
  • Cut a small test first, such as a bend test strip, before you cut the whole design in good material.

Where things are

  • Left: the big choices as picture cards (shape, lid, pattern, mode or method), with Undo and Redo on top.
  • Middle: the sheet view or the 3D view, with zoom and fit tools at the bottom.
  • Right: the settings, in sections you can fold. Each section has a ? that opens its help, and a reset icon.
  • Bottom: the status bar shows the cursor position, the zoom and whether the parts fit the sheet.