Read a DXF: cut length, pierces and weight
Drop a drawing below and it goes up on the light box. A DXF is drawn to scale and measured — cut length, pierces, and weight at whatever thickness and material you choose — and switches to a solid you can turn, at that same thickness. A PDF is shown but not measured, for the reason set out below. Nothing is uploaded either way: the file is read on your own computer and never leaves it.
This page does not send your drawing anywhere. It is opened and read by your own browser, and closing the tab is the end of it. Nothing is stored, and nothing reaches Sakshi Tools unless you choose to send it with an enquiry.
- OVERALL
- —
- CUT LENGTH
- —
- PIERCES
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- SHEET
- —
- WEIGHT
- — at mm
WHAT IT MEASURES
Every closed profile is measured and added up, and each one counts as a pierce — the point where the beam goes through before it starts to travel. Those two numbers drive most of what a laser job costs, which is why they are the two worth knowing before you ask anybody for a price.
Area with the holes taken out, times your thickness, times the density of the grade you pick. Change the thickness or the material and the figure follows.
Switch the light box from Flat to Solid and the outline stands up at the thickness you chose — your contours, your holes, turned so you can see the cut edge. Change the thickness and it grows while you watch, which is worth more than a figure in a table when you are deciding between 6 mm and 10. It is a flat part pushed to thickness and nothing more: no bends, no chamfers, no countersinks, because none of those are in a flat DXF and drawing them would be a guess.
WHAT IT WILL NOT DO
It measures the geometry in the file. It knows nothing about bends, tolerance, grain direction, finish, or how many you need — and those decide as much of the price as the cutting does. Treat it as a sanity check on your own drawing, not as our number.
Arcs and splines are measured as many short straight steps. A 20 mm circle comes out about 0.006% under, which is finer than the beam is wide, but it is an approximation and worth knowing about.
Drop one and you will see it on the light box, but the read-out stays empty, and that is deliberate. A DXF is the geometry — a list of lines and arcs, which is why a cut length can be added up from it. A PDF is a picture of a drawing. Even a vector one has no idea which lines are the part and which are the dimension arrows, the border or the title block, and it usually carries no scale at all: the same file prints at A3 or A4 and the part measures differently each time. A number taken from that would be confidently wrong, on the one page whose whole worth is that you can trust the figure.
If your CAD can export DXF, export it flat and drop that. If it cannot, send the drawing as it is with an enquiry and we will read it ourselves.
Frequently asked
- Is my drawing uploaded when I use this?
- No. The file is opened and read by your own browser and never sent anywhere. Nothing is stored and nothing reaches Sakshi Tools unless you separately choose to send it with an enquiry.
- How accurate is the cut length?
- Straight edges are exact. Arcs, circles and splines are measured as many short straight steps, which comes out slightly under the true curve — about 0.006% on a 20 mm circle, finer than the width of the cut itself.
- Can I use it for a price?
- Use it as a sanity check on your own drawing. Cut length and pierce count drive much of what a laser job costs, but bends, tolerance, finish and quantity decide the rest, so a real quotation still needs the drawing and the requirement.
- What file types work?
- DXF and PDF. A DXF is measured, and it must be the text form rather than the binary one some programs export. A PDF is put on the light box but not measured. STEP, IGES and photographs of prints are not read here — send those with an enquiry and we will read them.
- Can I use a PDF drawing?
- Yes, and it will be shown to you, but it will not be measured. A DXF is the geometry itself — a list of lines and arcs, which is why a cut length can be added up from it. A PDF is a picture of a drawing: it does not know which lines are the part and which are the dimension arrows, the border or the title block, and it usually carries no scale at all, so the same file prints at A3 or A4 and the part measures differently each time. Rather than give you a figure that looks precise and is wrong, it gives you none. Export a DXF for the numbers, or send the PDF with an enquiry and we will read it here.
- Can I see the part in 3D?
- Yes. With a DXF read, switch the light box from Flat to Solid and the part stands up at the thickness in the box beside it — your own outline and your own holes, turned with the mouse or a finger. Change the thickness and the solid follows. It shows a flat part at thickness, so there are no bends, chamfers or countersinks in it: a flat DXF does not contain them and inventing them would be a guess. If your browser cannot run 3D the switch simply does not appear and the measurements are unaffected.
- Which materials can it weigh?
- The grades this works uses, with mild steel to IS 2062 as the default. Pick another from the list and the weight follows; change the thickness and it follows again.
Send us the drawing and we will tell you the truth. Request a quote →