I know this could be a long shot but has any body got the keys to the kingdom that I can aaghmmm 'borrow' so that I can send drawings to the laser cutters? I spent a week drawing them using my sons free education soft ware but they can't read it?????

What software are you using? It must be able to do .dxf, .dwg.

Most laser companies can use PDF too.

I use AutoCAD at work but at home I use a product called DraftSight, too tight to buy AutoCAD. For home use its totally free and anyone who uses AutoCAD should have no problems using it. Saves files as dxf, dwg etc. Drawings saved on AutoCAD open perfectly on DraftSight and vice versa. It even maps the x-refs in perfectly.

Dassault Systemes are a large organisation, their Catia and Solidworks programmes are industry standards. They developed DraftSight when Autodesk threw a wobbly.

Get it here http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/overview/

Want to send them to me Phil and ill see if I can open them for you?

Cheers
Stot

Email them to me and I'll covert them to whatever format you need. I have autocad 2015.

Same here I have a college worth of Autocad, I can use.

Also does your son know he can get Autocad free if he has an ac.uk email address.

Details here

[Edited on 15-10-14 by ken555]

Save them as "AutoCad 2000 dwg" and then anyone can open them. If they have an older version then they ain't gonna be able to open them, not every company updates the software every year when there is no point.

^^ as above autocad 2000 is always a safe bet - it can be opened by almost any cad package
also try the 2000 version of *.dxf format if they still have issues


if you haven't got access to the program anymore then Autodesk do a free viewer that you can download - its called TrueView
http://www.autodesk.com/products/dwg/viewers
it includes a *.dwg converter that lets you pick anything from 2000 format to the latest one

or you could just install the free trial version



[Edited on 16/10/2014 by mcerd1]

[Edited on 16/10/2014 by mcerd1]

Its my understanding that drawings created in a student edition are permanently locked. I.e. will always print/output with watermarks.
I suspect the student produced file you have sent them is blocking being sent to their cnc machine. There is no way of overcoming this other than redrawing them in a licensed version.
I suspect there may be unlawful ways of hacking it, but autodesk go to lots of trouble to stop people from getting around their licensing so doubt it will be easy or free.

[Edited on 16-10-14 by loggyboy]