Edit an xTool .xcs project without xTool Creative Space
An .xcs file is a project from xTool Creative Space or xTool Studio: the drawing, its layers and the processing settings for an xTool laser. Laser Studio opens it in your browser, so you can change a design on a computer that doesn't have xTool's software, such as a Chromebook, a work laptop or a school computer.
How to edit it
- Open the
.xcsfile with File > Open (or drop it on the canvas). Every object keeps its place and size, and every processing setting becomes a layer with its type, power, speed and passes. - Change what you need: move and resize objects, edit points of a shape, retype text, add new shapes, adjust a picture's brightness and contrast, or change a layer's settings.
- Save with File > Save as
.xcs, and pick your xTool machine (D1, D1 Pro, S1, M1, P2, F1 and others). When the project came from an xTool, its machine is kept.
Open the saved file in xTool Creative Space or xTool Studio, check the material settings, and run a framing pass before you start.
What carries over
- Cut, score, fill engrave and picture engrave layers with their settings.
- Rectangles stay rectangles; other shapes, including text, are saved as outlines.
- Engraving pictures keep their pixels; brightness, contrast, gamma and invert are applied to the picture when you save.
- Groups stay grouped.
xTool processes that other programs don't have (colour engraving, relief, blade or pen tools) open as ordinary engrave, cut or score layers, and you are told when that happens.
Also for LightBurn and RDWorks
The same design can be saved as a LightBurn .lbrn2 or an RDWorks .rld project, with the layers and settings it has, or as an SVG or DXF drawing for any other program. Remember that a setting that works on one laser can be far too strong or too weak on another: always test on scrap first.
More about what this app opens and saves: Laser Studio.