kerfscript

Command line

The kerf command renders .kerf files to SVG, DXF or JSON. It needs Node.js 20 or newer and comes with the @mylasertools/kerfscript npm package.

npm install --global @mylasertools/kerfscript
kerf render box.kerf -o box.svg

Or without installing:

npx @mylasertools/kerfscript render box.kerf -o box.svg

Commands

kerf render <file.kerf> [-o out.svg] [options]
kerf params <file.kerf>     # settings as JSON
kerf check <file.kerf>      # parts, sizes, cut length, sheets and warnings

Options

Option What it does
-o, --out <file> output file, .svg, .dxf or .json; default <file>.svg
-D name=value set a setting; the value is KerfScript: 40, "Oak", true, [1,2]
-p, --params <file> JSON file of setting values
--font <file.ttf> font for text(); repeat for more fonts. The name is the file name
--kerf <mm> override kerf compensation for every part
--sheet <W>x<H> sheet size for packing, in mm
--gap <mm> space between packed parts
--margin <mm> space between the parts and the sheet edge (default: the gap)
--no-pack keep parts where the program placed them
--guides include guide layer geometry
--split write one file per sheet (out-1.svg, out-2.svg, ...)
-h, --help show help
-v, --version show the version

Examples

kerf render sign.kerf -D 'name="Ada"' --font Inter-Bold.ttf -o ada.svg
kerf render box.kerf --sheet 400x300 --kerf 0.12 --split -o box.svg
kerf render box.kerf -o box.dxf
kerf check box.kerf

Warnings go to standard error and do not stop the render. Errors stop it with the line and column, and a non-zero exit code.

Fonts

KerfScript does not ship fonts and never reads system fonts, so a file renders the same everywhere. Pass the fonts a design uses with --font. A design that asks for font = "Inter-Bold" needs --font Inter-Bold.ttf; the first font given is the default.