Before you upload a DXF: the 7-point preflight
Seven checks, in the order worth doing them. Each one is marked with whether software can verify it for you or whether it needs your judgement — because roughly half of this list cannot be automated, and any tool that claims otherwise is lying to you.
This is written for flat cut files going to a laser, CNC router, waterjet, or plasma table, whether that is your own machine or an upload to a service. It is deliberately short. Every point maps to a failure that actually happens, and most of them map to a rule some fabricator has published.
1. Every cut contour is closedSoftware can check
A profile that does not close cannot be turned into a region, so it cannot be offset for kerf and often cannot be processed at all. Gaps are usually thousandths of a millimetre and invisible at any practical zoom.
Check it yourself: try to hatch or fill each region. Every CAD tool refuses on an open one. In sketch-based CAD, a closed profile shades and an open one does not.
2. No duplicate or overlapping geometrySoftware can check
Two lines on the same coordinates draw as one line and cut as an ambiguity. SendCutSend rejects duplicate paths automatically because the laser cannot recognise them. Mirroring a design and leaving both halves along the centreline is the most common cause.
Check it yourself: run your CAD tool’s duplicate-removal command (OVERKILL in AutoCAD and its clones) and read how many objects it deleted.
The exception: two parts deliberately sharing one cut edge — common-line cutting — is a real technique that some services accept and others refuse outright. That one is a decision, not a defect.
3. Units are declared, and the drawing is 1:1Partly checkable
Two separate things. Declared units means the file header actually states what a unit is; software can verify that. 1:1 means the numbers match the real part; only you know the intended size.
Check it yourself: open the DXF in a text editor and search $INSUNITS. A value of 0, or a missing variable, means every importer downstream is guessing. Then measure one known dimension against your design.
Full detail: my DXF is the wrong size at the cutter.
4. The geometry is flat, and in the XY planeMostly yours
Xometry requires that all features are oriented in the XY plane and that the file is 2D, not 3D. Geometry sitting at a non-zero Z, or a surface exported instead of a profile, will either flatten unpredictably or fail.
Be careful here. Software can flag 3D and mesh entity types because they are recognisably not flat geometry. It generally will not notice an ordinary line sitting at a Z elevation, because that line looks completely normal from above. Our extension does not check Z elevations — this point is on you.
Check it yourself: in your CAD tool, look at the drawing from the front or side. Anything that is not a single flat line at that view is not flat.
5. Nothing in the file except the cutMostly yours
Title blocks, dimensions, notes, borders, construction lines, logos, and drawing frames all look like geometry to an importer. Xometry warns that extra-drawn features can be confused with cut geometry and cause processing to fail, and that files cannot contain inserts or multiple assembled components.
Check it yourself: delete rather than hide. Hidden layers are still in the file. Then select everything remaining and confirm the count matches what you expect to cut.
Text is a special case: TEXT and MTEXT reference a font rather than describing a path. If you want cut lettering, convert it to outlines first.
6. Only entity types the receiving software supportsSoftware can check
Hatches, dimensions, proxy objects, splines in some importers, and blocks that were never exploded are the usual offenders. The failure is often silent: the importer drops what it does not understand and processes the rest, so you get a part with a missing feature rather than an error message.
Check it yourself: exporting to R12 ASCII strips most of the exotic entity types by forcing simpler geometry. If your service publishes a supported-entity list, that list wins over any general advice.
7. It fits the bed, with marginSoftware can check
Check the actual cuttable area, not the nominal machine size — clamps, rails, and the sheet itself all reduce it. Leave margin for the kerf and for how the material will be held down.
Check it yourself: compare your drawing’s bounding box against the stated work area. This is the one point where being slightly wrong is cheap to discover and expensive to ignore.
Where this tool fits
The extension automates points 1, 2, 6, 7, the declaration half of point 3, and the entity-type half of point 4. It cannot do points 4 and 5 properly, and it will not pretend to. When it meets geometry it cannot analyse it reports the entity type by name and downgrades its verdict — a file it did not fully check can never come back clean.
Free. No account, no sign-in, and no permissions requested. Your drawing is never uploaded.
Common questions
Does every path in a DXF have to be closed for laser cutting?
Every path meant to be cut as a profile does. Cutting services build a closed region from your outline and offset it by the kerf, so an open outline has no inside and cannot be processed. Xometry states the requirement directly: close all open curves so the 2D sketch can be extruded. Engraving or scoring paths are a separate case and depend on the service.
What DXF version should I export for cutting?
R12 ASCII is the most widely compatible choice for flat cutting. It predates most of the entity types that cause import trouble, so it tends to produce simple LINE, ARC, CIRCLE and polyline geometry that every CAM tool understands. Avoid binary DXF, which many tools and viewers cannot read at all.
Can I send a DWG instead of a DXF?
Only if the service says it accepts DWG. DWG is a different, proprietary format — it is not a DXF with a different extension. Renaming a .dwg file to .dxf does not convert it and will fail on import.
Will hiding a layer stop it being cut?
No. Hiding is a display setting; the geometry is still in the file. Whether hidden geometry gets cut depends entirely on the receiving software. Delete anything you do not want cut.
Does text in a DXF get cut?
Not reliably. TEXT and MTEXT entities are annotations that reference a font, not cut paths. If you want cut-out lettering, convert the text to outlines or curves in your design tool first, so it becomes real geometry.