If a letter stopped filling after you split a sign into panels, inspect its contours before changing engraving settings. Each intended filled region needs a closed boundary. Repair one connected open contour at a time and verify that its new closing edge follows the panel boundary you actually want.
In a September 16 LightBurn discussion, a maker divided lettering across four panels and could not fill the resulting shapes. Later replies uncovered another issue: one letter lacked the outline needed to define its filled area. Closing endpoints helps only when the source geometry already represents the intended shape.
Separate a missing edge from a missing outline
An outlined letter cut across a panel can have a clear missing bottom segment. A single center stroke shaped like an A is different: it does not describe the full perimeter of a thick letter. Joining its two ends may create the wrong polygon instead of repairing the artwork.
The distinction between a traced centerline and two outline edges matters here. Identify whether your source is a stroke, an outer boundary, or a boundary containing an inner opening. Preserve letter counters, such as the hole inside an A, when rebuilding the filled region.
Repair the panel without reshaping the word
- Save a separate repair copy and keep the intact sign available for comparison.
- Ungroup only as needed to select the affected contour. Hide unrelated artwork from your working view.
- Inspect its first and last nodes. Confirm that the straight segment between them is the intended panel edge.
- Use Close Selected Paths With Tolerance with Join with Line when that segment is appropriate. Increase the threshold only enough for this contour.
- If the pieces are fully separate paths, repair their connectivity first. This closing tool cannot join independent paths into one outline.
- Preview Fill output, checking the letter's outside edge and every internal opening before treating the panel as finished.
For a new split, investigate LightBurn's Cut Shapes workflow with closed filled lettering and a separate closed panel boundary. It can avoid some manual repair, but it cannot invent a missing letter outline. Compare the result with the original artwork before duplicating the process across panels.
Fit the repaired panel to X1S 2026
The TYVOK X1S 2026 offers a published 800 × 800 mm starting area with expansion toward 800 × 2000 mm. Plan around your actual setup and physical panel sizes. A larger machine may reduce splitting, yet transport, assembly or available stock can still require separate panels.
Preview the final engraving and cutting layers together. If a later export needs intentional holding tabs, separately check preservation of generated cut geometry; a repaired fill boundary and a tabbed cut boundary serve different purposes.
Why does drawing a line across the bottom not fix Fill?
The new line may remain an independent object. A visible connection is not necessarily a connected closed contour. Inspect the nodes and ensure the intended region has one complete perimeter, including any internal cutouts.
Should I raise the closure tolerance for every letter together?
Avoid doing that without inspection. Different contours can need different closing edges, and a large threshold can close shapes that were intentionally open. Work on a copy and compare each repaired letter in Preview.