Problems and shortcuts

Drawing and importing

The Design tools are greyed out. The job has not been set up. A new job has no stock; fill in Job Setup and press Apply.

An imported SVG is tiny, huge, or off the stock. SVG files carry their own units and not every program writes them the same way. Select the drawing and use Resize to Fit Job, or Scale in 2D… if you know the size it should be.

A pocket or V-carve comes out empty, or fills the wrong area. The shape is probably open. Use Highlight Open Vectors, then Weld / Close Gaps… or Join Vectors. If shapes overlap, check the toolpath's Overlapping vectors setting, or use Select Areas.

Text looks different on another computer. The font is not installed there. Convert the text to curves before moving the job.

Toolpaths

A toolpath is marked ⚠ recalc. The shapes it was made from, or the job setup, have changed since it was made. Double-click it and press OK, or use Recalculate All.

A pocket leaves material in narrow places. The bit is too big to fit. Add a second pocket with a smaller bit and tick Rest machining, so it only cuts what the first left.

A cut-out part is still attached by a thin skin. The cut depth is equal to or less than the real thickness of the sheet. Measure the sheet, and set the profile's depth a few tenths past it. Check that Z zero in Job Setup matches where you touched off.

Parts come loose and move during the last pass. Add tabs to the profile.

The machine name in the status bar is red. The stock is bigger than the machine's travel. Either the job is too big for this machine or the travel in the Machine Library is wrong.

The feed rates look wrong for my machine. Automatic feeds fill new operations from the material and the bit. Edit the numbers in the Material Database so they match what your machine likes, or turn Auto Feeds & Speeds off in the Machine menu and set feeds on the bits.

The preview

The simulation is slow, or the 3D view is sluggish. Lower the Modeling Resolution in Job Setup while you work and raise it for the final check. For a large STL, use Reduce Mesh….

The model covers the carving. Turn off View ▸ Show 3D Models, or press Back to 3D View and then Show Final Result.

Nothing drops when I double-click. Only pieces that have been cut free can be dropped, and the double-click has to be on the waste itself.

G-code and the machine

Export says G-code is kept back. This copy is on the trial. Buy a license or, if you already have one, open Account & License and press Check again.

The machine moves 25.4 times too far, or too little. The file's units are not what the machine expects. Check the Units setting in the export window and in the post.

Arcs come out as loops or wild curves. Check Arc IJK absolute in the post, or turn Arcs (G2/G3) off so curves are written as short straight moves.

The control rejects every line. Try the other Line ending, and check that the Comments style is one the control accepts.

The cut is in the right shape but the wrong place. The machine was zeroed somewhere other than the job's XY datum. Check the datum corner and any offset in Job Setup.

License and account

"This license is already installed on 2 computers." Release one: in the application on that computer (Account & License ▸ Release), or on your account page on carvect.com (Computers ▸ Free seat). Then press Check again.

"That license key belongs to a different account." Sign in with the email address you bought with, then enter the key.

"This license was issued for a different machine." An offline license file only works on the computer whose id it was made for. Issue one for this computer's id from your account page.

Updates show as locked. The release came out after your included year of updates. The version you have keeps working.

I bought, but the application still says Trial. Make sure the application is signed in with the email you bought with, and press Check again. The license can take a minute or two to reach your account after payment.

A reinstalled computer counts as a new one. This happens when the computer's id could not be read from its hardware (the Account & License window says so). Release the old entry on your account page to free its place.

If the application closes unexpectedly

Start it again. If autosave was on, it offers to restore your unsaved work. If a problem repeats, the log files in the application's Logs folder (see Where your own files and settings live in Getting started) are what we need to see.

Getting help

Hover over any control for an explanation of it. The guides on carvect.com go into the reasoning behind feeds, tabs, V-carving and clearing in more depth. For anything else, write to support@smepoint.com from the address your license is registered to, and say which version you are running (Help ▸ About Carvect Pro) and on which system.

Keyboard shortcuts

On a Mac, use ⌘ where Ctrl is shown.

Files and editing

Ctrl+N

New job

Ctrl+O

Open

Ctrl+S

Save

Ctrl+Shift+S

Save As

Ctrl+Z

Undo

Ctrl+Shift+Z

Redo

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V

Copy, cut, paste

Ctrl+D

Duplicate

Ctrl+A

Select all

Delete

Delete the selection

Ctrl+G

Group

Ctrl+Shift+G

Ungroup

Ctrl+Q (⌘Q on a Mac)

Quit

Drawing

L

Line

P

Polyline

R

Rectangle

C

Circle

A

Arc through three points

D

Arc from its centre

B

Bézier curve

T

Text

Esc

Abandon the current shape

Enter

Finish a polyline, or accept a typed value

F12, or Ctrl+Shift+D

Dynamic Input on or off

Views

Mouse wheel

Zoom

Middle button drag

Pan

Left drag (3D)

Orbit

Right drag (3D)

Roll

+ and −

Zoom in and out

Ctrl+0

Fit the job in the 2D view

Ctrl+Shift+M

Hide or show both side panels