Topic
Getting Started
Quick tips and guides from the Kinetic Carving knowledge base, most read first.
34 guides
- Getting Started3 min read
How does Z-zero setup work in VCarve Pro & Aspire: top of material vs spoilboard, Material Setup form, and the Gap Above/Below Model settings?
Z-zero is the single most important setup decision in any CNC workflow. The software and your machine must always agree on where Z=0 is. Material Surface (top...
- Getting Started6 min read
How do I complete my first CNC sign project from scratch in VCarve Pro & Aspire - a full workflow from design to cut?
This is the complete workflow for a beginner's first sign project: a simple name or text sign with a border, V-carved and profile-cut from a single piece of...
- Getting Started2 min read
Is there a free trial of VCarve Pro or Aspire, and what are the trial limitations?
Free, fully functional trials for every product are on the official free trial page. The trial has no fixed evaluation period, so you can design, model...
- Getting Started5 min read
How do I select the right post-processor for my CNC machine in VCarve Pro & Aspire, and what are the most common ones?
The post-processor is the translator between the software's calculated toolpath data and the specific G-code (or machine code) format your CNC controller...
- Getting Started7 min read
How do I set up a new job in VCarve Pro & Aspire: Job Type, Job Size, Z Zero Position, and XY Datum explained?
Job Setup is the first form you see when creating a new project (File New). Every setting here has direct consequences for how your toolpaths are calculated...
- Getting Started6 min read
How do I set up and execute a two-sided (double-sided) machining job in VCarve Pro & Aspire with accurate registration?
Two-sided (double-sided) machining lets you cut both sides of a piece of material in one project file. The software manages the mirror transformation so the...
- Getting Started2 min read
What is Kinetic Carving?
Kinetic Carving is a file library and membership service that sells machine-ready CNC and laser files as SVGs and STLs. You can either subscribe for $30/month...
- Getting Started3 min read
What should my first rotary project be, and what mistakes ruin a first rotary job?
Keep it small, soft and short so mistakes are cheap. One machine maker's starter project is a chess piece in softwood: a blank about 1 inch in diameter and 3...
- Getting Started2 min read
"The trial version of the software can only save toolpaths for data from the supplied tutorial files": why can't I save, and why is it still a trial after I bought it?
The trial edition lets you design, calculate and preview freely. It blocks two things: saving toolpaths from your own designs, and some export functions. The...
- Getting Started3 min read
Can I run VCarve Pro or Aspire on a Mac (Parallels, Boot Camp, Apple silicon)?
VCarve Pro and Aspire are Windows programs. They do not run natively on macOS. The official help center says they can run inside a virtual Windows environment...
- Getting Started2 min read
How do I check which version and build I have, and how do I install the latest patch?
Everything about versions sits in the Help menu:
- Getting Started2 min read
How do I position a design accurately on a live edge slab or other irregular piece of wood?
Job setup assumes a rectangle with a clean corner or center to zero from. A live edge slab has neither, so a design that looks centered on screen can land off...
- Getting Started3 min read
How do I resize a whole finished project to a different size, and what breaks when I do?
1. Open Job Setup for the existing job. 2. Enter the new job size. 3. In the Design Scaling section, check the option to scale the design with the job size...
- Getting Started3 min read
How do I set up rotary machining in VCarve Pro & Aspire?
Rotary machining in VCarve Pro and Aspire wraps flat 2D and 3D toolpaths around a cylinder, so a CNC with a rotary axis or indexer can cut turned columns...
- Getting Started2 min read
How do I zero X, Y, and Z on my machine: touch plates, the paper method, and where to put the origin?
Your file has an origin (XY Datum + Z-Zero choice in Job Setup). Zeroing is telling the machine where that origin physically is on your material. Every...
- Getting Started2 min read
I just finished assembling my CNC: what do I do in the first hour?
1. Remove every shipping restraint. Foam carriage locks, zip ties on shafts and bracket anchors on feet: machines ship with them and they are easy to miss...
- Getting Started2 min read
I opened VCarve and I'm overwhelmed - where do I actually start, and in what order should I learn?
Learn the software before making chips. Designing and previewing costs nothing. You can practice the entire workflow, including watching the simulated cut...
- Getting Started2 min read
I upgraded to a new version - how do I bring my tools, post-processors, and settings over? (Migration Dialog)
When you install a new version alongside an older one, the Migration Dialog offers to carry your working environment forward so you do not start from scratch...
- Getting Started2 min read
My machine's X and Y seem swapped - how do I make my design match the material on the bed?
Job Setup assumes a width (X) and height (Y), and most tutorials draw wide-format designs. But machines differ in which physical direction is their long axis...
- Getting Started2 min read
My rotary blank is a rough log or out of round. What diameter and Z zero should I use?
The software assumes a perfect cylinder of the Diameter you enter. A real blank that is tapered, bowed, square or chucked off center has high spots the...
- Getting Started6 min read
What are the most common Job Setup mistakes in VCarve Pro & Aspire and how do I avoid them?
Job Setup errors are silent killers. They do not cause the software to throw errors, but they cause everything downstream to go wrong on the machine. These are...
- Getting Started3 min read
What are the most common VCarve Pro & Aspire beginner mistakes and how do I avoid them?
Compiled from years of user forum questions. These are the issues that cause the most confusion and wasted material. For the Z-zero and XY mismatch cases in...
- Getting Started2 min read
What are the sign-in, license, and Makerspace screens for? V&Co accounts, the License Dialog, and registration
Signing in to your V&Co account is optional for day-to-day use. It streamlines license management and unlocks cloud features rather than gating the software...
- Getting Started2 min read
What cheap materials should I practice on before cutting real wood?
Do not commit expensive stock until the machine, your settings and your workflow have proven themselves. Every early mistake is cheaper in practice material...
- Getting Started2 min read
What is the Kickstarter Wizard when I first launch VCarve Pro or Aspire, and what does it set up?
The Kickstarter Wizard is the guided first-run setup that appears the first time you launch the software. Its main job is getting a machine configuration in...
- Getting Started2 min read
What should I check before pressing Go? The pre-machining checklist
1. Preview every toolpath at decent simulation quality (Toolpaths Preview Simulation Quality). Missing letters, wrong depths and wrong-side cuts all show here...
- Getting Started2 min read
What should my very first cut be, and how do I know the machine passed?
The canonical first run is a pen plot ("Hello World"): mount a pen (zip ties work, and some machines ship a pen mount) and plot a file on paper. You learn...
- Getting Started2 min read
What's the difference between machine coordinates and work coordinates, and what do homing and soft limits do?
1. Machine coordinates: the machine's own fixed frame, anchored at the home position (usually a corner with limit switches). It never changes. 2. Work...
- Getting Started2 min read
Where should X0 Y0 go on a rotary job, and which end of the blank does it land on?
In a rotary job only one of the two flat axes is still a real distance. The Orientation setting in the Job Setup form decides which: So the XY Datum Position...
- Getting Started2 min read
Why did my job cut in the wrong place on the board? (XY datum and offset problems)
1. XY Datum mismatch: Job Setup lets you put the XY origin at any corner or the center. If the file says center but you zeroed the machine at the lower-left...
- Getting Started2 min read
Why does the installer stop with "NSIS Error" when I try to install the software?
NSIS is the installer system the setup file is built with. Before it installs anything, it checks that the setup file is complete and unaltered. This error...
- Getting Started2 min read
Why doesn't side two line up when I flip my double-sided job?
Any positioning error doubles when you flip. If your registration is 1/16" off, the two sides disagree by 1/8". Sources of that error: 1. Index or dowel holes...
- Getting Started2 min read
Why is my bit cutting air above the board - or plunging through into the spoilboard? (Z-zero mismatch)
When the error is exactly your material thickness, the diagnosis is nearly certain: the Z-Zero setting in Job Setup does not match how you physically zeroed...
- Getting Started6 min read
Why is my CNC cutting in the wrong position or wrong depth, and how do I troubleshoot Aspire-to-machine errors?
The CNC is cutting in the wrong place, at the wrong depth, or the design is offset from where it should be. These are among the most panicked questions on the...