Learn/Plasma/Toolpath Generation & Post-Processing
Selective Post-Processing
At a glance
- Choose which parts to include before posting — no need to post the entire sheet
- Estimated cut time displayed after generation, before you commit to posting
- NGC format compatible with LinuxCNC and Mach3
- Per-operation G-code comments: part ID, contour type, pierce parameters, THC voltage
Posting doesn't have to mean the whole job. The Post Process button writes G-code for the active sheet only, and within that sheet you control exactly which parts are included — so you can cut today's parts now and post the rest of the sheet tomorrow, against the same nest.
Choosing what posts
Locked parts never post. Lock anything you want held back — the padlock in the part list or right-click → Lock — and it's excluded from generation and output while staying exactly where it sits on the sheet. After a successful post, JetCad3 locks every part it just wrote automatically: they're assumed cut, so the next Generate skips them, new parts nest around them, and the next post contains only the new work. Unlock a part to bring it back. Contours excluded by a Skip contour rule never reach the output either, and drop out of the pierce count and cut time with them. The estimated cut time on the Generate button tells you what you're committing to before you post.
Where it goes
The first post asks for a destination via Post As…; after that the button remembers the file
(shown as Post → filename) and overwrites it in one click as the nest evolves — handy when the
controller is already pointed at that file. Output uses the extension the active post defines
(.ngc for the LinuxCNC-family posts, .nc, .tap, and others per post). With a GcodePilot
machine selected, the button becomes Post to Machine and spools the program straight to the
controller — see Post to Machine. Comments in the file name
the machine, recipe, each part, and each contour by id and type, so a long program stays navigable
at the panel.