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Exporting to CNC

Converting a design starts the pipeline that turns it into cut-ready files. This is the part of KitchenCNC that guarantees the shop cuts exactly what you designed — nothing gets redrawn or reinterpreted in between.

Convert a design to a job

From the configurator, Convert to CNC runs a live-progress pipeline:

  1. Every placed cabinet is mapped to its CNC input (dimensions, finish, overlay mode, hinge, grain match, finished ends).
  2. A job is created against your machine profile — the sheet size and output format the shop uses. If no profile exists yet, a default one is created automatically.
  3. The job is validated. A design with a blocking issue is flagged and cannot proceed to export — that's the point.

Job status

Every job on the /cnc queue carries a status:

Status Meaning
DRAFT Job created, not yet validated
READY Passed initial checks
VALIDATED Validation ran clean — safe to export
ERROR Validation found a blocking issue — export is blocked
EXPORTED Files have been generated and are ready to download

Each job entry on the queue also shows its machine profile, sheet size, cabinet count, and how many times it's been exported.

Exporting files

Once a job is VALIDATED, exporting sends its computed parts to the CNC export service, which returns a zip archive of cut-ready files:

  • DXF — layered 2D outlines (default). Each part is a closed outline on an OUTLINE layer; bores/grooves get their own named layers, read by layer name rather than embedded depth data.
  • STL / 3MF — 3D solids, in millimetres, for machines that consume solid geometry instead of 2D panels.

The output format comes from the job's machine profile unless you override it at export time. The resulting zip is stored and linked from the job page — re-exporting adds another entry to that job's export history rather than replacing the last one.

If a job is blocked

An ERROR status means validation found something that would produce an unsafe or invalid cut file. Go back to the design in the configurator, fix the flagged issue, and reconvert — you don't need to rebuild the kitchen from scratch.