Cutting neon sign channel letters and LED backplates is one of the most popular use cases for CNC and laser machines. But most design tools produce outlines — two-stroke paths that your machine has to cut twice. For neon tube bending guides, you need single-line paths, and that's exactly what Design Swiftly's Hershey fonts provide.

What Are Hershey Fonts?

Hershey fonts are a set of typefaces originally created by Dr. Allen Hershey in 1967 for computer plotting. Unlike standard outline fonts, Hershey glyphs are single-stroke paths — the tool follows a single centre line for each letter rather than cutting around its outline.

This means:

• 50% fewer G-Code lines compared to outline fonts
• Faster engraving — one pass per letter, not two
• Ideal for neon tube bending — the single line represents the tube centre path
• Clean laser engraving — no double-burn on letter strokes

Using Hershey Fonts in Design Swiftly

1. 1Press T or Shift+T to open the Text Tool
2. 2Click on the canvas to place a text element
3. 3In the Properties panel, click the Font dropdown
4. 4Scroll to the Hershey section — choose from variants like Hershey Plain, Hershey Script, Hershey Gothic
5. 5Type your sign text (e.g. "OPEN", "COFFEE", your brand name)
6. 6Select the text, then use Single Line Body in Ops to reduce to true single-stroke paths

Setting Up the Neon Sign Cut File

For a LED channel letter backplate cut from 12mm acrylic:

• Draw the letter outlines using Text → Explode to path
• Use Offset Tool (+4mm) to create the channel lip
• Set strategy to Outside Cut, bit = 3mm end mill, depth = 13mm (one pass through 12mm + tab cut)
• Enable tabs (3mm wide) to keep letters in the sheet until post-processing
• For the backplate panel: draw a rectangle → Outside Cut

For neon tube bending guides (the centre-line templates your tube bender follows):

• Create text with a Hershey font
• Set strategy to On-Path
• Use a 1.5mm end mill or laser at low power
• The output is a single-pass tool path following the tube centre

Exporting the G-Code

Once your toolpaths are set up, click Generate G-Code in the Simulator tab. Inspect the code in the built-in editor, then either:

• Download the .gcode file to run via USB/SD card
• Stream directly to your machine using the Machine tab (Web Serial API, Chrome/Edge)