Holes get filled when engraving a DXF in xTool Studio
You import a DXF, set the text to Engrave, and the inside of every o, e, a and B is filled solid. Cut-outs in logos disappear the same way. Here is why, and how to keep the holes empty.
Short answer: in a DXF, a letter O is two separate outlines: the outside and the hole. xTool Studio fills each one on its own when engraving, so the hole is filled too, and in our tests no way of writing the DXF changed that. Cutting is not affected. To engrave in xTool, import an SVG where each shape and its holes are one path.
What we observed
We imported the same set of DXF files into xTool Studio 1.9.11 and LightBurn 2.1.04 (October 2026), with default settings and no laser connected:
- Sizes and shapes: identical in both programs, nothing missing.
- Cut and Score: correct in both.
- Engrave in xTool: holes filled or cut-outs covered in all 9 files that had any (letters, eyes in a silhouette, centre of a gear, cut-outs in a logo).
- Fill in LightBurn: holes kept, as long as the outer shape and its holes are on the same layer.
Some files also triggered xTool's automatic merging of complex vectors on import; that did not keep the holes either.
Does another kind of DXF help? We tried eight
We wrote the same design (a frame, a filled circle and the words "Hello Laser") as eight different DXF files and engraved each one in xTool Studio:
| How the DXF was written | Holes of e, o, a |
|---|---|
| Classic polylines (DXF R12), newer polylines (R2000) | filled |
| Each shape grouped as a block (R12 and R2000) | filled |
| Holes drawn in the opposite direction to the outline | filled |
| Strokes and fills on separate cut / engrave layers | filled |
| Hatch objects (with or without outlines) | hatch alone: text and circle not imported at all; with outlines: filled |
So the fix is not in the DXF. It is in the file format.
Spot it before you burn
- After choosing Engrave, zoom on the canvas: filled holes are visible immediately.
- Check letters with holes (a, b, d, e, g, o, p, q, A, B, D, O, P, Q, R) and any shape with a cut-out.
- Use the preview before processing.
How to keep the holes empty
Option 1: engrave from an SVG where each shape is one path
In an SVG, a letter and its hole can be one path with an even-odd fill rule: the area inside the hole counts as outside. xTool Studio imports such a path as a single compound vector. In our tests, the holes stayed empty in Engrave mode for lettering (including inch-based and bold text), labels on box panels, a logo and silhouettes with eyes and gaps, at the exact size in millimetres.
Set each colour to the right mode. In xTool Studio, Engrave fills whatever it is applied to, including a line: a frame drawn as an outline becomes a solid block. Put the colours of filled shapes on Engrave and the colours of outlines on Score or Cut, rather than selecting everything and choosing Engrave.
Option 2: cut, do not engrave
If the design is meant to be cut out (a stencil, a sign with letters cut through), use Cut: outlines are followed exactly and holes are fine, from a DXF or an SVG.
Shapes stacked on top of each other
A second problem looks similar but has another cause: a design where a shape is painted over another one. A black symbol on a yellow triangle on a black triangle, white details on a black silhouette, a white background rectangle. On screen, the top shape hides what is below. A laser does not know about "below": it engraves every filled shape completely, white ones included. The result is a solid block where you expected a symbol.
The fix is to keep, for every shape, only the part you can actually see, and to leave white out. That is what the converter's Engrave what you see option does (it works for both the DXF and the SVG it produces). Leave it off when you only cut outlines.
Get a file that keeps its holes
Our converter gives you two files from one SVG: a clean DXF for cutting, and a laser-ready SVG for engraving in xTool, in millimetres, where each filled shape and its holes are a single path. Same cleaned geometry in both: text to outlines, duplicates removed. Tick Engrave what you see if your design has stacked or white shapes.
Convert an SVGQuestions
Why does xTool fill the holes of my letters?
In a DXF, a letter like O is two separate closed outlines, the outside and the hole. In our tests xTool Studio filled each outline on its own when engraving, so the hole was filled too.
Does cutting work?
Yes. In Cut or Score mode the laser follows the outlines, so holes are cut correctly. The problem only affects Engrave (fill).
Which file format keeps holes in xTool?
A format that stores a shape and its holes as one object, such as an SVG path with an even-odd fill rule.