Getting started
ChantoCNC is a desktop CAM app for the home CNC workshop: you draw (or import) artwork, generate toolpaths, watch them cut in a 3D simulator, and export G-code for your machine. This page walks the whole loop once.
Install
Section titled “Install”Grab the installer for your platform from the download page:
macOS (universal .dmg), Windows (64-bit installer), or Linux (AppImage,
.deb, .rpm). The first launch starts a 30-day trial of the full
app — every tool, every operation, simulator, and G-code export. No
account needed.
Set up the job
Section titled “Set up the job”A project starts with a setup: the stock you’re cutting. Give it the board’s width, height, and thickness, then tell ChantoCNC how your machine sees it:
- Origin corner — which corner of the stock your machine’s X0 Y0 sits at.
- Z zero — whether you zero the bit on the stock top or the machine bed.
The job’s size is the stock’s size — what you see on the canvas is the board on your spoilboard.
Draw something
Section titled “Draw something”Use the drawing tools (rectangle, ellipse, line, pen) or place text. New shapes land on the active layer; everything is ordinary vector geometry you can move, edit node-by-node, combine with boolean operations, and align. See the drawing guide and text guide.
Generate a toolpath
Section titled “Generate a toolpath”Pick geometry, choose an operation — V-carve for beveled lettering, engrave for single-line fonts, pocket to clear areas, profile to cut parts out (with holding tabs) — and pick a bit from your bit library. ChantoCNC checks that the bit can actually cut the shape before you commit. Details in the toolpath guide.
Simulate
Section titled “Simulate”Open the simulator and watch the cut happen in true 3D. The simulation is dexel-accurate: what you see is the material the machine will actually leave behind, not an animation of the toolpath lines. If something’s wrong, you find out here — not in walnut.
Export G-code
Section titled “Export G-code”Export writes G-code through the post-processor for your controller — GRBL, LinuxCNC, Mach3, Marlin, or Masso — measured from the origin corner and Z zero you set on the setup. Load it on the machine, zero where you told ChantoCNC you would, and cut.