Drawing

ChantoCNC has a real vector workspace, so most signs never need another design app.

Tools

• Rectangle, ellipse, line — click-drag primitives with numeric editing afterwards in the inspector.
• Pen — click to place corner vertices, click-drag to pull curves. A click-only pen path is a polyline; mix corners and curves freely.
• Node editing — select a shape and move, add, or delete individual vertices and control handles.
• Move / select — drag shapes or whole layers; marquee-select across the canvas; arrow keys nudge.

Combining shapes

Boolean operations — union, subtract, intersect, exclude — turn stacked primitives into one cuttable outline. Alignment and distribution commands line work up precisely, and everything is driven from the toolbar above the canvas (each tool shows its shortcut in its tooltip).

Layers

New shapes land on the active layer — marked with a pencil icon in the layer list — and keep landing there until you pick another, so consecutive shapes stay together. Layers can be hidden or locked, and toolpath operations target layers, so grouping artwork by how it will be cut (outside cuts, pockets, lettering) pays off later.

Numbers, units, precision

Every dimension is editable numerically, in millimeters or inches — the canvas and inspectors convert on the fly. Stored geometry keeps full precision; displays round to what’s useful.