Minimum circle diameter
There is no minimum. A circle with a diameter of zero prints as a dot, so a circle in your file can be as small as a single printed point.
Maximum circle diameter
There is no fixed maximum diameter. The limit is the area the robot can reach from the laser tracker: the robot prints up to 160 ft from the tracker indoors and 120 ft outdoors (see FieldPrinter Specs).
How the FieldPrinter prints circles of different sizes
The FieldPrinter lays down ink inside a 1" print lane, the band one cartridge covers in a single pass. How a circle prints depends on whether the whole circle fits inside that lane. For more on the lane, see Print Merging: How the FieldPrinter Prints Multiple Lines in One Pass.
| Circle size | How it prints |
|---|---|
| Under 1" outer diameter | One pass. The whole circle fits inside the 1" print lane. |
| 1" outer diameter or larger, radius under 16" | Printed in swaths. The number of swaths grows with the radius. |
| Radius of 16" or more | Printed as lines. |
Outer diameter versus the diameter in your file
Outer diameter is measured from the outer edge of the ink on one side of the circle to the outer edge on the other side. A line prints centered on the path you drew, so half of its width falls on each side. If your file draws the circle on its centerline, add one line width to the drawn diameter to get the outer diameter.
To stay under 1" outer diameter and print in one pass, keep the drawn diameter below:
| Line width | Drawn diameter must be under |
|---|---|
| 1/16" | 15/16" |
| 1/8" | 7/8" |
| 1/4" | 3/4" |
These limits follow the same 1" lane rule, and the same numbers, as the equal-width table in Print Merging: How the FieldPrinter Prints Multiple Lines in One Pass.
For how line width is set, see Understanding Line Thickness Options for Dusty Layout Printing.