cncArtistMaterial
Pick the board and the species. The preview takes on that wood's grain and color.
Coming to the App Store
CNC design and toolpaths, native on Mac and iPad
Make signs, inlays and 3D carvings without Windows or Parallels. Before you export, cncArtist simulates the G-code file itself and stops you if a rapid would plow through the wood.
No problems found · about 55 min to cut, 3 bits
Screenshot from cncArtist on Mac: the Preview step after the simulator has cut the whole job.
The whole idea in thirty seconds
The workshop shots in this film (the bit in walnut, the turning plaque, the touch plate and the finished pieces) are AI-generated video, not footage of real cuts. The app screens are recreations.
What's in the film (transcript)
- Close-up of an end mill cutting walnut, then a V-bit carving a letter. On screen: "Every cut starts with a plan."
- The cncArtist name builds on a white frame, with Mac, iPad and iPhone underneath.
- The five steps light up in turn: Material, Design, Toolpaths, Preview, Export. On screen: "Design. Toolpath. Preview."
- G-code lines scroll past and are ticked off. On screen: "Every line checked. Runs the whole file before the bit moves."
- A carved walnut plaque turns in the light. On screen: "Real wood. Real grain."
- A touch plate goes under the bit and a phone shows "Set Z zero", then "Z is set. Ready to cut." On screen: "Guided at the machine."
- A grid of sample projects. On screen: "Made with cncArtist."
- End card: "Design. Cut. Done. Coming soon for Mac, iPad and iPhone."
The checker reads the file your machine will run
A toolpath preview shows what you drew. cncArtist parses the G-code after the post has written it and simulates that, so a post bug or a line you changed in the post editor shows up before the machine sees it.
Export stops on:
- A cut below the bottom of the board or into the spoilboard
- A rapid move through material
- The holder or collet touching the work
- A move past your machine's travel
It can't see clamps or screws unless you draw them on a keep-out layer.
Sample sign.nc · Centroid AcornChecking
One I broke on purpose
I took the Centroid Acorn file for the sample sign that ships with cncArtist and deleted the retract after the first hole. The bit is left 8 mm down in the board when it rapids to the next hole.
The broken file
14Z-4 15G0 Z2 16G1 Z-3.5 F3000 17Z-8 F1000 18G0 X270 Y170 19Z2 20G1 Z0 21Z-4
What the checker said
Error · line 18Fast move sideways at Z -8, inside the material. This will break the bit.
The fix
17Z-8 F1000 18G0 Z10 19X270 Y170 20Z2
Checked again: no problems found.
Those messages are the checker's output on that file, run October 29, 2026. The same check runs on every export. The full sample files for each post are on GitHub.
Five steps, board to file
Each step is a screen in the app. Change the design later and the toolpaths follow.
Design
Draw or type, or bring in SVG, DXF, PDF, Illustrator, EPS, images, STL, OBJ or STEP.
Toolpaths
V-carve, pocket, profile, inlay or 3D, with feeds and speeds set from your bit, wood and machine.
Preview
The simulator cuts the whole job in wood. Type in how long a real job took and later estimates adjust.
Export
G-code that has passed the checker, plus a setup sheet. On a Mac it can also stream to GRBL, grblHAL and FluidNC machines.
Inlays
The pocket and the plug come from one outline and the same V-bit, with the glue gap worked out for you.
3D carvings
500+ reliefs to drop in, your own STL and OBJ models, or a photo turned into a relief on your device.
At the machine
Zero X, Y and Z step by step on your iPhone. If a bit breaks, restart from the line where the cut stopped.
Project pictures are simulator renders of sample projects that ship with the app.
Your machine, and your Vectric files
Pick your machine and cncArtist fills in the bed size, Z travel, safe height and post. There are 38 router posts covering 31 controllers, 2 laser posts and a Shaper Origin SVG export, all open source on GitHub.
Machine guides: Shapeoko · Onefinity · X-Carve · LongMill · Genmitsu · Centroid Acorn · Masso · Avid CNC · ShopBot · Axiom · Mach3/Mach4/UCCNC · LinuxCNC · Carvera · Laguna · CNC Shark · Maslow · BobsCNC · OpenBuilds · Shaper Origin · GRBL laser
From Aspire or VCarve, these come across
- Vectors from File › Export Vectors as DXF or SVG, with layers, arcs, open vectors and the holes in letters kept
- Your Vectric tool database (.vtdb), plus Fusion JSON and CSV bit libraries
- 3D models exported from Aspire as STL or OBJ
- PDF, Illustrator and EPS files, and images traced to vectors
DXF import was built to the layout Vectric writes (R12, no units, one layer per Vectric layer) and tested on files made to match it. It hasn't met a big pile of real exports yet, so open a file you know well first and compare.
These don't
- .crv and .crv3d files. Vectric's format is closed. Open one and cncArtist tells you what to export instead
- Saved toolpaths. You rebuild them from the same vectors and bits; the in-app Switching from Aspire guide shows where each tool lives
cncArtist will never run on Windows. It's built for Mac, iPad and iPhone only. The full comparison is on VCarve for Mac and Aspire alternative.
Who makes it
I'm Dave Mendlen. Before this I was a GM and VP in Microsoft's developer division, and later ran the Microsoft practice at PwC. Now I build software on my own, on a Mac, and I got tired of booting Windows in Parallels to design a sign. The first machine cncArtist was set up for is a Sequoyatec 1325 router on a Centroid Acorn, which is why the Acorn post came first.
If I ever stop working on cncArtist, I'll ship one last update that removes the export limit, so what you paid for keeps working. The posts are already open source.
Tested in software
- 696 automated tests run on every build.
- Each of the 38 router posts writes a sample job, and the output is compared line by line with a saved reference file.
- The checker shown above runs on every export.
Not tested yet
- No post has been run on a real machine yet. The tests check the file, so run an air cut on a new setup.
- Rotary output hasn't been cut on a physical rotary axis.
- The pictures on this site are app screenshots and simulator renders, and the workshop shots in the film are AI-generated. Photos and video of real cuts will replace them as they're made at my maker space in the Twin Cities.
Cut three jobs free. Then pay once.
Design and simulate as much as you like, and export your first three jobs free to cut on your own machine before you pay anything.
Free
Your first three jobs
Every design tool and simulation, plus G-code for three jobs. No card, no time limit.
$249.99
Once, for Mac, iPad and iPhone
Launch price until 11:59 pm on Thursday, Dec 31, 2026. Then $299.99.
Unlimited export, commercial use, Family Sharing and free 1.x updates. No subscription: a new major version every few years is a paid upgrade at a lower price for owners.