Holes and the outer contour
Letters like A, O and 8 have two contours: the outside and the hole. Both must come through, or the middle gets cut out as well.
What should come out
A traced “O” is two curves in one object: an outer contour and an inner hole, wound in opposite directions. CorelDRAW uses that direction to decide what is material and what is empty. If the hole is lost, the machine cuts a solid disc instead of a ring.
Check it in the preview
- Look at the preview with the fill enabled, not just the wireframe. Holes should appear as empty areas.
- After confirming, select the result and check the object is a single compound path, not two separate curves.
- Look for stray dots inside the holes — small islands in the source often trace into unwanted specks.
If holes are missing
- Lower the threshold slightly. A high threshold can flood a small counter and close it.
- Clean the source: JPEG noise inside a counter is what usually seals it.
- As a last resort, draw the hole and combine it with the outer path (Combine in CorelDRAW) so the winding is correct again.
Small islands
Dots over an “i”, accents, decorative specks: delete the ones smaller than the knife can physically cut (roughly under 1 mm). They are unmakeable and only slow the job down.