METHOD OF CUTTING AN OBJECT AS A FUNCTION OF PARTICULARITIES OF SAID OBJECT

A method of cutting a sheet 1 with a tool controlled by a computer system and in accordance with a cutting program that may depend on certain particularities of the sheet. The computer system examines the sheet by scanning it with a video camera. Prior to scanning an operator marks certain of the particularities directly on the sheet using a fluorescent marker, the marking being in the form of distinctive symbols 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 which are detectable by the camera and which are interpretable as being constraints on cutting to be taken into account by the cutting program. The sheet is illuminated by ultraviolet light while it is being scanned by the camera, and the scanning speed of the camera is adjusted as a function of the required sensitivity. The scanning speed lies in the range 10 to 40 images per second, and is preferably about 25 images per second.