Changing a Galvo Laser Lens

To ensure best performance following a lens swap in LightBurn when using a Galvo laser, there are several changes and settings you'll need to confirm first. Some manufacturers give you the calibration information for your new lens, and we strongly recommend you check their website before proceeding to perform the calibration manually.

Physical Lens Swap¶

This video guide from Laser Everything covers the physical installation of the lens, as well as many of the items outlined below with EZCAD analogues. We suggested you review this video by Laser Everything to help ensure the lens swap doesn't damage your machine or hurt you in the process.

Duplicate Original Laser¶

In many cases, changing the galvo lens means that you'll need to adjust many settings and recalibrate it, effectively making it a "new" machine when you do so. To duplicate a device in LightBurn, click Devices in the Laser Window, right-click on a given laser, and select Duplicate.

Tip

Be sure to give the duplicate a descriptive and accurate name to contrast it to the original, and ensure that it's the on you edit later.

Focus¶

After changing lenses physically, you'll need to adjust the focus of the laser, even before other performing the calibration process, to ensure the results are as good as possible.

Review the steps outlined in Galvo Laser Focusing to ensure your laser's output is crisp and in focus — keep in mind your red dot framing may no longer be in focus due to the focal length changes.

Field Size and Lens Calibration¶

All Galvo lenses have distortion which must be corrected in order for output from your laser to have an appearance that's true to the design you see in your LightBurn Workspace.

When working with a new laser, you can usually import lens correction values provided by your machine's manufacturer when you first set up your laser with LightBurn.

If you purchase a new lens for a laser you already own, however, you may need to use LightBurn's Galvo Lens Calibration wizard to find the appropriate corrections.

To open the Galvo Lens Calibration wizard, go to Laser Tools → Calibrate Galvo Lens → 9 Point Correction (Easy).

For more infomration on this process, see Calibrate Galvo Lens — Galvo Lens Calibration Wizard.

For more help using LightBurn, please visit our forum to talk with LightBurn staff and users, or email support.