Laser Window

The Laser Window is the hub for setting up and selecting a laser, Framing and Starting jobs, determining job positioning, and more.

Accessing the Laser Window¶

The Laser Window is located in the bottom right corner of LightBurn by default. If you have closed the Laser Window, go to Window → Laser to re-enable it. To restore it and all other windows to their default positions, go to Window → Reset to Default Layout.

Tip

The layout of LightBurn is highly customizable. For more information on enabling and disabling windows and toolbars, or rearranging the default layout, see Customizing the LightBurn Window.

Laser Window Options and Settings¶

The type of laser you have active, and certain options in the Settings window, including enabling Beginner Mode, will affect the way the Laser Window looks.

Click any option in the image below to jump directly to the relevant section for that option, or scroll down for a list of options and descriptions.

Start¶

Commands your laser to immediately begin running your current project.

Note

If you have a Galvo laser, you'll see the Framing window first, unless you turn off Require framing before start in your Device Settings.

Pause and Stop from the keyboard

While your laser is running, you can use your keyboard's Pause key to Pause the laser and Ctrl+Break to Stop it. Break is typically on the same key as Pause, but more compact keyboards may not have this key.

Stop¶

Immediately aborts a currently running job.

Pause¶

Halts a running job. Click the Resume button to continue a paused job.

Send¶

The Send button, if your laser supports it, transfers the current job to the laser as a named file, so you can select and run it from the laser's controller.

When you use Start, the controller begins running the job as soon as sufficient data has reached the controller. Using Send instead of Start can sometimes help prevent file corruption during transfer.

Hold Shift while clicking Send to have the laser immediately start the job after the entire project has been sent.

Note

The Send option is only available for DSP lasers.

Framing¶

Note for Galvo users

This section covers Framing behavior for Gantry lasers. If you have Galvo laser, see Galvo Framing.

Use the two Frame buttons to preview the position of the job in your laser's work area, by commanding the laser to trace a path around the area where your project will output.

The speed at which the laser travels during Framing is determined by the value set in the Speed field in the Move Window.

Frame Continuously¶

Enable Frame Continuously in the Basic Settings tab of Device Settings to command your laser to run the Framing path repeatedly, until you tell it to stop. Framing Continuously is often helpful when adjusting material positioning in your laser's work area.

Laser on When Framing¶

Enable Laser on when framing in the Device Settings window to Fire the laser during the Framing process, at the Power level set in the Move Window.

If Laser on when framing is not enabled, you can hold Shift while pressing Frame to enable the laser during the framing process.

Danger

This changes the default behavior of the laser and can cause the laser to fire when a user is not expecting it. Enable this setting with caution, with a very low power level, and only when using a diode laser.

Bounding Box Frame ¶

Commands the laser to trace a path defined as the smallest possible rectangle that will fully contain all graphics you're sending to the laser.

Rubber Band Frame ¶

Traces the smallest possible path that fully contains all graphics in the design you're sending to the laser, as if a rubber band were stretched around them.

Tip

Rubber Band Framing is useful for lining up jobs with irregular shapes where a box outline doesn't fit well. For example, a long, thin diagonal shape, or a triangle.

Save Machine Files¶

This button will change depending on the type of laser you're using — it may say Save GCode (for GRBL, Smoothieware, or Marlin controllers), Save RD File (Ruida), Save OUT File (TopWisdom), or Save UD5 File (Trocen).

All options save your current project as a machine-ready file, in the appropriate format for your type of laser. You can transfer this file to your machine to run it without ever having to directly connect using LightBurn.

These options are also available in the File Menu.

Run Machine Files¶

Use this option to load and run a file previously saved in the appropriate format for your type of laser. To use this option, LightBurn must be directly connected to your laser.

This button will change depending on the type of laser you're using — it may say Run GCode, Run RD File, Run OUT File, or Run UD5 File.

Home¶

Commands your laser to execute a homing cycle, during which it moves toward the home position looking for the switches that activate when it hits the boundary.

Homing is how your laser locates its 0,0 position, and all subsequent positioning information is determined relative to that point.

Warning

Do not use this button if your laser does not have homing switches. If you are unsure, contact your laser's manufacturer.

Go to Origin¶

Commands your laser to jog to the position currently set as the User Origin.

See Coordinates and Job Origin for more information.

Start From and Job Origin¶

These two controls determine where the job is placed on the bed of your laser.

See Coordinates and Job Origin for more information.

Cut Selected Graphics¶

This toggle switch tells LightBurn to only send the portion of your design that is currently selected when you click Start, Send, or Save Machine File.

See Cut Selected Graphics for more information.

Use Selection Origin¶

Only available in combination with Cut Selected Graphics, the Use Selection Origin button tells LightBurn to calculate origin relative to selected graphics only, and not the whole design.

See Cut Selected Graphics – Use Selection Origin for more information.

Show Last Position¶

Places a cross-hair cursor in the Workspace at the last reported location of the laser head. If you jog the laser within LightBurn using any of the positioning tools, the position will be updated.

The position does not update live — for example, it will not update while a job is running. Live updating might encourage some users to watch the screen rather than their laser — lasers should never be left unattended while running.

Optimization Settings¶

This button opens the Optimization Settings window, where you can adjust various options that control the order in which your graphics are cut or engraved by the laser.

See Optimization Settings for more information.

Optimize Cut Path¶

Toggle Optimize Cut Path on or off to enable or disable custom Optimization Settings.

If Optimize Cut Path is disabled, the order will be the order in which the objects in your project were drawn.

Devices¶

Opens the Devices window, where you can create, remove, or edit device profiles for lasers you want to use with LightBurn.

Right-clicking the Devices button closes and re-opens the connection to the currently selected device.

See Devices for more information.

If you've created multiple device profiles for multiple lasers, select the laser you are currently working with the dropdown menu.

LightBurn will attempt to automatically select the correct serial port and connect to your laser, but you may need to manually select it from this dropdown. When connected, the Disconnected message in the top left corner of the Laser window will change to Ready. If you are using a GCode-based laser, you will see a startup message in the Console window.

You may need to right-click the Devices button in the Laser window to refresh the list of available ports.

If you're having trouble connecting to your laser, see Troubleshooting: Connection Problems.

Device Status¶

The readout in the top left of the Laser Window indicates the current status of the laser.

Disconnected indicates that the laser is not connected to LightBurn.
Ready indicates that the laser is connected to LightBurn and ready to receive commands.
Busy indicates that the laser is connected to LightBurn and actively completing a process.

The progress bar indicates the percentage of commands that have been streamed to the laser, along with a time estimate indicating how long the laser has been streaming, and how much longer it will continue streaming. These estimates can be close to the total runtime of the project, but are not identical.
Framing appears for Galvo lasers only, to indicate that the Framing process is active.

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