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Cut Settings

Cut settings are a big topic, and we need to begin with an important caveat: the exact settings required to achieve good engravings, or to cut through material, are highly dependent on your type of laser.

We'll provide some rough guidelines on the relationships between different settings, but the specific settings shown in our examples are not necessarily appropriate for your machine and material. Consult your laser's manufacturer for recommendations directly tailored to your machine.

Always pay attention to units of distance and time when entering Speed settings

When entering Speed values recommended by your laser's manufacturer or other LightBurn users, make sure to use the same units of distance and time as those from the recommendation, or to convert the values to your preferred units.

A given number of millimeters per second is much faster than that same number in millimeters per minute. Mixing up units can lead to reduction in power output due to unexpectedly high speeds, or excessive power output — and even fire — due to unexpectedly slow speeds.

Change your displayed units in the Units and Grids tab of the Settings window. LightBurn automatically converts any existing values when you switch between units.

Essential Settings

The most important settings for layers set to Line or Fill Mode are accessible directly in the Cuts / Layers Window. Click in any of the fields to adjust a given setting:

Adjusting cut settings through Cuts / Layers Window

Tip

Double-click in a field to select and overwrite current settings.

You can also double-click any layer in the Cuts / Layers Window to access the Cut Settings Editor. You'll see the same essential settings that are available in the Cuts / Layers Window in the Cut Settings Editor, along with several more advanced settings. For now you can ignore the more advanced settings — we just want you to know they're there for down the road.

Opening Cut Settings Editor

Output, Show, and Air

You'll see three switches next to each layer in the Cuts / Layers Window — turning them on or off changes the behavior of those layers in different ways.

  • The Output switch controls whether a given layer is sent to your laser when you start a job. In other words, if you turn Output off, none of the graphics on that layer will be cut or engraved by your laser.

  • Disabling Show hides all the shapes assigned to that layer in your Workspace. Hiding shapes like this is sometimes helpful while you're designing, but be careful, hiding a layer isn't the same as turning off the Output switch — it'll still be sent to your laser when you start a job.

  • Enabling the Air switch tells LightBurn to signal your laser to turn on an air assist, when it begins cutting or engraving a given layer. Disabling it tells LightBurn not to send the signal for that layer.

    Air assists blow air onto the surface of your material at the spot where the laser's beam strikes, which can help prevent soot accumulation and charring, and aid in cutting.

    Note

    Many lasers do not come with air assists, and others have manual air assists that you can't trigger through software. In those cases, toggling the Air switch will have no effect either way. If you have a Galvo laser, you won't see the Air switch at all.

    Consult your laser's manufacturer if you're not sure if your laser has a built-in air assist.

Line Mode

For Line Mode, when you're just starting out you only need to worry about a few settings: Speed, Power, and Passes. As a general guideline, relatively slow speeds and relatively high powers produce the darkest burns.

If you command the laser to move quickly, or with low Power, it will likely just etch the surface (sometimes called scoring). If you move slowly and with high power, especially with a CO2 laser, the laser will cut deeper, or even completely through the material. The only difference between surface marking and cutting with Line Mode is the Power and Speed you set.

If you have a high-powered laser, it should be able to cut through many types of materials with a single Pass, but if you have a relatively low-powered laser, you may need to set multiple Passes to achieve a clean cut. The exact number depends on your machine and material.

Note

Not all lasers are capable of cutting through all or even any materials. Consult your laser's manufacturer for information on your laser's maximum cutting capability.

Fill Mode

For Fill Mode, the darkness and depth of an engraving is also determined by the Speed and Power settings, and follows the same principle: relatively slow speeds and high powers tend to produce the darkest, deepest etches.

But there's another crucial setting for layers set to Fill Mode — Line Interval. The Interval setting determines the distance between the parallel lines your laser scans as it engraves your graphics. Smaller Line Intervals lead to lines that are closer together. As a rule, you want the scan lines to be as close together as possible without overlapping (which can lead to overburning).

The necessary Line Interval for optimal results depends on your laser and the material you're engraving, but LightBurn's default value of .100 is a reasonable starting point for most lasers and materials.

Interval in Cuts / Layers Window

Material Testing

While we've noted that manufacturer recommendations are the best place to begin looking for cut settings, LightBurn also has a built-in Material Test that you can use to test different combinations of Speed, Power, Passes, Line Interval, and other settings. The Material Test works by automatically setting up a grid of boxes that will be cut or engraved at a range of different settings.

For more information, check out our guide on completing your First Material Test before starting the First Project at the end of this walkthrough.

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