Dual Laser Control
LightBurn provides special setup options for machines with two laser tubes. These settings will only be available when using DSP devices.
Enable Laser 2 Controls¶
Two options for working with dual lasers are available in the Basic Settings tab of Device Settings.
Turn on Enable Laser 2 Controls to expose switches in the Cuts / Layers Window and Cut Settings Editor that will allow you to enable or disable each tube for a given layer and adjust their power settings separately.
Turn on Enable Laser 2 Offset to specify an offset to account for the distance between the second and first laser head, if your laser has dual heads in addition to dual tubes.
Individual Laser Controls¶
The switches in the Cuts / Layers Window and Cut Settings Editor are used to enable one or both lasers on a per-layer basis. Each laser's Max Power and Min Power settings can be managed individually, but all other settings are shared when both laser lasers are enabled at the same time.
In the Cut Settings Editor, both lasers' switches and power settings are visible simultaneously. In the Cuts / Layers Window, select the button for the laser you wish to adjust to show the switch and cut settings for that laser.
Both Lasers Enabled at Once¶
The option to enable both lasers at once is intended for lasers with dual heads. With both lasers enabled for the same layer, the lasers will run simultaneously in tandem, meaning two copies of the same output will be cut or engraved at once, without any offset applied to the output from the second laser.
Make sure your laser heads are physically spaced far enough apart from one another that each has room to cut or engrave the entire graphic, without overlapping or running into the side of your machine. This means that any graphic you run with both lasers enabled must be narrower than the distance between the two heads.
Only One Laser Enabled at a Time¶
If each of your laser tubes is optimized for different processes, you may choose to enable one laser for engraving and the other laser for cutting. Any layer or Sub-Layer can be set to output using only Laser 1 or only Laser 2.
To have one laser engrave a graphic and the other cut the outline of the same graphic, create a Sub-Layer for the layer the graphic is assigned to, and enable only the appropriate laser for the operation assigned to each Sub-Layer.
If you are engraving and cutting separate graphics in the same job, set each to their own layer, and enable only the appropriate laser for the operation assigned to each layer.
If each of your laser tubes also has its own head, in order for output from Laser 2 to align to output from Laser 1, you must measure and apply an accurate Laser 2 Offset.
See our Set Laser 2 Offset Guide for more information.
For more help using LightBurn, please visit our forum to talk with LightBurn staff and users, or email support.