CO2 laser software

Look at the controller first. Most CO2 lasers from 50 W upwards — including many OMTech, Monport, Thunder Laser and Boss Laser machines — use a Ruida controller. For those, RDWorks is the free vendor software but runs only on Windows and feels dated; LightBurn is the paid standard on Windows, macOS and Linux; Vextrify drives Ruida-based CO2 lasers from macOS and Windows and prepares photos and designs in the same app. A stock K40 with an M2 Nano board is a separate case — see the K40 guide.

• Most 50 W+ CO2 lasers → Ruida controller
• RDWorks → free, Windows only
• Vextrify → Mac + Windows, camera and photo prep

A Ruida controller usually has a control panel with a display and arrow keys on the machine, and the manufacturer ships RDWorks. A stock K40 usually has no display, a simple current knob and an M2 Nano board, and ships with software such as K40 Whisperer or a vendor tool. If you upgraded your K40, the new board decides: a Ruida controller behaves like the larger machines.

• Display panel + RDWorks in the box → Ruida
• No display, current knob → stock K40 (M2 Nano)
• Upgraded board → follow the new controller

Vextrify connects to Ruida-based CO2 lasers over USB with framing, a dry run and live job control. A calibrated camera places the design on the real workpiece, which matters on a large CO2 bed. For photo engraving on wood, slate, leather or anodized aluminium, Photo Studio prepares the image with material profiles, and white areas in the source stay unengraved so the picture does not get a grey haze. Several machines can be managed, each in its own tab with one connected at a time.

• Ruida CO2 lasers over USB: framing, dry run, live control
• Camera alignment on the real workpiece
• Photo prep with material profiles for CO2 materials

A CO2 laser marks wood, slate, leather, acrylic, glass and coated metals — a far wider range than a diode laser. That range is also the challenge: every material reacts differently to the same file. Light woods give the widest tonal range, slate works as a negative because the laser lightens the stone, and glass frosts rather than burns. The reliable way to your own speed and power is a short material test on the real material.

• Light wood: widest tonal range
• Slate: engraved areas turn light, so the image is inverted
• Glass and coated metal: frosting and marking, not burning

Vextrify does not drive stock M2 Nano K40 boards directly; it prepares their files as SVG for K40 Whisperer or MeerK40t. Some CO2 machines use their manufacturer's own closed controllers and software; those are not driven by Vextrify either. LightBurn still supports the widest range of controllers, and Vextrify exports clean files for LightBurn when a job belongs there.

• Stock K40 (M2 Nano): files, not live control
• Closed proprietary controllers: not driven
• Exports for LightBurn keep your options open