LightBurn camera alternatives

If you already use LightBurn, you do not need another program for a camera: LightBurn's camera works in every edition, and the editions differ only in which controllers they drive. People look for an alternative for other reasons — price, a Mac setup, or wanting the camera in the same app that prepares the photo. Then the programs with real camera alignment are Rayforge and Vextrify. LaserGRBL and RDWorks have no camera alignment.

• LightBurn: camera in Core and Pro
• Rayforge: free, open source, camera alignment
• Vextrify: camera, photo prep and control in one app

Every program needs the same two steps. A lens calibration removes the distortion of the wide-angle lens, usually with a printed board photographed in several positions. An alignment then ties the camera image to machine coordinates, usually by engraving marks at low power and locating them in a photo. Skip either step and the design lands millimetres away from where the screen shows it.

• Lens calibration with a printed board
• Alignment with engraved reference marks
• Repeat the alignment whenever the camera moves

In the Vextrify desktop app you capture the calibration board at up to nine positions and see the reprojection error. The alignment engraves reference marks, you click the nine marks in a still image, and the remaining error is shown in millimetres. Calibration and alignment are stored per laser, so a workshop with two machines keeps two cameras apart. The live image sits under the work area; you can dim it, zoom in or freeze a still, then frame and start the job.

• Up to nine board positions, reprojection error shown
• Nine engraved marks, remaining error in mm
• Stored per laser, survives a reinstall

LightBurn's camera is mature and widely used; its documentation notes that some camera settings are not available on macOS. Rayforge is free and open source on Windows, macOS and Linux, with camera alignment and rotary support; its Ruida support is still marked experimental. Vextrify's camera is part of an app that also prepares photos and drives GRBL diode and Ruida CO2 lasers; it runs as a desktop app on Apple Silicon Macs and Windows, and the browser version does not show the camera.

• LightBurn — mature; some camera settings missing on macOS
• Rayforge — free, three platforms, Ruida experimental
• Vextrify — camera, prep and control together; desktop only

Any USB camera mounted above the bed that sees the whole work area. Wide-angle distortion is what the lens calibration is for, so a fisheye-style lens is fine. Mount it rigidly: every bump means repeating the alignment.