LightBurn is where the job runs. The photo usually decides whether the job looks good, and that work can happen before the file reaches it.
Reviewed by the Vextrify team, tested in our own laser workshops · Updated · How we test
Try Vextrify freePrepare and dither the photo in Photo Studio, export a PNG at the DPI you will engrave at, import it into LightBurn and set the image mode to Pass-Through. LightBurn keeps doing what it does: layers, framing, machine control and running the job. Photo Studio only replaces the guesswork before import.
Three things decide most photo jobs: tone, background and dark areas. Choose one of the 12 material profiles in Photo Studio, which sets starting brightness, contrast and gamma and suggests a dithering method. Remove or calm a busy background. Then watch the shadows in the live preview, since closed shadows become solid dark patches on the material. There are 64 controls in 10 work areas, plus an Invert control for dark materials where the mark is lighter than the surface.
LightBurn's image modes include Threshold, Ordered, Atkinson, Dither, Stucki, Jarvis, Newsprint, Halftone, Sketch, Grayscale, 3D Slice and Pass-Through. Pass-Through sends a pre-processed image without re-dithering it. That is the mode for a file you already dithered, because dithering twice stacks two dot patterns and muddies the tones. The file also has to be engraved at the same DPI it was made for; if not, LightBurn resamples the dots.
Speed, power and spacing live in LightBurn's layer settings, and no preparation tool can give them to you. They depend on the machine and the material. Engrave a material test grid on a scrap piece of the same material, pick the best field and save it. Dot gain, where the burn spreads and tones come out darker than on screen, is the reason the preview alone is not enough.
Vextrify's desktop app drives GRBL diode lasers, CO2 lasers with Ruida or TopWisdom controllers and stock K40s, and fiber galvo lasers with a SEA-LASER / BSL board, or a JCZ / EZCAD2 or EZCad3 board. If you would rather keep LightBurn or EZCAD at the machine, it is a preparation and export step before them. A free account is needed to load and process images.
Compare with LightBurnThe desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux connects to these controllers directly and runs the job live.
You can. If you dither in Photo Studio, export the PNG and use Pass-Through in LightBurn so the image is not dithered again. If you let LightBurn dither, import an undithered file instead.
The DPI you will engrave at. A pre-dithered image has to be engraved at the same DPI it was made for, otherwise the dots get resampled. The right spacing for your machine comes from a test grid.
Not for every machine. You can keep LightBurn and use Vextrify only to prepare the photo. For the supported diode, CO2, K40 and fiber galvo lasers, the Vextrify desktop app can also run the job itself; for any other machine, LightBurn or EZCAD runs it.
In the desktop app, yes, for GRBL diode, Ruida CO2, stock K40 and fiber galvo lasers. Laser Control is not available in the browser.