This is one of our most anticipated releases yet, and even though the big news here is support for galvo lasers, there are lots of new goodies for everyone.
If you're really impatient, here's the quick version:
Download from our Download/Trial page here.
Read the documentation for galvo setup here.
Galvo Support (fiber lasers)
This release of LightBurn includes support for EzCad2 based galvo controllers, more commonly referred to as "fiber lasers". It supports both fiber and CO2 laser sources driven by an EzCad2 supported control card, using USB to connect to your PC, Mac, or Linux system. UV laser support will be added soon, along with support for BSL (SeaCad) based galvo systems.
Galvo devices are enabled in the trial version. If you have a current (not expired) license key, you will also be able to test galvo devices until July 15th without having to use a trial version.
Note: The galvo license will not be available for purchase until July 15th. Everyone gets a couple free weeks on us so we have a little more time to fill our documentation, website, and ordering system, as well as to gather a little more compatibility info to make sure everything is solid before we start taking your money.
Sub-layers: multi-pass cut settings
We've removed the Fill+Line mode and replaced it with something much more powerful: Sub-layers. Any layer can now contain up to 11 layer passes, run in order, and each sub-layer can use any of the existing options like Fill, Line or Offset Fill. This allows for some tricky uses that we'll be covering in upcoming tutorials on our YouTube channel.
Loading designs that use the Fill+Line mode will automatically convert them to a pair of sub-layers, with a Fill followed by a Line pass.
Important: If you save a file that was previously using Fill+Line mode, it will not load correctly in older versions of LightBurn, so please keep a copy of the old file if you want to be able to switch back.
Docking
We've added a powerful new docking feature, which is a little like manual nesting. Select some shapes and click one of the directional docking buttons, and LightBurn will "dock" all your shapes together in that direction, moving them together until they touch. The short clip below illustrates this:
Material Linking
The material library is now more powerful thanks to a new feature we call Material Linking. When you assign material settings to a cut layer, LightBurn now remembers the name of the material entry you used and keeps a link to the material entry. If you change the material, the next time you use a file that uses that material, the settings will update automatically.
On top of this, if you change to a different laser, and have a material library that contains the same material but with different settings, LightBurn will automatically apply those settings. The documentation will cover this in more detail, and we'll have a video tutorial coming soon as well.
Other notable changes
- Added a 'Don't show again' button to the "failed to load library" message
- Recent file list has been increased to 24 entries
- Added job start / end delays for Ruida controllers (allows time for exhaust to start up or clear smoke after running)
- Improvements to SVG text importing
- Numerous crash bugs fixed
- LinuxCNC profile corrected
We're really excited about this one, and we hope it's been worth the wait for all of you.
The full list of changes is below. You can download the release from our download/trial page, and as always, thank you for supporting LightBurn!
General:
- [AH] Added multi-pass sub-layers
- [WP] Added new Docking feature
- [AH,JS] Added cut library parameter linking
- [Oz] Head-mounted camera support and stitching
- [Oz] Increase recent file list to 24 entries
- [Oz] Added 'Don't show again' option to 'Library failed to load' message
- [JS] Added support for keypad jogging on mac with full keyboard
- [AH] Allow grid array toolbar button to edit existing arrays
- [Oz] Added setting to enable importing shapes to tool layers
- [AH] Show length units on Tab Size label
- [Oz] Updated max speed for gantry systems in material test to 2000 mm/sec
- [Oz] Added a camera type chooser for overhead / head mount cameras, to reduce confusion
- [Oz] Bugfix: Normal camera alignment properly overrides Head Camera setting
- [Oz] Bugfix: Don't auto-save while Bool helper or Align helper dialogs are open
- [Oz] Bugfix: Don't crash if using the LightBurn Bridge finder for unsupported devices
- [Oz] Bugfix: Cut Shapes tool got incorrect results if a shape had nodes that crossed lines of the cutter
- [Oz] Bugfix: Focus test could sometimes emit incorrect focus numbers for Z (rounding issue)
- [Oz] Bugfix: can now select between multiple Trocen (or other LibUSB) devices properly
- [AH] Bugfix: Closed single line beziers did not render correctly in filled mode.
Import / Export:
- [Oz] Improved handling of SVG text position and font attributes
- [JN] Added support for inline images in PDFs
- [Oz] Added support for CMYK images in PDF files
- [Oz] Handle DXF imports with extremely large position offsets
- [WP] Bugfix: handle non-UTF-8 object names in DXF import
- [Oz] Bugfix: Correct image orientation when exporting
- [WP] Bugfix: Use px as SVG import units if unspecified in document
- [Oz] Bugfix: SVG defaults to "no stroke" on shapes, so LightBurn now does too
GCode systems:
- [Oz] Bugfix: DTR setting was not respected for Marlin devices
- [Oz] Bugfix: updated LinuxCNC profile to use M67 E0 Qxx command for laser power setting
DSP systems:
- [Oz] Added job start / end delays for Ruida controllers, to allow time for exhaust to spin up/clear smoke