EveryCutFileWhat the software reads from your file
| Software | What it reads | What you set |
|---|---|---|
| Glowforge app | Strokes become cuts and fills become engraves; each color becomes a different step | The material, each step’s operation and the step order |
| LightBurn | Each color becomes a layer | Each layer’s mode: Line to cut or score along the outline, Fill to engrave the area; power and speed |
| xTool Creative Space | Each object | Processing type and settings for every object; a missed object may not be processed |
Check the size on import
A file sized in millimeters opens at its size. A file sized in pixels depends on how many pixels the software counts per inch: LightBurn reads SVG pixels at 96 per inch, Inkscape’s default, unless you switch it to 72, Illustrator’s. Read the wrong way, a design comes in at 0.75 or 1.33 times its size. Our files are written in millimeters.
Text, strokes and pictures
LightBurn cannot import embedded fonts, so convert text to outlines before you export. A stroke’s width is not a cut width: the laser follows the line’s center. A photo or texture inside the SVG can only be engraved as a picture; it has no outline to cut.
From file to first cut
- Open the SVG in your laser software and compare its size with the size you expect.
- Set each color or object: cut, score or engrave, with power and speed for your material.
- Order the work: engrave first, then inner cuts, then the outer outline, so a cut-out part cannot shift before its last cut.
- Frame the job to see where it lands on the material.
- Cut a test on a scrap of the same material, then the real piece.
A worked example
Our square keychain blank is one filled shape, 45 × 45 mm, with a 4 mm hole in the middle. In LightBurn it comes in at 45 × 45 mm as one layer: set that layer to Line with your cutting power and speed, and let the hole cut before the outline, so the blank cannot shift. With a 0.2 mm kerf the blank comes out 44.8 mm and the hole 4.2 mm; measure your key ring before you rely on the hole.
Measure your kerf before you offset
Kerf belongs to one material, thickness and setting. Measure it with any offset switched off, then offset parts that must fit, such as tabs and slots, by half of it.
From the maker’s documentation: Glowforge: upload a design, Glowforge: make a gift tag using Inkscape, Glowforge: setting the order of your print steps, LightBurn: file management, LightBurn: settings and preferences, xTool: XCS model and material settings, xTool: framing by device model.