Please share your reasons for using or not using LightBurn with your Snapmaker machines and any challenges you’ve encountered. 
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Reason for not using. It’s not free.
Ditto, not free. Too many ‘different’ programs to learn, I’m avoiding ones that you have to pay for on top of that.
Something I’d like to see in Luban or Lightburn is the ability to engrave shapes that aren’t perfectly cylindrical. An example is this conical shaped tumbler:Hydroflask 28 oz All Around Tumbler. I think being able to input the diameter at different heights would be perfect. Before anyone asks, I have successfully engraved on these, but I know the diode has a focus point. I’d like to keep the laser as close the focal distance when engraving along a surface where the distance to the tool-head changes.
I find Lightburn a reasonably priced software, which for me adds value mainly for the following reasons:
- The “offset fill” strategy is in many cases a better selection than raster/line fill. The results look so much better! This alone is a valuable feature for me that justifies the price of Lightburn.
- Possibility to assign different jobs to individual objects of a SVG file - huge time saver.
- UI much more powerful as compared to the relatively simplistic Luban interface.
- Good control about job settings/machine settings/GCode (Inline power, rotary module, Z-level etc.).
- The Lightburn team is open to suggestions/improvements and very responsive.
Things I’d like to have better:
- Inline power seems to me buggy - but I last tested a while ago, maybe that’s not true anymore.
- Job handling as far as I get it does not allow bulk changes - so when managing many jobs, and I want to change the same setting in all, it is very cumbersome (may be my ignorance here…)
- Z-shaping: I’d love to be able to input a STL model or so and have the GCode make sure that the laser follows this shape, always staying in focus. Goal: Laser on a non-flat object. Both for 3- and 4-axis laser jobs. (Again: Maybe it is there already and I am ignorant, since I yet did not have the need)
I’m the type of user that sends jobs to the machine and starts them from the touchscreen, so all the nice direct control features are not of importance to me.
EDIT: A problem I had is that Lightburn shoots out GCode with relative positioning. When I pause a job, Snapmaker switches to absolute movement, and resuming the job is not working anymore. This is a while ago, but if this is still the case, I’d love to have this fixed.
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For me the Run boundary is not working properly. Works this for you?
But for sure I purchased it. There are many free projects with different colored paths which are really easy to use on lightburn, but a pain with luban.
This was an on and off thing. It worked, then Snapmaker introduced the necessity to have the GCode-comment lines stating the boundaries in the GCode, which broke it, then Lightburn adjusted, and the last time I tried it, it worked again.
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I can’t seem to make it work with the Artisan at all.
If you not wan’t updates after a year, you don’t have extra costs.
https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/how-the-lightburn-license-works
The license is for 3 computers. 30$/year isn’t very much. I pay before the expire date and become 14 months updates and service.
What I wan’t, not limited to LB, in place of the air assist a electronic valve to use an extern compressor for more airflow then the air assist.
Please show me the page where it is 30$/year.
Holy moly, they do seem to have raised their prices considerably! I seem to remember I paid ~50€ when I got it about three years ago…
Have you ‘how the license works’ read.
How much is another year of updates? If you choose to renew for another year of updates, the price is $30. If you renew before your license expires, we’ll add an extra two months. You can renew from this page. At the " Add a Year of Updates to your LightBurn License Key" it is 34,6€.
Not 100% sure but it is since October that the prices are raised after many years.
I don’t reject the company’s decision to no support Linux, but that lack is the main reason why I don’t use LightBurn. I’ve had my fill of both Windows and Mac.
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I would like a manual from Snapmaker with which I can use the full potential of LightBurn a How To guide what has to be set where and how because the thread here is totally overcrowded with commands and now quite confusing!
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I use Lightburn quite a lot for the other fiber and diode lasers. I connected it to the A350 but never gave it a go. I’ll have to hook it up and see how it works.
As a long-time Linux-only household, I finally gave in and bought a $200 surplus Lenovo laptop to use just for all these devices. It’s much easier to control consumer-grade stuff if you have access to a Windows box, and I’d rather use Windows for that purpose than Android.
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A total normal decision from a little company. Windows is on >70% computers OS. Mac on 15% and Linux only on 4%. Will you make a paid program for 4% or for 70% of the computers?
For steering the SM laser I have a cheap laptop. A refurbished is more then enough. Win 10 and no internet connection is good for many years.
Again, I don’t reject that they decided not to support Linux. But that lack of support is the main reason why I don’t and won’t use LightBurn and since the question was asked, I answered honestly. I’m sure I’m losing out more than they are as a company.
But I’m done bending to the will of my computers, jumping through hoops to stop the spying, constant security issues, extremely opinionated UIs, etc. I want my computers to serve me. I refuse to keep around some random computer with Windows just to run LightBurn. I’m done with all of that. I won’t do laser at all before I’ll do that.
But, if I were creating a paid program, I’d probably try to shoot for close to 100% of the computers.
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Looking at the Lightburn page, I see this:
So, even if they not “officially” support Linux - as long as it runs, why bother? Did anyone try this? I certainly will try soon, since I am in the progress of migrating away from Windows to Linux.
My understanding is that 1.7 is the last version that will support Linux. Linux support to end after v1.7 - OS Specific - LightBurn Software Forum. The next version will not have alternative downloads for Linux at all.
Maybe I can get it to work with Wine but frankly I’m trying to simplify and as soon as you bring up Wine, “simple” goes out the window.
Just to be clear, I’m not bitter that LightBurn made this decision. I wish them all the best. And I’ll probably continue to use 1.7 on Linux for a bit longer even though the software has no future for me. But after that I won’t be using LightBurn anymore and dropping support is the reason why. I’ll limp along with Luban or something else or give up on the laser function entirely.
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Hello I have an Artisan with the rotary module and all the lasers except the 1600mw. I use them all with Lightburn BUT it’s hell having to use
“lamentable DIY”, which leads to enormous waste of time and very poor security. It is quite unbearable for me to often be obliged, without wasting time, to use my Neje laser (well compatible with Lightburn!) instead of the Artisan, to do certain somewhat “special/sharp” jobs. . For months, on several occasions, I have detailed various problems to Snapmaker and asked for their resolution but obviously this does not seem to interest management at all.
Let’s not talk about Luban (laser) which is a kind of cute toy that only allows so few things.
In summary:
Before talking about optimization (which assumes a system/software that works), I am very surprised and deeply disappointed that Snapmaker does not do the job that all other manufacturers do: make their machine really compatible and functional with Lightburn, without DIY or dangers.
This is all the less acceptable as the Artisan is a machine whose price allows us to demand that we can use it at least as completely as machines ten times less expensive!
Unfortunately, this is still not the case.