Does anyone have a clue on how to use Luban for getting or creating files for Laser cutting/etching?! Every file format I bring in from Illustrator comes in as one layer/object with no ability to change line properties. How the hell do you use it if you have no control over anything?
Also, the reason I am bringing art in from Illustrator is because the Luban Draw app is COMPLETELY USELESS!! No drag select, no copy paste, NO UNDO. Who the hell is perfect when they are creating art?
@Atom Heās already made art in Illustrator, are you suggesting thereās a laser control plugin for Inkscape, or youāre suggesting only using Lightburn? I donāt quite follow.
Iām all for using LightBurn, but I have not installed it yet as I literally got my printer up and runningā¦this morning. Iām an illustrator guy so I use it for almost everything vector. It can save to many formats (dxf is particularly useful). The problem with Luban is, as you say, is that it is almost completely useless.
The problem I have is that i have had enough time to try other stuff out. Can you connect directly to the 2.0 from LightBurn? I saw in the chats earlier that someone had connected their 1.0, but I didnāt see anything yet about the 2.0.
How do I get files from LightBurn to the 2.0? what format do I use? Is there a format available in LightBurn that is not available in something like Illustrator? what format is 2.0 looking for? I have not seen much in that area.
Iād love to know more about your experience with LightBurn. Tell me more, tell me more (āDid you get very farā?)
Sorry I misunderstood.
brent, I am not aware of any gcode plug-in for illustrator.
Gkean13,
Lightburn will work for 2.0. It does not connect to the printer directly as far as I am aware. But it can generate the gcode needed. And that is the difference, the SM (and most other computer controlled fabrication equipment) run on various flavors of gcode. Gcode is in short a list of directions/commands for the machine to fallow.so an analogy would be; If the .svg is a map with a marked location, gcode is turn by turn directions to get there from wherever you are (home ). Then you simply put it on a flash drive and print from the touch screen. If you need more help let me know. Iām a bit tired tonight but I would be more than happy to help in the morning.
Cheers,
-Atom
Luban actually works fine for laser as long as youāre prepping your files in another program. (just starting to play with Lightburn and can see itās appeal)
For cutting you need to use an .svg.
For engraving you can use svg, png, jpg, jpeg, bmp or dxf.
Create your artwork as layers in Illustrator or Inkscape or any other vector program.
Then you can just export whatever layers/elements you want to have different settings for as separate files.
Export paths you want to cut as svg.
Export whatever you want to engrave as any of the above formats (I prefer png)
Hereās an example of one I did as 3 parts (sorry donāt have a cutting one right now):
The letters are one file (svg filled) The house and laurels are png with two different powers.
I exported all of them at the same size from Affinity Designer (great Illustrator clone thatās $50) and imported all 3 into luban. Adjusted their settings individually and then printed them all at once (technically they print as 3 different passes).
-S
Luban only understands part of the SVG file format. Stick with simple filled paths only (a quick test shows that it doesnāt really understand stroke properties, even if it displays them correctly in some views), and donāt expect Luban to act as anything but an SVG to gcode converter. If you must arrange objects individually from inside Luban, try saving them to different files, then import one at a time.
(Illustrator, in my experience, also has a rather imperfect understanding of the SVG format, but hopefully that isnāt the problem in this case.)
If you use multiple files based on a single piece, how do you arrange for lining everything up? just write down the work location values and re-enter if you have to?
Drag them in and they should center automatically.
If not, right click and you can select āreference positionā -> ācenterā
They should all be the same size if you exported them as the same size.
You can select them in the object list and change their size if you need to.
You might need to āpreviewā to see them all at once - especially if any of them are on white backgrounds.
-S
.svg AND .dxf, the only two formats this idiot program actually understands, and it gets it wrong whether in mm or inches. How can they, in good conscience, release this hopeless piece of garbage as the only application that can actually talk to this device.
It is not, any marlin console can talk to the SM2. The best i have heard of is Simplify3D (aka. S3D) It is a slicer and an interface. There are others as well such as ponterface.
Thatās fine and good, but Simplify3D is, well, for 3D interaction. Does it work for managing the laser portion of the SM2? Is there a decent 2D application that can talk to the SM2? The 2D layout portion of the Luban software is virtually useless. You literally canāt even draw a line, only shapes.
I have and I wasnāt able to make any kind of connection. The software looks awesome, but it didnāt see the SM2 when I connected to it via USB as instructed. If there is another way or some other thing I have to do, it would be greatly appreciated.
Unfortunately I have not worked with laser engravers much so I donāt know of any other options. Is there a reason you need it to connect directly to the printer?
Iām having the same issues with file formats, itās comforting to see Iām not the only one. Spent HOURS just trying to get a very simple line file to open correctly in Luban. Iāve tried all the ācompatibleā file formats, from both Illustrator and Inkscape. I either get blank/white boxes, or files that are entirely too small, which then get pixelated when I increase to the correct size.
Iāve tried the last 3 versions of Luban. 8 has been the best, but still doesnāt work. Is spending MORE money to buy something like lightburn seriously the only solution? I"m really regretting buying this machine.
And itās the exact same issues with the CNC files.
Can anybody tell me what a proven path is to get an Illustrator file into Luban, or any other software I donāt have to pay for? Iāve tried using Inkscape with no luck.
Luban has a lot of problems but the simple things it does fine.
Iāve had no problems with importing svg files from both Inkscape and Affinity Designer ($50 illustrator clone) as long as they were prepared properly in those programs. (We can argue whether it shouldnāt matter, but Iāve had the same problems in Easel and other CNC programs, so Luban isnāt the only one)
Sorry I donāt have illustrator anymore, wasnāt compatible with new mac and too expensive, but principleās should be the same.
All the layers or elements need to be converted to paths or curves. If theyāre bitmap or raster than they wonāt be handled properly. In Designer I select the text and āconvert to curvesā. In Inkscape, I select āobject to pathā. I can tell if something is correct in Inkscape by selecting the āedit path by nodesā
If I click on the object or text, I can then see that itās a path:
One thing that Inkscape is really great at is converting bitmap artwork or logos from a jpeg or png file to vector:
). Then you simply put it on a flash drive and print from the touch screen. If you need more help let me know. Iām a bit tired tonight but I would be more than happy to help in the morning.
