Any way to do anything like a "virtual weld" or "group with union" - without permanently merging them?

LightBurn Software Questions
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I’m looking for something that would allow combining separate elements for the purpose of a union cut (no interior lines), but without losing the ability to individually control/edit the shapes.

More concrete example, picture having a part for a “hook/tab” that is of a fixed known size (such as for insertion into a slot). I’d like to weld that onto the two sides of another piece. If I actually weld, it all becomes a single piece and then I can’t resize the core/central piece without distorting the hook/tab. If I do NOT union/weld it - then it will result in cutting itself off since the outside lines still exist at the point where it would overlap/join.

A possible implementation coule be a layer/cut mode option of “union all overlapping closed elements” would work.

Another would be “Group w/ [Union/Intersect/Subtract]” - where it behaves like a group (where it can be ungrouped at any time), but functions as the joining/welding operation on the layer.

Is there any suggested workflow for what I’m describing?

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As a rule I always duplicate the shapes and set aside when going to try something.
In your case you could try duplicate and set aside and resize then place your tabs so that you always have a backup shape.

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What you’re looking for is much more like construction history in a CAD application. LightBurn does not have such a thing.

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Yeah, it’s less about losing the parts (I will have them in the art library for that) - and more about “not having to disassemble the engine every time I want to adjust a setting”.

I put in a feature request for a “Group w/ Function” capability that builds off of the current group by, but retains the individual elements. No idea if this is even remotely practical to implement, but would be useful.

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Sounds like you’re looking for something like Affinity’s “Compound”:

https://affinity.help/publisher2/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/ObjectControl/join.html&title=Joining%20objects

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