I recently purchased a 2023 MacBookPro with the M3 chip set. The computer and LB are current.
I typically work in photoshop where I make paths and then export to AI.
The AI files are saved in a folder then imported to Lightburn.
I have been using Photoshop since '93 and have a good process that has worked for a long time.
On this new computer and newly installed LB software I can not figure out what is wrong.
In the file settings I do have the “72 dpi - Illustrator” button selected in the “LB File Settings”
I typically work in grayscale at 1000dpi. I scan or draw designs then arrange and re size them as needed. Photoshop has a make path button that will convert any selections to a work path. Most of my work has many parts which are designed and nested for laser cutting prior to making the path. I would like to make the path in photoshop so all the object sizes are accurate.
In addition to trying to export from photoshop with my current setup, I have also tried to import older .AI files that have worked for 10 years on the Rueda Laserwoks program.
Thank in advance for help and suggestions.
Laser - Shenhui 900 x 1200 with one 60watt General tube and one 150 Watt Reci Tube.
I don’t know the answer, but I understand the problem because I have the same issue on my MacBook. I’ve found that exporting Illustrator Photoshop paths and then importing them into Lightburn doesn’t yield any results - it doesn’t even create a layer. However, I’ve found a workaround. By opening the exported path in Illustrator, I can use the “Select All” option to assign a stroke thickness. After saving the file, it appears with the same name but with “[Converted]” added at the end. This file imports correctly into Lightburn.
Thanks for the import to illustrator tip. I do not have illustrator, so that won’t work. I did find stroke options for path export in photoshop but that doesn’t work either. I have also tried to us an online converter to convert the .ai files to .svg, but I get and error from each of the 3 services I tried. could I be having a photoshop problem?
I also tried to import older .ai files that had previously been used in “laserworks” and those would also not open when imported to Lightburn.
Thanks for the suggestions. Marty
I’ve tried importing your two .AI files into Affinity Designer, InkScape and CorelDraw 2018. Affinity imports without error but there’s no geometry. InkScape errors with both files and fails to load either. CorelDraw opens both without error. The ellipse is an ellipse (albeit a bit rough) and the other file comes in very rough:
Ralph is exactly correct here. This is your ellipse file as text:
%AI3_Note:<< /operation /xor /defaultFill false >>
1 XR
35.4960 53.7840 m
47.6616 53.9857 56.1354 48.9768 60.1920 41.0400 c
62.9110 35.7202 62.9979 28.6270 59.9760 23.4720 c
55.9748 16.6463 49.5709 13.0995 40.3200 11.4480 c
36.9859 10.8528 32.7431 11.3459 30.0240 12.0960 c
19.3383 15.0440 6.9260 25.4143 13.1760 39.8880 c
15.8341 46.0436 21.4540 50.3749 28.1520 52.4880 C
29.8078 52.8480 31.4642 53.2080 33.1200 53.5680 C
33.9119 53.6400 34.7041 53.7120 35.4960 53.7840 C
n
The final command, ‘n’ means, ‘neither stroke nor fill’, so because no visible operation is performed, the shape is discarded. If I change it to an ‘s’ (stroke the shape), it imports like this:
Here is an example of some pieces designed using the make path button in Photoshop. The model was cut into thin pieces of card stock that were then glued together and textured with sculpt clay before being molded in silicon and moved through the metal casting process. Getting the measurements right is an important component of successful casting.
I tried changing there file name to .txt then changing the “n” to an “s” then renaming back to .ai, and then opening in LightBurn. That works with a single shape, but not with a file made from several shapes. I tried using several different selection modes in photoshop and that didn’t work. The fish conchos probably had 6-10 layers, and they all have to fit together, so I am still hoping to find a way to make the photoshop vectors via "make path export to illustrator work. Thanks for all the suggestions.
