Hi, new user here, planning to migrate from RD Works (not a Windows fan) and have been running the trial for a few days.
One nice feature in Lightburn is the “Fill+Line” layer which I’ve been able to figure out and works well. My question is-
I have two layers, in order in the layer window from top to bottom:
Layer 1 is using C05 and set to Fill+Line.
Layer 2 is using C01 and set to Line.
When the cut starts, it does the fill as expected, but then jumps to the Line cut of the second layer. I was expected it to do the fill (engrave) first, then do the outline cut all from layer 1, then do my final through cut of layer 2.
Am I doing something wrong or is this the expected behavior?
Ideally, I want the design to do the surface engraved fill and outline, then the final through cut of the completed part. Any advice would be great.
Double check that you have “Order by Layer” enabled. Click the Optimization Settings button in the Laser window, and make sure Order by Layer is the first option. If it is already, let me know and we’ll log this as a bug.
Thanks @LightBurn. I previewed it and it looks as though it’s working correctly in preview. I had optimize cut path switched off (RDWorks gets a bit strange with it on). As soon as I turned it on and verified the order you mentioned, it previewed fine. I’ll reply if it doesn’t work as expected on the laser when I fire it up tomorrow.
LightBurn’s cut planner is quite flexible. This is worth a watch:
In general, “Order by Layer”, “Cut Inside Shapes First”, and “Reduce Travel Moves” are kind of a baseline. The others can be experimented with to reduce overall cutting time, machine wear, or make the cut order more predictable.