I am a member of a community makerspace with a Boss Laser. They have a computer there with Lightburn installed on it with the proper licensing for that laser. However, I would like to explore the capabilities of Lightburn, learn what you can do with it and become a skilled user, and design my own engraving patterns on my own time at home so that all I have to do is save my design to a flash drive, bring it to the makerspace, and open it there with Lightburn so that I can burn it. I don’t want to have to go to the makerspace and spend hours on the machine there just playing in the software and learning how to use it.
Since I do not need any actual laser controller because the computer that will actually be doing the engraving already has it and I just want to learn to use the software… What version do I need? Is there some free or low-cost version I can download just to get good with it? Can I just download the demo and not worry about the time limit because the limit will only prevent me from doing the actual engraving and not designing the pattern?
Sorry for the newbie questions, and thanks in advance for the help.
normally LB software license can cover almost 2 PC, if in your makerspace have used only one of those license, you can kindly ask if you can use the second one at home
You can have the space contact us via email to support@lightburnsoftware.com for MakerSpace discounts for individual copies for this exact purpose. You will want to create a device profile for the Boss when working from home and ensure you have the exact same fonts (or convert text to paths) so your files produce as expected.
My makerspace does offer a discount on the Lightburn software, but I thought that was for if you had a laser of your own, either as a hobby or otherwise. I know they sell small-scale personal lasers for like $200-300. I figured the license was for the ability to send it to the laser and controlling the actual burning. I didn’t realize the charge was to just learn how to use it and create the actual burn images. I’m unemployed and trying to use my makerspace to find a way to make some money, so I’m a bit limited in my ability to buy it for myself at the moment. I guess I’ll continue trying to get some time to use it on the PC at the makerspace for now.
No, in that case, you would need a full license for personal use.
Yes, The laser at the MakerSpace. This is exactly that. The idea behind the MakerSpace offer is to generously provide each active member the ability to utilize LightBurn on their personal computer systems. This way they might do their prep work in a convenient way for them, freeing up time on the shared resources at the space.
Freeing up time on the shared resources at the space is key. There’s only one computer in the laser lab at my makerspace, and we have more than one laser, so making sure it isn’t in use any more than necessary is something we all appreciate. Thank you guys for keeping that in mind. I’ll be buying the “Lite” license as soon as finances allow.
