Is It Possible to Widen A Line?

Please once again help a non-technical gray headed old man… I was hoping to be able to make a line “Wider” or “Heavier” similar to


letters in Word… I have truly searched every nook n cranny trying to find an answer to no avail… I am using LightBurn Version 1.7.04 on HP running Windows 11… My Laser is a Creality 10w CR Laser Falcon… Would very much appreciate any aid or guidance to making my border a bit heavier…

The simplest way is to use the offset tool. You can expand it in one direction only or both directions. Then you have to use the fill mode to engrave.
Here are the Docs.

If you only want it a skosh wider you might be able to run it with the laser defocused slightly. You would probably need to increase the power a bit as well.

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Thank You so much, Sir!!.. Will review your attahcment and really appreciate your advice…

I followed directions to the Tools > Offset Shapes but Offset Shapes is Ghosted… Does this mean I cannot modify my current rectangle but need to delete and make new one??

Is your line a line that was drawn or is it part of an image you imported?

I used the Box or Rectangle from LightBurn Program to draw the rectangle for border

Did you selectthe rectangle?
Do you have the rectangle locked? I can’t think of any other reason why the tool would be grayed out. Even if it was grouped with other elements it would still work.

Well I didn’t lock on purpose but stuff happens when I am near a computer that NASA couldn’t explain… I’ll see if that is the culprit and if not then I will just delete the box and follow directions for a new one… THank You very much…

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Just to add another option, if you have a design that is (or can be made to be) an SVG and has a line that you want to widen, that’s a trivial operation in Inkscape (the free, cross-platform SVG editor).

  1. Open the SVG in Inkscape.
  2. Change the “stroke” on your line (“path”) to however thick a line you want.
  3. Select the path.
  4. Click the “Path” menu and choose “Stroke to Path” (Ctrl-Alt-C).
  5. Save your altered SVG and bring it back into LightBurn.

The “stroke to path” option takes the rendered path (with all its styling) and turns it into a filled shape that can be burned with whatever LightBurn methods you’d like. This is a lot more powerful than trying to approximate the same thing using LightBurn’s offset tool, which is great for many things but which is not built for turning path styling into shapes.

There’s a reason so many of us love using Inkscape and LightBurn together. LightBurn is advanced enough to do most things really well, and Inkscape is the cool best friend you call up when you need something just a bit more. :nerd_face:

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Option 3:
… If it is a relatively simple Shape as a frame of an image or similar and it is possible to put it on its own layer, then I sometimes change the focus (reasonably much) for a good thick line. A little testing and you will find the right setting.

Thank You, Sir!!.. Really appreciate the help as I am not even good enough to be called a Novice as yet… Will get Inkscape and pay with it for future projects!!

Thank You, Sir… Is " Change Focus" a LightBurn function??

You are welcome,

No not yet ;-), no serious, focus should always be correct, but in some cases I put this principle out of operation. E.g. If it is a very trivial fill project or, as in your example, then I will bring my laser out of focus to achieve the desired effect.

I have laser on cnc so just have to put in Z offset and wala.

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Your issue is in your layer settings for that layer. When the layer is set to “line” the software will only either score or cut, depending on the power that the layer is set to.

Change that layer to “fill” and then offset your line the distance that you want your line thickness to be. For example, if you want a 1/16" line, make your offset either that 1/16" to the inside or outside -OR- set your offset to “both” and offset 1/32". Offsetting to “both” will offset the same distance in each direction giving you DOUBLE the thickness requested. If you offset in only one direction, turn off “Delete original objects.” If you offset in both directions, turn “Delete original objects” ON. Your goal is to end up with two rectangles, one inside the other, with the distance between them the thickness of the line that you wish to engrave.

Obviously, when you change your layer to “fill,” you will most likely need to change your power and speed to compensate so you’re not incinerating your material!

Inkscape is free!

For the software challenged like me Inkscape is intimidating.
I wish they had an option to hide the myriad of functions and take away all the niche addons. Sometimes open software can suffer from overload.

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I think he ment play with it and not pay.:grin:

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