Can you suggest any apps that might be better> They’re really hard to find
Can you suggest any apps that might be better? They’re really hard to find
Can you elaborate on the question? Better at what specific things? What are your goals?
“better” at what? LB is an all-in-one package that does most things most people need quite well. For complex or higher-precision geometric/mechanical/assembly/system design, any CAD software is a better DESIGN solution. For compex image manipulation, a full featured graphics program is better. Raster ≠ Vector. Either way you’ll still need a program to generate the g-code. Not sure what’s out there for that.
At work we design in Siemens NX (in 3D), flatten/unfold, export DXF, and nest in Optimation. This is for Trumpf lasers which I don’t operate. Not sure what software is used for laser control/planning. Probably something Trumpf sells.
At a previous job that only did mill/turn we used Inventor and EdgeCAM.
From a basically functionality standpoint, I do 90% of the same at home with a basic CAD package, Gimp and Inkscape, LB, and nesting by hand. I haven’t tried Deepnest, but SVGNest doesn’t give me satisfactory results.
How deep are your pockets? How serious is your need?
Your question has no answer because you do not specify WHY Lightburn does not meet your needs.
@FeliciaHuff, welcome. I see you have asked the same question twice. Please do not post the same this more than once. It requires more work than necessary. Thank you.
As others have asked, tell us more about the goals you have and what you would like to accomplish that you are finding unsatisfactory. You can post images, illustrations, and additional words to help us “see” what you envision as “better”.
Don’t mind the others - we’re ok with questions like this, but as mentioned, “better” is subjective.
If you’re looking for packages that are better at artwork tasks, anything meant for vector graphic design would work - InkScape (free), Affinity Designer, CorelDraw, or Adobe Illustrator.
If you want more mechanical design (CAD), NanoCad, Fusion360, or similar apps mentioned by Chris would be better.
LightBurn was never intended to be either of these things; in fact, it was never really intended for design at all, but the design features are popular. They’ve improved over time, so it suits the basics quite well now, but we’re very aware that better options exist for more specific types of work.
Welcome here in the Forum, where we exchange ideas and knowledge of laser technology and lightburn, I am excited and will be delighted with your posetive/constructive inputs in the future.
You might want to take a look at Vectorstyler for 2D work - it’s as powerful as Illustrator (if not more so) - is very cheap - is also multi-platform. It’s extremely powerful for arty-farty stuff and outstanding for low level “CAD” type applications (cars/boats/train/plane models etc).
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