LightBurn v2.1.00 RC-6 Release Candidate

Colin · March 16, 2026, 7:21pm

The third release candidate for LightBurn v2.1.00 is now available to download here:

Note: The EZCAD driver install on the last page of the installer will fail. We’ll correct that in the next RC (coming soon).

Note: Not all generated RC’s make it to public, this creates gaps in RC numbers - RC3, RC4, and RC5 for 2.1.00 never made it to public release.

Change Log for LightBurn-v2.1.00-RC-6

Changes Since LightBurn-v2.1.00-RC-2

Miscellaneous

Make Quick Nest available to Core licenses
Tweak code for fetching buy license URLs

New Features

Vendor Links Menu for Devices imported from Vendor Bundles
Add support for M73 percent and time remaining estimates for Custom GCode Machines.
Updating correct Masso gcode defaults after feedback from their support
Console log improved status query and syntax coloring
Camera lens calibration Reframe View option (labs)
Camera lens calibration AprilTag detector subpixel corner refinement (labs)
Show Custom GCode Flavor in Device List
Marlin 2.1 support in MillMage
Support for Duet / RepRap GCode Flavor

Existing Feature Updates

Better framing for 9-pt correction mode
New Community Page link added to Vendor Bundles Info & Menu
Automatic display setting adjustment updated to find best UI Font and Toolbar Icon size for the screen instead of forcing smallest sizes.
Updated BSL libraries
Added external motor current settings (Commarker Omni user rejoice! - rotary axis now holds torque)
Remove hard-coded Emblaser Pro exhaust fan commands from job start/end
Support for 2 motors for rotary, Z, etc
Increased max galvo speed to 40k mm/sec
Hide max and min power for galvo instead of just disabling.
Laser & Cuts/Layers windows smaller
9-point calibration framing improvements
Made ‘Units’ toggle clearer
Expanded MarkCfg0 parameter parsing with approximately 30 new fields
Removed Tilted Model terms from Extended Camera Calibrations
Consolidated GetListStatus/IsListDone into a single polling path with new IsProcessingList member parsed from 0x0051 (GetListStatus()) response.

Bug Fixes

SVG Import crashes when references another in
Uninitialized “insert” state caused a crash
Fixed issue causing layer palette icons to be larger than the tool buttons with certain combinations of ToolButton and Font Size.
Fixed issue with minimum font size setting increasing some UI font sizes when High DPI Scaling is enabled.
Fixed issue causing incorrect icon showing for selected layer in Cut Settings dialog layer list.
Trying to increase flexibility of Custom Gcode for non-standard GRBL firmwares.
Allow unlimited custom gcode alarm or error codes with buttons to add more rows when needed.
Job complete sound plays for BSL when using rotary or repeat marking
No job complete sound on BSL rotary
LicenseExpiringSoonDialog changed ‘will expire soon’ to ‘expires today’ on last day.
Bundle Export section titles were English-only and not being translated.
Galvo Z accel was stored / retrieved wrong
Repeat Marking, show proper Increment units to match axis type, added tooltips to the Test button.
AutoGroup was failing with trivial type of shapes like Rectangles.
AutoGroup was failing with trivial type of shapes.
Radius Tool Needs 4 decimals when using inches to behave like LB1.7.08
Radius Tool Needs 4 decimals for inches to behave like LB1.7.08
Update License ‘expiring soon’ text to ‘expires today’ on final day.
New Camera Presets for Thunder Vision network cameras had ports swapped
BSL crash on USB pull
Added missing blank icons to main window menus
Max Power label was disabled
Parse console lines for instant commands that shouldn’t end with a newline.
Fixed MacOS Hotkey modifiers for Rotation of Selection not working for 1.5 degrees (Ctrl+Shift+ , or .)
Fixed MacOS Hotkey modifiers for Rotation of Selection to use the Ctrl key instead of the Command key.
Shape Rotation for 1.5 degrees using Ctrl+shift+ , or . fixed.
GCode Real-Time Commands now send without newlines for compatible protocols
Custom GCode Marlin flavor preset had “?” GetStatus but should be “M114”
Show Q Value instead of Power% for Galvo Devices in the Cuts list
Show Q Value instead of Power% for Galvo Devices in the Cuts list.
Clean up Start Pt arrow rendering
Prevent infinite loop trying to build tabs in a shape that is too small.
Only show Q-pulse instead of power for UV galvos
Control units were not defaulting to reasonable metric value
Custom GCode was not properly using rotary mode
Fixed crash by using a lowercase @p or @t in a pause message.
Support extended real-time commands for GRBL and grblHAL
Send real-time console commands even when busy
Combine repetitions of real-time commands in console log
Shape properties would not populate correctly when switching between certain shape types directly.
Operations Library view was not being refreshed by units change
Fixed protocol type checks using DisplayName instead of protocol identifier
Fixed laser PWM count clock threshold (was comparing kHz value against 1000000 instead of 1000)
Fixed scan delay calculation missing LaserOff time component
Fixed COR file header offset causing incorrect field parsing
BSL fiber Z homing was using ZMotorIndex instead of ZAccelTime for acceleration
Prevent “Missing GCode For selected settings” warning in Device Settings dialog when inherited placeholder is valid
Add space after emitting G53
Handle malformed xml data better and report more issues without crashing when loading a damaged or incorrect file.
Some escaped characters were causing strings to visually repeat in the console log
New Device Wizard should reset Dwell when a new Flavor is chosen
GRBL M3 Flavor jog panel got broken when switching from another Flavor that had continuous jog
FluidNC support was missing some connections
SVG with OffsetFill didn’t export correctly
Fixed some galvo framing issues

Code Refactors

Reworked Vendor Bundle Info into a GridLayout so it will center properly
Bundle manifest JSON had some extra useless fields leaking in, they have been suppressed.
Make printed line width behavior of PrintShapes match standard Document Print function
Replace uses of ENG.pUserDevice with pDevicePtr in protocol classes
Uninitialized values in ParseProbe
Moved extra commands from Protocol_GCode_Custom::GetAbortCommand() to Stop()
Remove repeated code in Protocol_XTool
Further fixes to Position Queries on both real-time and command-line gcode protocols
Faster quit from gcode thread loops
Deprecate old camera lens calibration wizard
Add LE_DeviceReconnect and send event from device settings dialog
GCode Thread protocol checks

User Interface Updates

Fixed Focus Light tooltip for BSL Fiber
New Warning icon added with better contrast at smaller sizes.
Renamed Reverse Z checkbox to Invert Z Galvo to clarify it controls galvo coordinate direction

aureliend2000 · March 19, 2026, 4:30pm

Hi,

Does it mean that when the stable version will be released, core licenses will get the access to the nesting function?

Would be a nice idea because in the past, there was no question, you were buying the core license, you had access to all functions.

But if you start making some functions available for pro licenses only , you would have to provide some decision chart to help users understand which functions they get or not with pro/core. For the moment there was only one function considered, but maybe you would add more one day…

I must say I just learned by luck that nesting was going to be restricted to pro licenses when I read the 2.1.00 RC announcement in “News and updates” blog but it is mentioned nowhere else I think, and not everybody read the blog before buying a license (and checking all the news to have a global overview of what is included or not in what you buy is not a valid solution).

Thanks.

JTR · March 19, 2026, 6:20pm

This is in the works.

Dskall · March 19, 2026, 6:42pm

Looks like you are moving from paying more for advanced controllers to paying more for anything more than basic functionality.

JTR · March 19, 2026, 7:54pm

The logic behind charging more for advanced controllers and advanced features is the same — both take a lot more effort and development time to support, so we charge a bit more for them. That’s how we keep the lights on around here.

We will be making some features Pro-only very sparingly, and only when the features in question require a great deal of development time to implement. We have only one design/layout feature currently planned as Pro-only — that will be True Nesting, when it’s ready. Quick Nest was originally planned as Pro-only, but we decided to move it to Core.

rox · March 19, 2026, 8:37pm

Hello there =)

Topic: EZCAD3

.cor files:

EZCAD3 offers not only a 3x3 point calibration, but also, for example, 64x64 points. LightBurn currently only supports 3x3, is it possible to load .cor files with, say, a 64x64 point calibration? That would significantly improve field accuracy, which would make me very happy.

Z-stepping:

In a video from a YouTuber, I saw a version that offered more options, such as reversing the rotation direction or inverting the limit switch signal. I can’t seem to find these options in this release candidate.

There also doesn’t seem to be an input field for component heights yet, right? So currently you can only move up or down using the fixed value defined in the settings, or am I missing something? What does the EZ3 setting “Scanner (Galvo) Type” mean? I assume “Invert Z Galvo” is intended for focus shifters.

I’m very excited about the release, and many of our customers will love it. However, to make Z-stepping truly useful, it would be great to be able to set a home offset and then define component heights within the layers. I hope that’s coming next

Great work!

MikeyH · March 19, 2026, 8:41pm

This concept is not unique to Lightburn. Many software packages have tiers with different price levels. This should not be an issue worth discussing.

SUPPORT is the key word here. As features get more complex, less will the Forum members be able to provide the level of support required. This makes the development team be more active in supporting, leaving less time for product development and bug killing.

parsec · March 19, 2026, 9:52pm

Is this icon supposed to be here for a GRBL device (Ruida or TopWisdom)?

Clicking it only works with a Galvo Device.

LightBurn · March 19, 2026, 9:57pm

This isn’t remotely true, and it’s honestly disheartening that you’d think it. The mention of a single feature that will be released as “pro only” does not imply that we’re going to be moving toward maximum capitalism.

Full nesting was always going to be charged for in some way because it’s really hard. The original plan was to make everyone pay for it (make it an add on), but we decided it would be less confusing overall to just include it with the Pro version.

JessN · March 20, 2026, 1:41pm

My understanding is that a 25-point calibration tool is on the roadmap.

Z axis control can be found in the ports and laser settings:

rox · March 20, 2026, 2:22pm

Hello Jess, thank you very much. Unfortunately, that doesn’t answer my questions.

What I’m trying to understand is whether multi-point .cor files (out of ezcad Calibration Wizard) with more than a 3x3 grid are accepted by LightBurn, and how the Z-axis is controlled with different part heights.

Best regards and have a nice weekend.

JessN · March 20, 2026, 3:55pm

Hmm, have you tried importing your COR file into your settings?

Device Settings: Galvo and Basic Settings - LightBurn Documentation.

It would appear the documentation is incomplete at this time as to how the how the Z-axis is controlled with different part heights.

Please test out the RC and email us with the details. This way we can assess everything and create reports for the developers to address. We will also update the documentation as soon as we are able to.

ednisley · March 20, 2026, 7:49pm

Would it be feasible to have Update Overlay force the Show / Hide Background toggle to Show?

I generally run with the camera background hidden so I can see the design, show the background for positioning, hide it to made changes to the design & material, hit Update Overlay to verify the positioning, then mutter under my breath as I hit the toggle to show the background.

bernd.dk · March 21, 2026, 2:45pm

I still get this error message.
MacOS - LB-RC6

parsec · March 21, 2026, 10:25pm

Messing with this file after a quick Sketch Trace.

If I select Fill All the Preview is ok.

If I select the other options the Preview has a bug.

Preview_bug.lbrn2 (753.5 KB)

micrololin · March 22, 2026, 12:12am

Just for grins I opened this in 1.7.0.8. Acts the same. I moved a line here and it works as advertised.

bernd.dk · March 22, 2026, 6:21am

The little bug still lives

DaniilGorid · March 24, 2026, 3:17pm

Crop dosnt work for 16bit image(i mean 3d slice mode) if i crop image it convert to 8bit, i think that because if i tryed to set 512 layer cropped image have doubled layers. And cleaning layers doubled to