Measurement tool help

I am having issues with measurements between one side of a shape and another to have a cut circle in a rectangle, I select the right edge of the rectangle and the circle but it will not allow you to enter a distance in mm like measurement tools do in design software like CAD, fusion360 etc.

It would be great to be able place a circle say 12mm from the right edge & 4mm from the bottom edge of a rectangle (to be cut out of wood), that would hold a screw for example.

The current measurement tool doesnt seem to do it unless i am doing it wrong.
here is a feature request I put in.

You need to change your frame of reference for understanding how LightBurn works. You’re describing a parametric modeling approach used in some CAD solutions. LightBurn is not parametric. LightBurn’s model is closer to drawing applications like Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and Inkscape. This model uses snapping, alignment, distribution, and other techniques to do layout.

The measurement tool is not designed to constrain dimensions. It’s meant to provide you detailed information about the geometry of the design. I was a little confused by your post because measurement tools don’t typically do that in CAD applications either, at least from what I’ve been exposed to.

The type of placement that you’re talking about for the circle can be a little cumbersome. They can be handled using judicious use of numeric edits toolbar. I’ve developed a technique that’s more convenient for me:

  1. draw a “construction” rectangle of 4x12 mm. This assumes your distances were from circle center to edge of rectangle. If you want to go from edge of circle then add the circle radius to each dimension.
  2. place corner of “construction” rectangle at the corner of your original rectangle. Make sure to grab the corner of the “construction” rectangle to drag so that snapping will occur at the corners of both rectangles. The pointer will change to a reticle with horizontal and vertical slits to signify this.
  3. then grab the center of the circle and drag to opposite corner of “construction” rectangle. Again, the pointer should change to reticle but this time with diagonal slits to signify center.
  4. delete “construction” rectangle

That should leave you with the circle positioned where desired.

Thats a bummer as in my opinion thats all that is required to make lightburn a design software like a all in one solution and complete.

The advantage of this would be unspeakable not needing another software to design.

To be honest it wouldnt be that hard to implement measuring the distance between one point to another

I hope for you that you are still in the trial period of LightBurn and that you find the right CADCAM software for your needs. LightBurn is “only” a laser control software with rudimentary drawing capabilities.

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You may not have fully grasped my earlier reply. The software is fully capable of design. It takes a different paradigm compared to parametric. Software mustn’t be parametric for it to be capable of design. Otherwise programs like Illustrator should also be considered incapable of design.

Measurement is one thing. Constraining to a dimension is another. I see some value in having a tool that could show you distances between shapes. Note that you can check for specific placement of objects in the numeric edits toolbar. Numeric edits fields also take arithmetic input.

It has so much protential to be so much more, a design and laser control software.

With just one simple extra feature would blow the competitors out the water.

Btw i have already bought it and thought i could use fusion360 free for designing but exporting to compatable formats is a paid feature.

I have installed freecad, inkscape etc to see what ones i get along with, i like the workflow of fusion360 for 2d scetching and 3d for my 3d printer.

You may be able to use the Shaper Origin plugin to export to SVG:
Export an SVG File in Fusion 360 : 5 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables

I see it a little differently. There are few professional laser control programs on the market that can do more than LightBurn, but are not affordable for smaller private businesses or individuals. Often, real professionals use expensive CAD programs alongside laser control programs. I don’t want to and can’t invest a thousand dollars in software. For me, LightBurn is the most optimal program for constructing and controlling my laser machines. In the early years I used Inkscape alongside LightBurn but I rarely need it nowadays.
Of course there is room for improvement and new tools in LightBurn, but I would say that LightBurn’s “evolution” is extremely fast and there are so many useful construction functions in LightBurn today that cover the needs of most laser people.
I also don’t know any software company that reacts as quickly to response from us consumers as LightBurn. I have experienced that an improvement suggestion from a user is implemented in a new test version in the course of a single day!
And all that for $0.17 per day (DSP renewal)

In LightBurn, this is known as ‘Drag Measure’, and there are a few ways to do this. From the ‘Measure Tool’ and the ‘Line Tool’.

Right you are. Thanks for sharing.

Now that you mention it I do remember reading this a long time back. I shelved it in my mind for later use but apparently put it on the wrong shelf. Always nagged me because had this odd feeling like it should be possible.

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Which feature are you expressing here, exactly? If you share / described what you would like to see that you currently do not, we might be able to point you towards one of our existing solutions, or might just add it. :slight_smile:

One of the many reasons we provide a place for suggestions at the upper-right of every page here. :slight_smile:

In the first post epsilonion actually links to a feature request he created:

With context I gather he’s looking for parametric modeling capability.

Thank you. I missed that. :slight_smile:

Update: I see that Oz responded directly to this request, providing:

LightBurnSoftware - 7 hours ago – If you draw your circle on the line or corner of the rectangle, then select it, you can just enter +12mm after the existing X position value, and the software will calculate and apply that. The measure tool is for measuring - you’re looking for an exact placement tool, and we have that too.

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