Scan multiple items in one movement work around

Running an ortur machine but I think this will probably work on non grbl non diode machines.

Basically I have an image and a frame, ( 2 separate items and layers in LightBurn one a .jpg, the other a .svg)
I wanted a raster scan of the image and a fill of the frame however the software wanted to run the image and then run the frame, this nearly doubled my laser time. I found that if I converted the image and frame together into a bitmap
(select the items, >> edit >> convert to bitmap)
it would run both of them simultaneously. This saved me several hours of laser time.

This likely only is a viable solution if both your items are able to be ran with the same settings, if you need the frame and image to have individual settings I doubt this would be a viable solution.

That sounds like a good tip Jamie, thanks for sharing.

If the frame was done as “Flood Fill”, or our new / upcoming “Offset Fill” it would not traverse the white space in the frame, and would likely make the times pretty close.

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Just checked out the flood fill option, and that’s definitely the quickest. My times went initially with no options at ~14hrs >> ~10hrs with the bitmap workaround >> ~7.5hrs with flood fill. Can’t believe I forgot about that function. I Imagine the difference is so big because the frames footprint is quite a bit larger than the actual image. As ever thanks for keeping everyone in line with the best ways to use the software, your efforts are really seriously appreciated.

Be careful with flood fill. Its not always the greatest option. try a test or two first. maybe on a smaller version of the image or something. But flood fill can leave unwanted lines and clear start and stop points at times. I personally avoid flood fill

@Mrrick386 - You have a CO2 laser, which is quite a bit faster. For diode users, flood fill can save a lot of time, but you usually have to run it with slightly smaller interval, to avoid the gaps from bouncing around. Standard raster fill will always give the cleanest result, but if you’re trying to save time, flood can sometimes be a good option.

We have a new feature coming with the next release called ‘Offset Fill’ which follows the contours of your shapes, similar to offset pockets with CNC routers, which might be a still better choice when possible. https://lightburnsoftware.github.io/NewDocs/CutSettingsWindow.html#offset-fill-mode

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I see. yeah, i forgot that using that with my diode deft did help. been awhile since i’ve ran that machine. That offset fill sounds like a winner! looking forward to the next release!

Offset fill is a little weird - It’s hard to get the offsets spaced as perfectly as raster scans, so there will be more variation in the shading, and the speed can change a lot too, but it should prove useful for some things.

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