When I look at the file viewer the files only show the LightBurn Logo not a thumbnail of the project.
I know no CAD, CAM or GIS program that can do what you demand. This is probably the case with most programs except images.
I believe LightBurn files are text files, so you wonât see a âpreviewâ icon.
Change the view setting on the iconâs. It needâs to be medium or bigger.
It wonât âhelpâ much. LBRN2 is not a graphics format, as @claude correctly says. It is text -based code without direct visualizable content.
Iâm not exactly sure why youâre not seeing thumbnails in Windows Explorer as there can be various causes, however it is known to be problematic sometimes. For each file type there needs to be a specific .dll file registered with Windows. Each applicationâs thumbnail .dll is usually registered whenever you install an application associated with a particular file type or types. Hereâs an example of what I see if I set the view to âExtra Large Iconsâ:
Thatâs not true, I also get thumbnails for CAD formats such as SolidWorks:
Fusion 360:
DWG:
If I find anything else out Iâll let you know.
Hope this helps.
Ok, I think Iâve found the .dll responsible for the lbrn2 thumbnail handling.
Youâd need to register this with windows by using the regsvr32 utility. However, before you try that make sure that lbrn2 files are associated with the LightBurn application. If theyâre not and they still donât show after re-associating them then you might need to do the regsvr32 thing. Iâd get confirmation from the LB team before trying that though in case itâs not the right dll.
Good luck! 
Iâd suggest not manually registering LightBurn as the application associated with .lbrn/.lbnr2 files. This in fact will break the thumbnail preview. LightBurn sets up the association and also creates the registry entries to handle the thumbnail preview.
If LightBurn has been manually associated to those filetypes then removing that association may recover the thumbnails. However, unless youâre very familiar with how the registry works in Windows Iâd suggest not playing with this.
Thatâs interesting, Iâve never seen this quoted elsewhere but is worth bearing in mind. Thanks for the info.
Itâs from early feedback on the thumbnail feature shortly after it was introduced. Take a look through some older forum content on this for context.
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Thanks for the information, Iâm a little surprised and embarrassed. Probably I have been out of touch with the programs for too long. Sorry for the confusion.
No problem. Youâre correct about it being a text based file (XML in this case) but it does have thumbnail information encoded within:
Here is a screen with small icons displayed. @bernd.dk
Here is a screen of medium icons displayed.
WIndows 11
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