I am engraving tags automatically with my fiber laser. There is a conveyor that feeds the blanks till it is in position to engrave. A digital output then signals Lightburn to “start” (like a footswitch). When complete the next tag is moved into place and the process starts over.
I am using a CSV file to engrave variable text on each tag. I would like the process to stop at the end of the CSV file or the “end” as programmed in the variable text setup window. When it reaches the end now it resets to the first tag in the CSV file and continues.
Is there a way for Lightburn to ignore a “start” input when the variable text has reached the “end” tag or end of the CSV file?
In the Galvo Framing window (the window that pops up before you start the job), enable the Stop At switch and set the value to the number you’d like it to stop at in the CSV.
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I searched last night but did not find that. Thanks. Just what i needed.
What release was this option added? I am running 1.5.06. This does not show up in my galvo framing window. Not sure I can update since I am running Win7.
It was added in version 1.7, which is compatible with Windows 7.
You can download 1.7.08 (the last 1.7 release) here:
Unfortunately I am running 32 bit operating system not 64. May have to change OS.
If buying a new computer, at this time, would it be best to go with Windows 10 or 11 OS?
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For future readiness Windows 11 would be a better choice. Windows 10 has gone the way of the dodo.
That being said, you really do not need a powerful computer to run LightBurn. A mini PC or lightweight laptop with a relatively modern 64bit CPU will work quite well.
More RAM is better, 8GB minimum but 16 or higher is best.
Unfortunately, this count and “stop at” in the framing window doesn’t really have any relationship to variable text index or its “start” and “end” values. Further, the “stop at” value resets every time you close that window and is not remembered.
Honestly the current “start” and “end” functionality of the variable text feature seem like a bug to me. What you have instead have two points on an “A-B loop” player. I can think of very few scenarios where you would you would want the indexing to loop around like this. At the minimum make a check box to turn on this functionality if you need it. Otherwise hitting the “end” index value should end the variable text indexing and stop the auto-advance function and stop the automated marking process if you are running one. If you are using this to mark thousands of unique serial numbers it can be catastrophic to loop around like this instead of just stopping.
While we welcome suggestions on improving our features and UI, this is certainly not a bug.
We provide a site for users to vote for new features. You can search to see if these suggested have been requested, and vote them up, or add them so others can vote their support as well. This helps us prioritize which features to direct development time toward.
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You have fields named Start and End, but they are not the start or end, just two boundary points on an endless loop. I see two reasons that somone might use a CSV file and index through it to do marking:
[1] (my case) - you have a series of serial numbers you need to mark, which you most definitely do not want to repeat.
[2] You have batch of work, like putting 10 customers names on some pens. You also want to stop after 10 pens.
What is the use case where you would want to passively loop around in a CSV file and just keep marking (presumably things you have marked previously)? I can’t think of of one… If I did want to start over at the Start position, it would be an active choice with a reset button.
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