Text is not showing properly in drawing when using DXF files

[swhiteiii (Sydnew White)]

Hello everyone,
I am new to Laser engraving so if I miss something crucial, please let me know and I will update the post with whatever is needed ASAP. I work IT at my office and have been asked to troubleshoot an issue with our laser engraver. We use a Boss Laser engraver with Lightburn 1.6.03. We create our drawings in AutoCAD and export DXF files to use in Lightburn.

This is how it looks in Autodesk

This is how it looks when the same DXF file is opened in Lightburn.

The big issue is that sometimes the text explodes out like this example. The CAD drafter told me that they just redo the file when this happens, but I would like to avoid them having to recreate files.

Another minor issue that we are having is if we want the line under the text to be an underline, we have to move it up in the CAD drawing to be within the text otherwise the line is too far down in the finished product.

I have attached the files from both CAD and Lightburn, but if you need anything else, please let me know.

Thank you,
Sydney
AMC 24512 PHENOLIC TAGS FORMATION.dxf (455.7 KB)
AMC 24512 PHENOLIC TAGS FORMATION.lbrn2 (361.7 KB)

[RalphU (RU)]

I think LB is misinterpreting the DXF text that contains a spacing factor. The text with a 1.00 spacing factor is fine. In your example, there are 4 places with a spacing factor not equal to 1.00.

The other issue regarding the “underline” moving. The underline is what is called a polyline in CAD. It is essentially a narrow rectangle. The underline isn’t moving up - the text is moving down.

Location in DXF file

Location in Lightburn

The easy fix in AutoCAD would be to:

1. Save the DWG file with the text location where it needs to be. It appears that your designers are moving it down to compensate for it shifting in Lightburn.

2. Select all text and “Explode” them. Then export the DXF file.

The exploded text would import, but it would not be a “text entity” in Lightburn, meaning once you explode in AutoCAD, you can’t edit it in LB.

[swhiteiii (Sydnew White)]

@RalphU

The easy fix in AutoCAD would be to:

1. Save the DWG file with the text location where it needs to be. It appears that your designers are moving it down to compensate for it shifting in Lightburn.
2. Select all text and “Explode” them. Then export the DXF file.

The exploded text would import, but it would not be a “text entity” in Lightburn, meaning once you explode in AutoCAD, you can’t edit it in LB.

Thanks @RalphU! This looks very promising; I have reached out to my team on this and will update you as soon as they get a chance to look at it.

[swhiteiii (Sydnew White)]

@RalphU I just wanted to update you that the oversized text has been fixed with your recommendation, but the line/text moving issue remains. Do you have any other ideas of what we could try?

[RalphU (RU)]

Is the underline in the DXF file supposed to be located thru the bottom of the text like it shows here?

That is what it looks like when I import it into a CAD program.
If so, in AutoCAD, explode all of the text, then export the DXF file.

AMC 24512 PHENOLIC TAGS FORMATION_Exploded_Text.dxf (3.0 MB)

[swhiteiii (Sydnew White)]

Hi @RalphU, The line was supposed to be just under the text. The CAD drafters were lowering the text through the line so it would show up properly in Lightburn. I had my drafter try to explode the text to make it work like it did for you, but the text was still moving locations. She finally was able to get it to work by replacing the text with text she copied from one of our other project files. Thanks for all your help.