I recently had a project that I needed to offset the center of the project… Other than manually moving the project, I was unable to find anywhere obvious to offset the project by x and y. I could move the entire project but not the center.
??? You put the center on a separate layer? The center is not grouped with the rest of the drawing? Not getting a visual image of your problem. A screen shot of your Lightburn workspace might help.
What does it mean to move the center of a project without moving the whole thing?
A picture / screenshot will help us see what you see.
AFAICT, LightBurn defines the center of the project as the middle of its bounding box, which seems as reasonable a definition as any.
You can change the origin of an object / selection with the nine-dot matrix in the Numeric Edit toolbar, although it limits your choices to the center or the edges / corners of the bounding box:
I have been using LB for years and this is the first time I am needing to change things up this way.
Job Origin is center. Start from current position which is Job Origin center.
I need to actually have center in the center of the spatula handle (left) and center of the rolling pin (down)
While writing this reply, I thought about moving the start position but it does not give a visual so it would be trial and error for a precise positional start.
What I am trying to do is move the center of the graphics to match the center of the project which is a cutting board.
Or better described as offsetting job origin.
You could create a tool layer and center it where you want it over your graphic. Make sure use selection origin is not checked.
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Create a duplicate “dummy” off your shape.
Set to another layer.
Mirror vertical and horizontal.
Just overlap the points you want at the middle.
Select original and dummy shape.
Create a rubber band of the 2 shapes.
Set rubber band to a tool layer.
Delete dummy shape.
Selecting the tool layer and the original shape gets the center precisely where you want.
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Another version…
- Jog the laser until it is centered over your part using the Fire button (diode) or red pointer (CO2).
- Click on the Show Last Position button and search for the little red cross.
- Move the drawing until you have the center over the red cross.
- You now have the part, laser, and Lightburn drawing aligned as good as you can get the positioning.
Frame to confirm, check it in Preview, check the speed and power settings, and click the Start button.
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Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. You have given me a lot to work with and great ways to work out the problem.
I still wish there was an easy way just to offset job origin by xy.
Sorry was on the mobile.
A trick for future, center(adjustable) of any shape with images:
.
Create a duplicate “dummy” off your shape.
Set to another layer.
Mirror vertical and horizontal.
Just overlap the points you want at the middle.
Select original and dummy shape.
Create a rubber band of the 2 shapes.
Set rubber band to a tool layer.
Delete dummy shape.
Selecting the tool layer and the original shape gets the center precisely where you want.
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I have never noticed this tool before. Thank you for that.
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OK, that makes more sense. 
I’d draw a circle with its center exactly where you want it and large enough to extend beyond the entire pattern. Group the circle with the pattern so the whole thing moves as one, with its center doing what you expect.
That worked for an irregular chunk of smashed glass I turned into a clutter collector:
Using the circle center as the drag-n-drop point simplified alignment for eight layers of acrylic & adhesive:
Perhaps describing the points as the “visual center” would be better, but I didn’t think of it at the time.
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I never considered trying to find the center of the drawing. I suspect this gets you the geometric center if the drawing.
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If you just mirror V and mirror H it´s the geometric center.
If you want the center at a specific point (e.g. the rolling pin) just overlap that shape.
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Draw a rectangle on the tool layer, aligned bottom left with your project if you want to move the center to the rigth and or upwards, which is twice the offset bigger in the direction that you want to have your new center.
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