Lightburn Interface Tour

Every panel and button in Lightburn 2.0, what it does, and when you'll touch it. Galvo-specific vs gantry-specific noted throughout.

The five panels you'll use 95% of the time

1. Cuts / Layers: your layer manager. Shows every layer in the file, their settings, and which ones output.
2. Laser: Start, Stop, Frame, Send, Save buttons + Start From mode + Job Origin selector + status.
3. Move: jog the head, set Z focus, set origin, save positions.
4. Preview (Alt+P), simulates the job before you run it.
5. Material Library, saved settings per material per machine.

Cuts / Layers panel: column by column

The most-used panel. Each row is a layer. Columns left to right:

Column	What it does
#	Layer number / name
Layer	Color swatch, also identifies the layer in the design view
Mode	Line / Fill / Offset Fill / Image / Multi (sublayers)
Spd / Pwr	Speed and Power Max, quick view
Output	Toggle: layer runs or doesn't run
Show	Toggle: visible in design view (does NOT affect output)
Air	Air assist on/off (gantry only)

Below the layer list: quick edit fields for the selected layer, Pass Count, Speed, Power Max, Power Min, Interval, Frequency (galvo), Q-Pulse (MOPA / UV galvo).

Double-click any layer to open the full Cut Settings Editor, that's where every advanced setting lives.

Laser panel: your run controls

• Start / Pause / Stop: run the job, pause it, halt.
• Send (gantry), send the file to the controller's memory without running.
• Save: save as a controller-native file (Ruida = .rd).
• Frame: preview the job's bounds with the laser pointer (galvo: F1 opens Live Framing).
• Start From dropdown, Absolute Coords / Current Position / User Origin (gantry only, see Alignment module).
• Job Origin: 9-dot selector for orienting the design relative to the start point.
• Cut Selected Graphics: only run what's selected.
• Use Selection Origin: anchor framing on selection only.
• Show Last Position: overlay last head location on the design.
• Optimize Cut Path: checkbox: apply optimization rules to traversal order.
• Status: Disconnected / Ready / Busy.
• Device dropdown: switch between machine profiles you've saved (e.g., one per laser, one per lens).

Move panel: head positioning

• Jog buttons: arrow keys move the head in X/Y; numeric keypad alternative if NumLock is on.
• Distance / Speed: how far each jog moves and how fast.
• Get Position: read the current X/Y/Z from the controller.
• Move to Position (Go): type coordinates, the head drives there.
• Saved Positions: store named locations (e.g., "tumbler jig start").
• Set Origin: store the current position as User Origin.
• Clear Origin: wipe the stored User Origin.
• Set Finish Position: where the head parks after a job (gantry).
• Focus Z: auto-focus probe (gantry, when supported).
• Continuous Jog: hold to move, release to stop.

Preview window (Alt+P): your last sanity check

Always run Preview before committing to a job. It simulates everything:

• Black lines = cut/engrave path. Red lines = travel/jump moves.
• Time slider: scrub through the job to see exact order.
• Playback Speed 1/10x to 40x, slow it down to inspect detail, speed it up to feel total time.
• Show Traversal Moves: toggle the red travel lines.
• Shade According to Power: visualize per-pixel power on grayscale / 3D Sliced layers.
• Start Here: jump-start a job from a specific point in the simulation.
• Save Image: export the preview as a PNG for documentation.
• Time estimate at the bottom, surprisingly accurate.

Other panels worth knowing

• Console: text/GCode output. Mostly relevant for GRBL diode lasers.
• File List: DSP files stored on the Ruida controller (gantry only).
• Camera Control: for the Lightburn camera if installed.
• Shape Properties: per-shape overrides (priority, individual power).
• Art Library: re-usable graphics across projects.
• Material Library, saved settings per material; the productivity unlock.

Toolbars (top of window)

• Main Toolbar: file, edit, group/ungroup, align.
• Creation Toolbar: line, rectangle, ellipse, polygon, text.
• Modes Toolbar: node edit, selection, etc.
• Modifiers Toolbar: boolean operations, offset shapes.
• Numeric Edits Toolbar: set position/size by exact number.
• Arrangement Toolbar: distribute, align selected shapes.
• Color Palette: assigns a layer to a shape; click a color while shape is selected.

Keyboard shortcuts (the ones worth memorizing)

Shortcut	What it does
F1	Frame (galvo: opens Live Framing)
F4	Frame the job (gantry alt)
Alt+P	Preview window
Ctrl+D	Duplicate selection
Ctrl+G / Ctrl+U	Group / Ungroup
Ctrl+L	Draw line
Ctrl+R	Rectangle
Ctrl+E	Ellipse
Ctrl+T	Text
Alt++ / Alt+-	Boolean Union / Subtract
Ctrl+Shift+H	Flip horizontal
Ctrl+0	Zoom to page
S / D / I / B	(Node edit) Smooth / Delete / Insert node / Break shape
Alt+X	Export

Mac users: ⌘ replaces Ctrl, ⌥ replaces Alt.

Verified against LightBurn 2.x. Source: LightBurn official documentation. Reference index, CutsLayersWindow, LaserWindow, MoveWindow, Preview, Hotkeys.