Knowledge
Practical LightBurn guides, settings, testing workflows and troubleshooting — written for real workshop use.
Topics
10 articles
Mask, crop or convert to bitmap: choose the right image operation
Keep edits reversible when possible and know exactly when LightBurn turns vectors into fixed pixels.
Bidirectional engraving lines do not align
Check mechanics first, then measure and correct a consistent left/right shift with LightBurn Scanning Offset Adjustment.
Image Banding: Mechanical, Electrical or Processing?
Regular stripes can come from mechanics, power modulation, scan interval interaction or source-image patterns; their spacing is a useful diagnostic clue.
Photo Engraving Test Workflow Before the Final Piece
A small crop containing skin, highlights, shadows and fine detail is more useful for tuning than repeatedly engraving the full photo.
Scan Angle and Crosshatch: When a Second Direction Helps
Changing scan angle can follow material grain or geometry; crosshatch adds another pass direction and therefore more energy/time.
Overscanning and Dark Edges in Raster Engraving
Overscanning lets the head accelerate before firing across the image so the engraved region is closer to commanded scan speed at the edges.
Choosing a Dither: Jarvis, Stucki, Atkinson and More
Dither algorithms distribute black dots differently; the “best” choice depends on image texture, physical resolution, material and laser spot behavior.
Negative Image, Invert and Invert Display
A display inversion can be only a preview aid, while Negative Image changes how pixel brightness maps to output. Understand which operation changes data and which changes only the view.
Isolating a Subject From a Difficult Background
Bright backgrounds, shadows and reflections can compete with the subject in engraving; isolate or mask the important content before tuning laser settings.
Image Preflight: Pixels, Physical Size and Line Interval
A photo can look sharp on screen but have too few pixels for the final engraving size, or far more pixels than the laser can physically reproduce.