Moving from LaserWork or RDWorks to LightBurn

If you have been working in RDWorks or LaserWork and are moving to LightBurn, most of what you already know transfers; the concepts are the same, the names are not. This page is the translation layer and a note on what carries over.

Where to get software support

BRM supplies LightBurn with its machines, and LightBurn provides the in-depth software support under our partnership with them. This article covers the move itself and the BRM-specific parts. For how any LightBurn feature works, go to the source:

• LightBurn documentation
• LightBurn forum

Terminology: the same idea, a different name

This table is the most useful part of the page. Most “I can’t find X in LightBurn” questions are really “X is called something else”.

RDWorks / LaserWork	LightBurn	What it is
Scan gap / interval	Line interval (or DPI)	Distance between raster scan lines
Reverse interval / reverse compensation	Scanning offset adjustment	Corrects burn timing lag at speed
Sew compensation / seal	Close open paths tolerance	Joins shapes that do not quite meet
Backlash / reverse gap	Scanning offset adjustment	Same setting, same purpose
Processing mode: Cut / Scan / Dot	Line / Fill / Offset Fill	Vector cut versus raster engrave
Layer parameters	Cut settings / layer	Speed, power, passes per colour
Output / Priority order	Cut order, optimisation settings	Which layer runs when
Min power / Max power	Min power / Max power	Unchanged: the corner-power range
Blow / Air	Air assist per layer	Air on or off for that layer
Doc / user origin	Job origin / start from	Where the job is positioned
Path optimisation	Optimisation settings	Travel order and direction

Two settings deserve a specific mention because they cause the most confusion:

• Min power and max power are not a “range to try”. They set the power at a slow corner versus at full travel speed, so the burn stays even when the head slows down. Setting min equal to max produces dark corners; setting min far too low produces faint ones.
• Scanning offset adjustment values are specific to the laser source and power supply fitted, so they do not transfer between machines, and they have to be re-measured if either part is replaced. See blurry or doubled engraving.

What carries over, and what does not

Your drawings do. LightBurn imports the common vector formats, so artwork prepared for the old workflow is not lost. Native .rld project files are a different matter, so plan to re-open artwork from its source file rather than from the old project.

Your parameters do not, automatically. Speeds and powers are broadly comparable between the two, but they are not a guaranteed one-to-one translation. Re-validate them on scrap. Use the BRM material library as your starting point instead of retyping the old numbers: importing the BRM material library in LightBurn.

Your machine profile does not. You set the machine up once in LightBurn, and we supply what you need for that:

• How do I create a BRM machine in LightBurn (2.0 and above)?
• How do I create a machine profile in LightBurn (1.9 and earlier)?
• How can I load the machine profile into LightBurn?

Controller settings stay on the controller. Machine-level configuration lives in the Ruida controller, not in the software, so it is unaffected by the change.

On a BRM machine

Setting up, in order. Steps 3 and 4 are the BRM-specific ones, and we supply what you need for both.

1. Install LightBurn
2. Activate your licence, and note that the same article covers deactivating, which is what you need before moving the licence to another computer
3. Create your BRM machine
4. Import the BRM material library
5. Run a test cut on scrap before committing a real job

Preparing artwork

If you are coming from Illustrator, the export advice is much the same as it was: exporting files from Illustrator to LaserWork. LightBurn is generally more tolerant of SVG and DXF than LaserWork was, so some of the workarounds you may have built up are no longer necessary.

Should you keep LaserWork installed?

Leaving it on the machine during the transition gives you a fallback for the first few jobs. Make sure only one program is connected to the controller at a time; two applications competing for the same port is a confusing failure to diagnose.

If something does not behave as expected

• A LightBurn feature question → LightBurn documentation or the LightBurn forum.
• The machine behaving differently from the software’s intent, such as not cutting through, engraving doubled, axes misbehaving → that is our side. Start at Problems and solutions or contact us.