Kerfview

LightBurn file viewer · nothing uploaded

Use a LightBurn design on a Glowforge.

The Glowforge app opens SVG and PDF, not .lbrn2. Convert the file here and each LightBurn layer arrives in its own colour, which the app turns into its own print step.

or drop a .lbrn2 or .lbrn anywhere on the page

Sample project

hive-coasters.lbrn2

Job sheet

Why colours matter on a Glowforge

Glowforge's own help pages say that each colour in a design becomes a separate step in the app, with its own settings and its own place in the print order. LightBurn works the same way with layers, and each layer has a distinct colour. So an SVG that keeps LightBurn's layer colours gives you one Glowforge step per LightBurn layer, ready to set up.

How to do it

  1. Open the .lbrn2 above and check the size, shown in inches as well as millimetres.
  2. Download the SVG. Leave "Fill layers as filled shapes" on, so areas meant for engraving arrive as filled shapes rather than bare outlines, and are easy to set to engrave.
  3. In the Glowforge app, upload the SVG. The app accepts SVG, PDF, JPG and PNG, and DXF for Premium members. SVG gives you separate cut and engrave steps; JPG and PNG can only engrave.
  4. Set each step to cut, score or engrave, then put them in order. Glowforge recommends engraving and scoring before cutting, and cutting inner parts before outer ones, so pieces don't shift when they drop.

The layer table on this page lists LightBurn's run order, so you can see the order the designer chose.

Settings don't carry over

LightBurn speeds are in millimetres per second and power is a percentage of the designer's laser. The Glowforge app uses its own speed scale and material settings, so there is no direct translation. Use the designer's settings to understand intent (a slow, strong layer cuts and a fast, light one scores), then choose Glowforge settings for your material. Run a test on a scrap first.

Pictures and text

Embedded pictures are included in the SVG at their placed size, ready to set to engrave. Text that LightBurn saved as an outline arrives exactly. Text without an outline is written as SVG text, which needs the same font installed. Converting it to a path in Inkscape or Illustrator before uploading avoids surprises.

Thin lines on purpose

Glowforge notes that thick or styled strokes may not load as expected. The SVG here uses 0.1 mm hairlines, which load as plain paths.

Layers and settings

In the order LightBurn runs them. Untick a layer to hide it here and leave it out of exports.

Layers in this project with their cut settings
ShowLayerModeSpeedPowerPassesIntervalShapesPath lengthTime, est.

Grey italic values aren't saved in the file. A .lbrn2 leaves out values that match LightBurn's defaults, so the documented defaults are shown (100 mm/s, 20% power, 0.1 mm interval, one pass). Speeds are stored in mm/s; hover a speed for mm/min. Times assume the head always moves at full speed, so real jobs take longer; see how they're worked out.

Export

Only the layers that are switched on are exported. Files are made in your browser.

Free

SVG

For Inkscape, Illustrator, xTool Creative Space, the Glowforge app and LightBurn itself. Layers become groups in LightBurn's colours, at real size in millimetres.

Fill layers as

Unlock

DXF

For CAD, CNC routers, cutting services and older laser software. R12 DXF, one DXF layer per LightBurn layer, millimetres, true circles. Pictures can't go in a DXF, so they're left out.

Part of the £6 unlock, coming soon.

Free

Pictures

Images embedded in the project, and the preview LightBurn saved with it, can be saved as PNG files on their own.

See the pictures

Pictures in this file

Shown at their own size. The original file name is what the designer's computer called the picture.

Job sheet

One printed page for whoever runs the laser: the design, every layer's settings, sizes, and the time estimate with its assumptions. Choose Save as PDF in the print window for a file.

Printing the job sheet is part of the £6 unlock, coming soon. The preview is free to look at.

One-time unlock

DXF, batch conversion and job sheets

Viewing, inspecting and SVG export are free and stay free. The unlock adds the things that save a workshop time.

  • DXF export of any project, layer by layer.
  • Batch conversion: drop many .lbrn2 files, or a ZIP of them, and get one ZIP back with SVG and DXF for each, plus a CSV of every layer's settings.
  • Printable job sheets with settings, sizes and time estimates.
  • One payment, no account, no subscription. Your files still never leave your computer.

£6 once

Coming soon

It isn't on sale yet, so there's nothing to pay today. Everything free on this page works now.

How sure is each number?

Read straight from the file

Layer names, modes, speeds, powers, passes and intervals are exactly what the file says, apart from values shown in grey italics, which the file leaves out and LightBurn fills with its defaults. Shape counts are exact.

Measured from the shapes

Sizes and path lengths are measured from the geometry, with curves followed to within a few thousandths of a millimetre. Text without a saved outline has no exact shape, so it isn't measured, and you'll see a note when that happens.

Estimated, and labelled

Times assume the head always moves at the layer's speed. Lines take length × passes ÷ speed; fills sweep each row from the first edge to the last at the line interval; images scan their whole frame. Acceleration, overscan and travel aren't counted, so real jobs take longer, sometimes a lot longer.