Material Library

LightBurn's Material Library provides a way to store, organize, and use preset Cut Settings for different operations and materials.

Accessing the Material Libary

In the default layout, the Library Window is the tab after Laser, in the bottom right of the screen.

If you have closed the Library Window, go to Window → Library to re-enable it. To restore it and all other windows to their default positions, go to Window → Reset to Default Layout.

Tip

The layout of LightBurn is highly customizable. For more information on enabling and disabling windows and toolbars, or rearranging the default layout, see Customizing the LightBurn Window.

Options and Settings

Click any option in the image below to jump directly to the relevant section for that option, or scroll down for a list of options and descriptions.

Creating New Material Library Presets

Click Create new from layer to save settings from the active layer (including sub-Layers) to a new preset entry in the Library. Enter the below details and hit OK to save the material preset to the active Library.

Material Name — The highest folder within the Library to include this material in.
Thickness — The Z-height of the material to be cut through. Appears as the sub-folder name when in use.
For surface operations like "Engrave" or "Score" that don't depend on the material thickness — enable No Thickness and enter the operation into Title. This disables the Thickness option, and appears as the sub-folder name when used.
Description — Provide greater detail about these settings, for example "Cut — Quick and Dirty". Appears as the name of the entry in the list.

All saved presets are organized in collapsible folders on the left side of the Library Window.

Using Material Library Presets

To apply presets to a layer in your project, first activate the layer by selecting a graphic set to that layer, or clicking the layer in the Cuts / Layers Window.

Next, select a preset from the list in the Library Window, and click Assign or Link.

Assign

Applies the preset settings from the selected Library entry to the active layer.

After applying the presets to the layer, you may adjust them in the Cut Settings Editor, and edits made in the Cut Settings Editor will not affect the Library entry, or vice-versa.

Link

Syncs the active layer to the settings stored in the selected preset entry. This disables the ability to edit the layer in the Cut Settings Editor, but any changes made to the Library entry will be automically applied to the layer.

Tip

This is often useful for files that you'll be running again in the future, so that future improvements to your custom presets will be automatically applied in your project.

Modifying Presets

You can modify existing presets by selecting them in the list, then clicking one of the options in the right side of the window.

Edit Cut

Opens the Cut Settings Editor for this preset. After making changes, click OK to override the existing entry in the Library with your changes.

Edit Description

Click Edit Description to modify the Name, Thickness and Description for the highlighted entry.

Duplicate

Copies the highlighted preset to a new entry in the Library.

Tip

Combined with Edit Description and Edit Cut, you can keep the same Material Name and Thickness to create nested entries (e.g. 3 mm cut, scan, and image). Keeping just the Name while changing the Thickness allows nesting of different thicknesses of the same material.

Delete

Permanently removes the selected preset from the Library.

Managing Material Libraries

New

Creates a blank Library.

Save

Stores or overwrites a previously a stored Library with an updated version containing any changes you've made since you last saved the Library. Libraries are saved with the .clb file extension.

Save As

Saves a copy of the active Library to your files with a different file name. Useful for archival purposes.

Merge

Combines two Libraries together. Useful when importing settings from external parties.

Load

Open your system's file browser, where you can navigate to the location of a previously saved .clb file and select it, to add it to the Select Library dropdown list.

Select Library

Select one of the Loaded Libraries from the dropdown list.

Rename

Changes the name of the Library.

Unload

Removes the Library from the Select Library list.

Advanced Usage

Multiple Lasers

If you have multiple lasers, it's typically best to create a Material Library for each laser.

When you save a Library, it is linked to the currently active device. In the future, when you select that device, the Library associated with it will load automatically.

When you change Libraries, LightBurn will check any Linked layers against the newly-loaded Library. If there's a Linked preset in each of the old and new Libraries that have matching details — Material Name, Thickness/Title, Description — LightBurn will automatically Link the layer to the preset in the new Library, and update the layer's Cut Settings accordingly.

Multiple Computers

Multiple computers can access a single Material Library file hosted on a network drive or from cloud service storage (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, OneDrive, etc.). To open up a shared Material Library on a different computer, use the Load button in the Library Window.

Note

If you have multiple computers pointing to the same Material Library file, updates made from one computer won't show on the other computer(s) until LightBurn is restarted or the Library is reloaded with the Load button.

For more help using LightBurn, please visit our forum to talk with LightBurn staff and users, or email support.