Log Book
Here are the first two volumes of the paper log book, scanned as PDF files. The second volume had tear-out pages (my mistake!) which duly tore out, so keeping the paper volumes handy isn’t practical. Refer to these instead, but please continue to log into the new third volume of the paper log book.
Comprehensive Checklist
This PDF document is an attempt to cover every step and procedure you need to follow to use the laser for routine work. If you have taken the class and still feel unsure about all the steps, this document might help. There should always be a copy of this document in the laser room.
- Comprehensive checklist (last updated 2015/02/28)
Laser Hardware
Here are some reference documents for the laser equipment. Please note that just because a procedure is described in these documents, you might not be authorized to try it! If in doubt, please ask.
- Laser instruction manual (disregard anything about RetinaEngrave3D or the laser keypad)
- Software and operation manual (no longer applicable to our laser)
- Lens installation guide
- Alignment procedure video
- Z table adjustment guide
Lightburn Laser Software
There is a computer in the laser lab, which already has the necessary Lightburn software installed on it. Lightburn is paid commercial software, so if you want to use it at home (say, to prepare your projects in advance) you will need to buy your own software license from Lightburn Software.
If you installed our old software, RetinaEngrave3D, you might as well remove it from your computer. It no longer works with our laser, since we upgraded the controller.
Lightburn provides all the drawing features you’re likely to need for laser projects, and is pretty easy to learn. We recommend using Lightburn directly for simple projects that you can design and burn in a single laser session at Colab. For more complicated projects, you will probably want to work at home on your own computer. Once you have the graphic design finished, you can easily import it into Lightburn at Colab, add the laser settings, and go.
Drawing Software
If you have already put in the time to learn another drawing program, or want to, you can use just about any program to create graphics for the laser.
If your design is made up entirely of lines, which may be cut out or engraved on the surface, you will need to use a vector drawing program. CorelDraw is popular with makers for lasers and other CNC machines, but it’s expensive and only for Windows. Adobe Illustrator is similar but different, and perhaps less appropriate for some kinds of laser jobs. Affinity Designer is a direct competitor for Illustrator, at a lower price and with no subscription. Inkscape is a good vector graphics drawing program that’s free, and it’s available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Pick whatever program works for you, even if not mentioned here.
If you want to work with photo engraving, you can work directly from an image file in BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and most other common formats, but you’ll probably need some photo editing software. Photoshop is great if you’re already using it, but expensive and notoriously difficult to become proficient with. There are lots of alternatives, including Affinity Photo (lower price, no subscription). Take a look at Paint.NET or the GIMP, both of which are free.
If you need to cut parts for a three-dimensional design, you might want to use a 3D CAD program to design them, then export them in a 2D format your regular drawing program can understand. If you aren’t already experienced with a 3D CAD program, try out OnShape (fully online, runs in the browser) or Fusion 360 (Mac or PC). Both programs are incredibly full featured and free (with limitations) for individuals doing non-commercial projects. It’s a golden age.