Lightburn
Installing
You can download a 30-day trial of Lightburn here: https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/trial-version-try-before-you-buy
If you want to use it for more than 30 days on your personal machine you will need to purchase a license. The license normally costs $120, but we have a discount code to get it for $30 if you are only using it with the machines at MakeICT. Email fablab@makeict.org to get the code. You will use this discount code during the checkout process on their online store. We use the DSP version for our machines. Otherwise you can use one of the laptops (currently installed only on numbers 1-8) or the design computer in the Fab Lab.
Once Lightburn is installed you can copy the settings for our laser cutter into the appropriate place on your machine. Copy one of the settings files and rename it 'prefs.ini'. Open your Lightburn prefs folder (File > Open prefs folder) then close Lightburn. Remove the existing prefs.ini file and replace it with the one you downloaded. When you restart Lightburn you should have all the correct settings for our machines. There isn't a huge difference between the settings on our machines, so it doesn't really matter which you download and use. Alternatively you can just go through the configuration steps, choose the Ruida controller, set the origin to the upper right, and set the dimensions to 1200x900. That will get you close enough.
Using Lightburn
Lightburn help pages: https://github.com/LightBurnSoftware/Documentation/blob/master/README.md
Video tutorials: https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/tutorials
Kim's instruction slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rfGGdQ_P0tLj5DTN5ybGl_pFY_jt2Nv4bhCviAJMgCY/edit?usp=sharing
