Everything You Need To Know To Find The Best laser cutting machine software

Laser cutting is used for carving and engraving materials like wood, metal, glass, and plastic. Whether you're a pro or a hobbyist, you'll need the right laser-cutting software to make quality designs for all sorts of uses. 

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There are a few laser-cutting software options available (some of which are free), but the best one for you will depend on the project you've got lined up. More intricate and capable software options that can handle heavy-duty tasks and/or offer many file formats will understandably cost more, but, depending on your needs, you may find it worthwhile.

Best Laser-Cutting Software Products

Here are some of the best laser-cutting software choices that we recommend.

Inkscape

Inkscape is an open-source graphics editor that works with third-party plug-ins to create the laser-cutting files; it's capable and user-friendly, and it's free! This is a good option for laser engraving in particular, and the website has a lot of helpful resources that beginners will find useful.

• Price: Free
• Compatibility: Mac OS, Linux, Windows
• File Formats: SVG, PDF, EPS, PNG

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is one of the more well-known options, used in many professional settings and industries. It makes high-quality vector graphics and logos and has features like shape manipulation, color swatches, and many style options. It converts designs to G-code with plug-ins and is top-notch for vector graphics. The Artboards feature lets you organize your design projects all in one place and create multiple illustrations without the clutter. 

• Price: From $20.00 per month
• File Formats: SVG, PDF, EPS

Our very own Simon Arthur, Software Engineer, Sheet Manufacturing, said, "Inkscape, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, and similar apps are great for designers looking to make decorative products, signs, and art. Inkscape has a great advantage for beginners in that it's completely free to use and is available for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

Many professionals already have experience with Adobe Illustrator, so for them, using AI to design products to be laser cut is a no-brainer.

DraftSight and TurboCAD are useful for people with experience using 2D CAD software.

LightBurn, LaserGRBL, LaserWeb, and Open Builds are not suitable for Xometry customers, as they're meant to control a laser machine."

Affinity Designer

Affinity Designer is another great choice for quality vector graphics and logos, and it's quite affordable. As an alternative to Adobe Illustrator, this software works with a variety of file formats and plug-ins, but by far its best feature is that it's non-destructive and allows you to easily undo any changes.

• Price: $40 for Mac and Windows, $12 monthly for iPads
• Compatibility: Mac, Windows, iPad

Draftsight

Draftsight has more advanced features than Inkscape and is better for precision projects. It refines the images being uploaded to the laser cutter by clearing unnecessary elements from the design, and one of its many handy features is the hairline option which eliminates the issue of barrier lines on the finished design. It saves unfinished projects and shows exact object dimensions for objects. It also supports many types of vector files.

• Price: $100/year (standard), $200/year (professional), $500/year (premium)

LightBurn

If your projects need advanced features, LightBurn is a good option because it offers multiple passes, vector scaling, stitch engraving, and raster rotation. It also has a user-friendly interface and lets you edit laser cutting settings, speed, and power. The software is compatible with most laser cutting and engraving machines. 

• Price: $60 for G-code controllers, $120 for DSP controllers
• File Formats: DXF, SVG, EPS

LaserGRBL

Prefer a simpler interface? Go for the LaserGRBL software. Great for non-demanding projects, it allows for vector editing and faster engraving and is totally beginner-friendly. You can download the software from the LaserGRBL website and, as an added bonus, it's free!

• Price: Free

TurboCAD

TurboCAD is best for projects with 2D and 3D designs, with tools to create 3D models using laser-cutting machines. It has powerful features like realistic lighting effects, and camera views to make designs look more lifelike. It supports lots of file formats, including DXF, DWG, and SVG.

• Price: 15-day free trial, then $20/month (students), $50/month (professionals)
• File Formats: DXF, DWG, SVG

LaserWeb

LaserWeb is good for projects that need G-code editing and control. It has other great features, as well, like 3D simulation and laser control. You will need to understand G-code commands, so it's not entirely beginner-friendly. The newest version can process multiple files and can queue them for cutting. This software is also collaborative, so it's great for team projects. It's available on the LaserWeb website.

• Price: Free
• File Formats: DXF, SVG, BMP

OpenBuilds CAM & Control

OpenBuilds CAM & Control are two programs created for digital fabrication. The CAM program is best for making G-code commands that control the laser cutter. The Control program has features for connecting and controlling the machine. Both programs are available on the OpenBuilds website. The programs have an intuitive interface. They also offer 3D visualization and G-code editing.

• Price: Free
• File Formats: DXF, SVG

Laser-Cutting Software FAQs

We asked our team of pros some of the most commonly asked questions on laser cutting software, and these are their answers.

Which Laser-Cutting Software is Best for Laser Engraving?

The best software options for laser engraving are Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, and LightBurn. Each one of these has powerful tools and more advanced features that help you create beautiful laser engravings. For more precision, you can adjust the depth, power, speed, and frequency of the engraving. They're also compatible with many file types, making them good for making high-quality designs.

Is There Any Free Software for Laser Cutting?

Yes, LaserGRBL, Inkscape, LaserWeb, and OpenBuilds CAM & Control are all free. While they might not be as advanced as some of the paid options, they are great for beginners and do have handy features like vector editing, raster engraving, 3D simulation, and laser control. They also support several file formats.

Which Laser-Cutting Software Has a Variety of File Formats?

Most laser-cutting software options (including some of the free ones) support multiple file formats, but Adobe Illustrator supports the most (PDF, SVG, DFX, BMP, and AI).

Which Laser-Cutting Software is Best for Heavy-Duty Tasks?

Adobe Illustrator is the best software for heavy-duty projects. It's highly precise and user-friendly and makes it easy to share designs and make elaborate illustrations. If you have complex laser-cutting projects in the works, this one's for you.

What is the Best Laser-Cutting Software for Tombstone Engraving?

Again, Adobe Illustrator is the best option for tombstone engraving as it has several engraving tools, and supports file formats for both vector and bitmap images for easy creation of tombstone designs. It also includes helpful resources and tutorials.

What Are the Best Laser-Cutting Software Products for Wood Cutting?

TurboCAD is the best laser-cutting software for wood cutting as it has special plug-ins, and training specific to woodworkers. You can export designs into several non-CAD formats, so it's easier to share and print them. For a free alternative, we recommend OpenBuilds CAM & Control which is designed for laser cutting materials like wood. It's also really easy to use.

What Laser-Cutting Software is Best for Beginners?

LaserGRBL is the best option for beginners because it has an easy-to-use interface and allows you to create and cut basic designs while improving your skills. It supports multiple file formats, is compatible with several laser engravers, and it's free.

What is Laser Cutting?

Laser cutting is a manufacturing process that carves different materials, like wood, plastic, and metal. The machine's laser precisely burns or melts the materials, making intricate lines and shapes to create the final design. Laser cutting is commonly used for industrial projects to make various products like signs and logos. Since this method makes it easy to quickly create beautiful illustrations, a lot of people are also using it for personal projects.

The Laser Cutting Process

Advanced laser technology directs the beam to focus on a small spot, concentrating the energy on the material's surface. The heat melts or vaporizes the material and a gas jet blows away the excess. This creates an edge. The laser can move in any direction, allowing for specific cutting in complex shapes and patterns. Laser-cutting systems can also cut or engrave lots of materials with different complexity levels.

When designing for laser cutting, you need software that can turn your ideas into a file CNC laser cutters can understand. If SendCutSend is making your parts, that means 2D vector graphics files in 1:1 scale, in .dxf, .dwg, .ai, or .eps format. But what if you're making your own parts on your own laser?

In this article we'll cover some common options and what to look for when choosing software to laser cut your parts.

How Does a Laser Cutting Software Work?

You can think of laser cutting software from two perspectives. There's software you use to create a design. Then there's software you use to tell the laser cutting machine how to cut your design. Some software has the capabilities to do both the design and the laser instructions.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website ezcad.

A typical workflow might start with design software to create the shape you want to cut, exporting it in an appropriate format and then importing it to set up the cut process in a laser instruction software. From there, the instructions file (usually called g-code) goes to the laser cutting machine and the parts get cut.

Design Software

This shouldn't come as a surprise, but they all work differently. In some software you create your design by drawing 2-dimensional vector shapes like lines, curves and basic polygons. You can add, subtract and manipulate them in a variety of ways to end up with the design you want. In other software, you may create full 3-dimensional models using sketches, extrusions, sweeps, lofts, etc. In the end the goal from all of them is the same, to take your design and export it in a format suitable for laser cutting. That's usually some format of 2D vector graphics file.

Laser Controlling Software

Laser control software is used to tell the laser how to cut out your design. That can include tool paths, how fast the laser moves, how much power it should output and when, what order to cut the lines, where and how to start and stop cuts on the lines (lead in and out), and so on. Typically the software does this by creating a g-code file, which is just a list of simple machine commands that the machine can interpret and follow. 

If you're planning to have SendCutSend cut your parts for you, we take care of this part on our end so you can just focus on the design. If you have your own laser, it may have its own software or you may have to find a compatible one. Even though most CNC style machines use some type of g-code to operate, not all g-code is compatible with all machines. 

What Should a Laser Cutting Software Have?

Image Format Support

For software that doesn't have the capability of creating the design, you want to be able to import your designs from whatever software you're using. Make sure the formats your design software can export align with the formats your g-code software can import. As mentioned above, SendCutSend requires .dxf, .dwg, .ai, or .eps formats. Some g-code software can only accept vector files, some will also accept raster files like bitmap images made up of pixels.

Platform Compatibilities

It's important that your software and your hardware are compatible. We've provided guidelines and acceptable file formats if we're doing the cutting for you. For your laser it's usually safe to stick with the software the manufacturer suggests or find one you prefer that's compatible. Most machines that read g-code require it to be written in a certain way. Some machines can't understand certain commands or need specific information at the beginning or end of the g-code file to function correctly.

Specific Requirements

Beyond exporting in the proper formats, the requirements for any software should be based on your specific needs. Certain software will be better at certain tasks than others. A software you're already familiar with may be the best choice for you, even if it isn't the best for someone else. Also consider the types of projects you'll be designing. Just because one software can do both design and g-code, doesn't mean it's good at both.

6 Best Design and Control Laser Cutting Software

1. Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator (AI) is a well respected vector-based software which has been considered an industry leader for decades. If you are in graphic or industrial design, you will be well aware of AI.

This software is an excellent choice for laser-cutting design given its robust features, stable nature, and support from one of the world's biggest software companies, Adobe. Plugins are available to take the designs and turn them into the g-code needed to run the laser. 

For hobbyists and small businesses, it can be on the expensive side. To use AI you need to pay a subscription fee, rather than purchasing a single license. This cost is hard to justify unless you are creating new designs regularly and generating income from them.

In saying that, most professional designers use Illustrator as their choice of vector design software.

To learn more about using Illustrator to design for laser cutting, check out these resources.

2. Inkscape

Inkscape is a free, open-source version of Adobe Illustrator. There's nothing you can do in Illustrator that you can't do in Inkscape, it may just be a little more complicated. Millions and millions of dollars have gone into fine-tuning and adjusting the user interface and experience of Adobe Illustrator, whereas Inkscape has had to rely solely on developers and volunteer feedback.

The major advantage of Inkscape is that it's free. But there are other reasons to use it. For example, there's a large community involved in using the tool, where you can get help and tutorials. The community has also developed plugins to turn Inkscape designs into g-code files.

Professional designers are usually going to use Illustrator rather than Inkscape, but that isn't universal. There are many professionals who operate solely on open-source platforms.

To learn more about using Inkscape to design for laser cutting, check out these resources.

3. LightBurn

Lightburn is an extremely popular software for laser cutting. It's great for beginners with lasers at home and many businesses that use laser cutters. Many CO2 lasers ship with a license for LightBurn. The design side of LightBurn can be somewhat basic compared to the other options here, but if it's enough to get you what you need, LightBurn is an excellent option. LightBurn can import files to turn into g-code if you have another software you prefer to design in.

4. LaserGRBL

Built specifically to control lasers, LaserGRBL is a free laser control software for Windows. It's a much simpler interface, but has a limited feature set. What makes it different from the others listed here is that it is meant to control a laser directly. Rather than exporting a g-code file for your laser, LaserGRBL runs on a computer that is connected directly to the laser.

5. Fusion 360

Unlike LightBurn, the design side of Fusion 360 is excellent, allowing full 3D modeling, sheet metal tools and much more. Fusion 360 has built-in manufacturing tools that will let you take your designs and create the g-code files needed by your machine directly in one package. As a bonus, Fusion 360 can also handle milling, turning, plasma cutting, water jet cutting, laser cutting and more. If you do a lot of fabrication and want one software that can do it all, check out Fusion 360. If you want to send your files out to be laser cut, Fusion 360 can export the appropriate file formats too.

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6. SolidWorks CAM/SolidEdge CAM/Inventor CAM/HSM Works

We've combined a handful of professional CAD/CAM software packages into one here. They all fall on the expensive end of this list, with capabilities that are often beyond the needs of most users. If you need more advanced capabilities, these could be worth looking into. CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) software tends to be used for more than just laser cutting, capable of creating g-code for all sorts of CNC manufacturing processes.

Try our SolidWorks Plugin

If you are using SolidWorks or newer, check out our SolidWorks Plugin. You can upload to SendCutSend and get live quotes without ever leaving SolidWorks.

Which Type of File Formats Does Laser Cutting Software Support?

There's no single answer to this question. Because laser cutting is typically a 2-dimensional process, the software usually needs to be a 2D image. Vector formats are the most common since they can easily be translated into straight and curved line movements for the machine to follow. But some software has the ability to import raster type images like .bmp, .jpg, .png for laser engraving. Some software has the capability of converting a raster into a vector (though not always the way you want).

You can learn more about the different file types used in designing and cutting with lasers in this blog article: What is a Vector File? For sending your designs to SendCutSend, use file formats .dxf, .dwg, .ai or .eps.

Which Laser Cutting Software Should You Choose

The best laser cutting software is the one that works best for you.

Things to Consider to Choose a Laser Cutting Software

• Workflow ' How you want to use software is important to consider. Do you want one software to design and create g-code or do you like to design in something you're already familiar with and just need something to create g-code?
• Cost ' There are some free options available for laser cutting software. They may trade stability or ease of use for that cost, however. 
• Time ' Sometimes what you get when you spend more for software is time savings. In a production environment where time is money, this could be a big factor to consider.
• Projects ' The types of projects you want to create could factor into your decision. Will you only be laser cutting or would it be convenient to have a full CAM capable software?

What is the Best Laser Cutting Software for Beginners?

Try to leverage what you already know. If you have experience with something like Illustrator, look into the plugins that will allow you to turn your designs into g-code from there. For users with CAD experience, something like Fusion 360 might be a good choice. 

For those of you just getting started with no experience to rely on, you might want to try out a few different options to see which you like. We'd advise you to not get stuck on just one option though. Sometimes it's easy to stick with something because you're familiar with it and miss out on a better option. Look for options with available tutorials and resources you can lean on if you need help.

Conclusion

There is no universally 'perfect' laser cutting software because different people like different methods of working. Some people think Inkscape's experience is better, while others lean towards Illustrator. Your best bet is to try out multiple options before you settle on one.

Are you interested in learning more about laser cutting machine software? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!