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Preview and Frame are not the same operation. In LightBurn, Preview shows the planned toolpath and operation order on screen, while Frame traces the job’s intended area on the physical work surface. A mismatch can therefore come from software placement, imported dimensions, overscan, machine alignment, focus, or the material—not from one universal fault. Identify which stage is wrong, then change one variable and verify with a small supervised test.
First identify what is actually wrong
“The engraver is not following the preview” can describe several different failures. Diagnose the stage that diverges before changing calibration or power settings.
| What you observe | What it usually indicates | First check |
|---|---|---|
| The on-screen Preview has missing, extra, doubled, reversed, or incorrectly sized shapes. | A design, layer, path, or operation problem inside the software. | Inspect the operation list, layer visibility, path direction, dimensions, and Preview settings. LightBurn lists these cases in its Preview Window troubleshooting guide. |
| Preview looks correct, but the physical Frame is in the wrong place. | Incorrect positioning mode, Job Origin, head position, or galvo red-dot setup. | Check Start From, Job Origin, and the machine’s framing method before calibrating anything. |
| Frame is correctly positioned, but the finished engraving is shifted. | The job started from a different physical point than expected, or the material moved. | Confirm Start From, Job Origin, machine coordinates, clamps, and material stability. |
| The engraving is uniformly too large or too small. | Imported units, device scaling, or design dimensions are wrong. | Compare the software’s measured dimensions with a ruler and verify import units, especially for DXF. |
| Only jobs near an edge fail, or the head travels beyond the graphic. | Raster overscan needs more travel than the available work area. | Show traversal moves in Preview and compare red travel lines with the green work-area boundary. |
| Geometry is in the right place, but marks are blurry, weak, or visually unlike the preview. | Focus, material, speed, power, or setup—not necessarily geometry. | Refocus using the procedure for your laser family and follow the manufacturer’s material guidance. |
LightBurn’s Preview is a representation of toolpath and operation order, not a camera view of the workpiece. Its legacy documentation also notes that a time estimate can be wrong even when the generated toolpath is correct: an inaccurate duration alone does not prove that geometry is wrong. See the legacy Preview documentation for the distinction.
Use this diagnostic sequence
Work through the checks in order. After each correction, reopen Preview, run Frame, and only then perform a small test on suitable scrap material.
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1. Verify the design and toolpath in Preview
Open Preview and inspect every operation, not just the artwork on the main canvas. Confirm that all expected shapes appear, that unwanted shapes are absent, and that the order is appropriate for your layer settings. Look for paths that are doubled, reversed, clipped, or unexpectedly scaled. A vector may be present on the canvas but excluded from output by a disabled layer or operation.
For raster work, inspect the direction of scan lines and any travel moves. If the software’s red traversal lines extend well outside the graphic, that is expected overscan until it approaches the machine boundary; it becomes a problem when the required motion cannot fit on the machine.
Do not “fix” a correct toolpath because its estimated duration looks surprising. LightBurn’s troubleshooting material separates preview-time errors from path errors and documents common cases such as gaps, banding, blurry edges, and reversed engraving at its troubleshooting index.
2. Check Start From and Job Origin in LightBurn
In LightBurn, open the Laser window and check the Start From mode and Job Origin control. These settings determine how the design is mapped to the machine’s current position.
- Current Position: the output is placed relative to where the laser head is when you press Start. Job Origin tells LightBurn which point of the design should coincide with that starting point.
- User Origin: the job uses the user-origin location recorded by the machine. The design’s origin relationship still matters, so an unexpected origin can shift the entire output.
- Other machine-coordinate modes: the exact choices depend on the device profile and controller. Treat the labels shown for your machine as authoritative rather than assuming another model uses the same behavior.
A wrong combination can move a perfectly drawn design by a large distance while leaving its size unchanged. If Frame is substantially displaced, revisit these settings before attempting calibration. Change one setting, frame again, and confirm that the trace now encloses the intended material area. LightBurn’s positioning and first-material-test procedure is documented at First Material Test: positioning, focusing, Preview, and Framing.
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3. Use Frame to test the physical placement
Frame traces the job boundary on the material without engraving it. Place the material where you intend to work, secure it against movement, and run the machine’s Frame command. Watch the entire outline, including corners and any protruding features.
- If the outline is only slightly displaced and your setup allows it, reposition the material or the head, then frame again.
- If the outline is far from the intended location, stop repositioning and return to Start From and Job Origin. A large error is more likely to be a coordinate-mode problem than a small mechanical offset.
- If the outline is the right size but rotated or mirrored, check the origin and controller coordinate convention rather than changing scale.
- If the frame is correct but the mark later shifts, check that the material did not slide, lift, or rotate during the job.
Never run a job simply because the on-screen rectangle looks correct. The physical Frame is the final placement check before firing.
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Galvo machines project a red-dot frame rather than moving a gantry head around the boundary. LightBurn documents three galvo frame styles:
| Style | Behavior | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Bounds | Frames the enclosing rectangle. | Fast, but it does not follow irregular contours. |
| Hull | Frames a boundary around the outer shape. | Follows the overall footprint without tracing every detail. |
| Contour | Follows the shapes more closely. | Most representative of irregular artwork, but takes longer. |
If the red-dot frame is consistently in the wrong location or has the wrong scale, LightBurn’s Galvo Framing documentation points to focus and the red-dot values in Device Settings. Those values are hardware-specific. Do not copy offsets from another galvo, even if it has the same nominal field size; follow the machine maker’s focal-distance and red-dot calibration procedure.
5. Confirm dimensions and import units
Measure the intended width and height in the design software and compare them with the dimensions shown in the laser-control software. Then measure the framed or engraved result with a ruler. This separates a placement error from a scale error:
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- Correct dimensions, wrong location: investigate origin, start mode, head position, and material movement.
- Wrong dimensions by a constant factor: investigate units or device scaling.
- Different errors on width and height: investigate nonuniform scaling, machine calibration, or a design that was resized during import.
DXF files require special care. A DXF does not retain whether its numeric coordinates represent millimeters, inches, or another measurement system. Choose the correct units in LightBurn before importing; otherwise a file can arrive dramatically too large or too small. The units and related controls are described in LightBurn’s Settings documentation.
That settings reference also covers Curve Tolerance. Curve tolerance changes how closely output paths approximate curves; it can affect path detail and file processing, but it is not a substitute for correcting incorrect design units or machine scale.
6. Inspect overscan against the usable work area
Raster engraving uses overscanning so the head can accelerate and decelerate outside the marked region. The extra travel is normal, but it needs physical room. A job may fit as a graphic and still exceed the machine’s usable boundary once overscan is added.
- Open Preview for the raster operation.
- Enable Show traversal moves so non-marking travel is visible.
- Identify the red overscan travel at each side of the engraving.
- Compare that travel with the green work-area outline.
- If any required motion crosses the machine boundary, do not run the job. Reduce the overscan percentage or engraving speed where your controller permits it, and/or move the design or custom origin inward.
Reducing speed can reduce the distance needed for acceleration, but it changes job time and may require a corresponding material test. LightBurn’s Overscanning explanation gives a concrete illustration: one example graphic took 26:39 at 100 mm/second and nearly three minutes longer at 400 mm/second because of additional overscan travel. That is an example from the documentation, not a general performance benchmark.
If the controller reports an out-of-bounds error or the head appears to be commanded beyond the machine’s limit, cancel the job. Do not rely on a software rectangle that excludes the extra traversal distance.
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7. Check focus and material setup when geometry is right
Focus determines how the beam is concentrated on the surface. A correctly placed frame can still produce a mark that looks unlike the Preview if focus, material height, speed, power, or the manufacturer’s material recommendation is wrong.
Focusing procedures differ among diode, DSP CO2, and galvo systems. Use the method specified for your machine family, set the material at the correct focal distance, and confirm that it remains flat. For a galvo, focal distance also affects the apparent location and scale of the red-dot frame.
LightBurn’s setup guidance includes a low-power Fire function for positioning on diode lasers. It must never be used on a CO2 laser. Follow the machine manufacturer’s safety instructions, enclosure requirements, interlocks, ventilation guidance, and power limits instead of transferring a diode procedure to another laser type.
8. Change one variable and run a controlled test
When the cause is uncertain, preserve the original file and settings. Record the machine model, controller type, software version, design dimensions, Start From mode, Job Origin, device profile, material, and the symptom. Then change only one plausible cause—such as the import unit or origin—and repeat the same checks:
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors- Open Preview and verify that the toolpath is unchanged except for the intended correction.
- Frame the job on scrap material.
- Confirm that the outline fits inside the physical work area and includes overscan travel.
- Run a small, supervised test at conservative settings appropriate for the material.
- Measure the result and record the outcome before making another change.
This method prevents several compensating errors from hiding the original cause. It also gives software or machine support enough information to reproduce the problem.
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Match the fix to the symptom
The design is shifted but its size is correct
Start with Start From, Job Origin, and the actual head position at the moment Start is pressed. In Current Position mode, moving the head changes where the same design will be placed. If you use User Origin, confirm that the saved origin is the one you intended. Frame after every change. Also check clamps and material stops; a correct frame cannot prevent a loose workpiece from moving during engraving.
The frame is correct but the final mark is shifted
Look for material movement, a lifted corner, a focus-height change, or a job that contains a different operation boundary than the one you framed. Confirm that the same file and visible layers were used for Frame and Start. If only one operation is being run, its bounds may differ from the full design you inspected.
The entire engraving is uniformly too large or too small
Recheck the design units, especially after importing DXF, and compare a known dimension in the software with a physical measurement. If the software dimension is correct but the physical result is consistently scaled, stop changing artwork dimensions and consult the machine’s calibration procedure. A software resize can hide a device-level scale problem and make future jobs unpredictable.
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Curves or small details do not match the preview
Inspect whether curves were converted into a coarse path during import or output. Review Curve Tolerance in the settings, then compare the actual path in Preview. If the mismatch appears only as a soft or jagged mark rather than displaced geometry, return to focus and material settings before altering curve geometry.
The job fails only near the edge
Check overscan first. The graphic’s bounding box may fit while the acceleration travel does not. Show traversal moves, reduce overscan or speed where appropriate, and move the artwork inward. If the machine’s usable area is smaller than its advertised physical bed after accounting for homing, clamps, or other restrictions, use the smaller safe boundary.
The red-dot galvo frame has the wrong scale or position
Verify focus and the red-dot settings in Device Settings using the procedure for that exact machine. Test with a simple shape at a known focal distance. Because galvo optical geometry and field settings vary, generic offsets from a different device can make the error worse.
Gantry and galvo systems require different checks
| Check | Gantry diode or CO2 | Galvo |
|---|---|---|
| Physical placement | The moving head traces the boundary; head position and origin determine placement. | A red-dot projection indicates the boundary; optical red-dot calibration affects placement. |
| Focus | Set material height using the machine’s diode or DSP CO2 method. | Set the specified focal distance; incorrect focus can alter apparent red-dot location and scale. |
| Overscan | Raster travel can extend beyond the graphic and must remain inside the usable motion area. | Use the galvo frame and field limits specified for the optical system; do not assume gantry overscan rules apply unchanged. |
| Calibration changes | Use the manufacturer’s axis and device calibration procedure after software causes are excluded. | Use the manufacturer’s optical and red-dot procedure; values are not interchangeable between machines. |
Safety and stop conditions
- Never run a job when Preview shows required travel outside the machine’s physical limits.
- Keep the operator present for the small verification job; do not leave an active laser unattended.
- Use appropriate eye protection, enclosure controls, ventilation, interlocks, and fire precautions for the laser class and machine design.
- Test on material known to be compatible with your laser. Some plastics and coated materials can release hazardous fumes.
- Do not use LightBurn’s diode-only Fire procedure on a CO2 laser.
- Stop if the head binds, the controller reports an out-of-bounds condition, the material moves, or the beam behaves unexpectedly.
What to provide when support is needed
If the mismatch remains after the workflow, send support a concise reproducible description rather than only saying that the laser ignored Preview. Include:
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- Laser make and model, controller type, and whether it is a gantry or galvo system.
- LightBurn version and device profile.
- Start From mode, Job Origin, and where the head was positioned before Start.
- Design file type, intended width and height, imported units, and the dimensions shown in the software.
- Whether Preview is wrong, Frame is wrong, the final mark is shifted, the final mark is scaled, or only the appearance is poor.
- Material, focus method, speed, power, overscan setting, and whether the failure occurs only near an edge.
- A screenshot of Preview with traversal moves enabled and a photograph of the physical Frame or test result, with a ruler if scale is in question.
That information distinguishes a path-generation issue from coordinate placement, optical framing, overscan, or material setup and avoids unnecessary calibration changes.
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