LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Is there any such thing as a discount code for forum members?
I'd love to give LB a try, but $80 is sorta over my budget right now for something that may not do much more than I have already.
I'm aware that there's a trial available, but with my schedule I'm certain it will take me more than a month to really see if I've made a good purchase or not.
Anyway, can't hurt to ask, right?

Bite the bullet and switch or be like me. I have built such a large library in RDWorks that I can't switch now even if I wanted to not to mention that Lightburn has sooooo many more advantages. At $80 it is much less than CorelDraw and other programs that are not geared solely for the laser.
That's what, about 9 sandwiches instead of McDonalds or Taco Bell.

All good points, but I already own Corel and Photoshop, along with AutoCAD and several other design-type software for my main business, which is civil engineering. This laser thing is a side deal for now, and has soaked up all the extra money I have for it at the moment.
I keep hearing how great LB is, but never have I need an actual comparison or even a list of things it actually does better than RDW. Do you know of such a list?

I do not know of a list that has been created as a comparison for the two.
But since you already have and know how to use the other programs, I would suggest to create them in those and import them into RDWorks to run your laser for now.
When you are a little more familiar with the laser and how it works, get the free LB for a month and make the decision then.
I knew NOTHING about CAD, nodes, matrix, group, ungroup, close path, open path, etc. when I bought my laser. I just thought how neat and how many possibilities I might be able to open up with when I got a laser.
I learned how to use RDWorks to create most everything and then bought CorelDraw and am still trying to learn all the terminology and tricks of it, so you already have an advantage with your knowledge of these programs.
For a guy like me, it would have been much easier to learn on LB instead of RDW. Unlike RDW, LB can do a lot of the things that CorelDraw can do and not have to learn all this over and over again on different programs.

Mike Piantanida wrote: Mon Apr 01, 2019 Is there any such thing as a discount code for forum members?

No, $80 is low for what it does, priced that way to be accessible to as many as possible, so I'm not in the habit of giving discounts.

Mike Piantanida wrote: Wed Apr 03, 2019 ...but never have I seen an actual comparison or even a list of things it actually does better than RDW

A few that come to mind immediately:
- Native MacOS and Linux support, and Windows version is 64 bit or 32 bit (RDWorks is 32 bit only)
- Antialiased rendering (smoothed) and modern look and feel, with draggable / dockable windows
- About 2x faster when navigating complex files
- SVG support
- Improved DXF support (block insert references, for example, don't load in RDWorks)
- Significantly simpler image engraving, with numerous dithering modes, as well as live preview contrast, brightness, and mid-tone adjustment
- Ability to scan manually grouped items together
- Infinite undo / redo
- Multi-level grouping
- Automatic welding of text
- Welding, and boolean operations (union, subtract, intersect): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51cXqmNHgeI
- Offsetting of shapes or simple lines
- Hotkeys for everything
- Support for Trocen controllers as well as GCode based systems, in case you have other lasers
- Native clipboard support - copy and paste between instances of the app, or copy an image from a web page and paste it into the app
- Access to the developer through this forum, or our support forum - quick responses to bugs and feature requests
- Complex cut path optimization settings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1hG1wv8tS4
- Camera support for simpler cut alignment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4TaZUkvDbM
- Accurate simulation and time estimates - on my setup, time estimates for a 10 minute job are within a few seconds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c70wbRP5nS4

It's also constantly being improved. For example, text on a path is in development: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGMsTbNHXvk

Those are off the top of my head.

If you want to try it, but need more than a month, it's easy for me to extend or reset trial periods.

Multi-level grouping

I cannot tell you how important this is, alone, it would have saved me a couple hours this week.

Oooh, excellent answer!
That's exactly what I was looking for, thanks!
I totally understand about the discount thing as well, no worries.

That list tells me that I likely DO need LB. I see several things on there that would make my life easier.
One feature I'm keenly interested in (may not be possible) is the ability to do a simple offset "envelope" of a string of text.
For example, let's say you wanted to make a quick keychain for your nephew. You type his Name, do an offset of the letters to create an outer cut line, add a hole at one end for the ring, and send it to the laser. Is anything like that in LB, or possible to add in the future?

Thanks again for checking in here, I'm certainly going to be putting your software on my short list of 'must have' upgrades.
By the way, I've been following your development since it was on HaD as an io.

Yes, easily. Better demonstrated "live": https://youtu.be/d427vis-0Vg

Another that I just thought of - the ability to remove line duplicates as part of cut planning, rather than to the source art. This is important because it preserves inside to outer sorting, whereas if you remove lines from the source, you create open shapes, and then the inner/outer sort in RD doesn't work anymore.