Design laser projects. Start here.
Pick the app that talks to your laser, draw a simple shape, and read the file license before you sell anything. No design degree required.
Laser software Draw Trace photos Cut files SVG licenses
Pick your laser software
This is the app that sends the job to the machine. You can draw in it, or you can import an SVG from one of the drawing apps below.
LightBurn Paid, with a 30-day full trial. The app a lot of diode and CO2 owners use. Works with Core talks to G-code machines such as GRBL diodes. Pro adds Ruida CO2 boards and galvo controllers, including EZCAD.
LightBurn draws the job and sends it to the laser. The trial is 30 days and is the full app, with no watermark. Core is $99 and Pro is $199, paid once. Each license includes a year of updates. After that year you can keep the version you have, or pay to renew updates. Check the price page in case those numbers move.
LightBurn prices Opens in a new tab. 30-day trial Opens in a new tab. Image trace Opens in a new tab.
xTool Creative Space The free app that comes with xTool machines. Works with xTool lasers. The download page currently calls the app xTool Studio, formerly Creative Space.
This is xTool’s own app. You draw or import a shape, pick a material setting, and send the job to an xTool. The button opens xTool’s site. The download page is where the installer is listed.
Glowforge app and Premium Glowforge owners keep the free Print app. Premium is the paid upgrade. Works with A Glowforge, for printing. Premium can also export SVG, LightBurn, and xTool Creative Space files for other lasers.
A new account at the Glowforge app gets a 14-day Premium trial. When that ends, Glowforge owners still have Glowforge Print. Premium is where the catalog and the extra design tools live. The Premium FAQ lists $50 a month or $239 for the year. The Premium sales page says “from $20 a month.” Read the page you are about to pay. Those two pages do not list the same number.
Glowforge Premium Opens in a new tab. Premium FAQ Opens in a new tab.
LaserGRBL A free Windows app for a hobby diode that speaks GRBL. Works with Engravers on Grbl 0.9 or Grbl 1.1. It runs on Windows.
LaserGRBL loads a picture or a G-code file and sends it to a GRBL diode. The author gives it away as a simple alternative when you do not need a paid app. It is not the software for a Ruida CO2 or a galvo fiber.
EZCAD and RDWorks The apps that come with many fiber and CO2 machines. Works with EZCAD with galvo fiber markers that use an EZCAD controller. RDWorks with Ruida CO2 machines.
RDWorks is the software Ruida supplies with its CO2 controllers, and machine sellers such as OMTech and HPC include it with those machines. EZCAD is the control software for galvo markers, including a lot of fiber lasers. Look on the USB drive that came in the box before you pay for another app. Neither one is a drawing program for a finished logo. Draw the hard parts in Inkscape or another vector app, then import them.
Draw and edit vectors
These apps make the shapes. Save an SVG, then open that file in the laser software that matches your machine.
Inkscape A free vector drawing app for signs, boxes, and simple art.
Inkscape is free software for drawing shapes and type. Save an SVG and open it in LightBurn, xTool’s app, or the software that came with the machine. Inkscape’s own license covers the program, not the drawing you make. A drawing that copies a character or a brand is still that owner’s problem.
Affinity The vector tools are free with a free Canva account.
Affinity is Canva’s design app. The vector, pixel, and layout tools are free. You sign in with a Canva account, including a free one, to download it. Canva’s AI tools inside Affinity are the part that needs a paid Canva plan. You still export an SVG for the laser.
Adobe Illustrator Adobe’s paid vector app. The current price is on their page.
Illustrator is the drawing app a lot of print shops already know. It is a paid Adobe plan. This page does not list a dollar amount, because that price changes with the plan. Export SVG for the laser. The pen tool is more than a first name sign needs.
CorelDRAW A paid vector app that many CO2 shops already use.
CorelDRAW is a paid drawing suite. A seller of Ruida CO2 machines describes RDWorks as the controller app, and names CorelDRAW as one of the drawing programs people use beside it. The current price is on Corel’s page. Export SVG or DXF for the laser.
Kittl A browser app with a free plan and paid plans.
Kittl runs in the browser. The free plan is there to try the editor. Kittl’s pricing page says the paid plans are where commercial licensing, vector export, and the larger template library come in. Read that table before you sell a design you made there. This page does not restate their dollar amounts.
Turn photos into vectors
A photo is a grid of dots. A laser follows paths. These tools turn the photo into paths. A simple logo traces better than a busy snapshot.
Vectorizer.AI You can preview a trace for free. Downloading the file is a paid plan.
Vectorizer.AI turns a PNG or JPG into vectors in the browser. Their pricing page says you can upload and preview as many images as you want, then subscribe when you want the production download. See that page for the current price. A traced photo of someone else’s artwork is still their artwork.
Inkscape Trace Bitmap The trace tool built into Inkscape.
In Inkscape, import the picture, select it, and use Path, then Trace Bitmap. Inkscape’s tracing tutorial walks through the buttons. It is free because Inkscape is free. Clean up the paths before you send them to the laser. A thick, simple shape works better than a photo of a face.
LightBurn Trace Image trace is included in LightBurn, including the 30-day trial.
LightBurn’s feature list includes image tracing on both Core and Pro. You do not buy it separately. It is in the trial, and it stays when you buy a license. Their docs call the tool Trace Image.
Ready-made laser files
Someone else drew these. The license on that file is what tells you whether you can sell the object, and whether you can sell the file.
Creative Fabrica A subscription library of designs, fonts, and cut files.
Creative Fabrica’s subscription license lets you put a design on a physical item and sell that item, in unlimited copies. It does not let you resell, share, or give away the downloaded file. Print-on-demand has its own rules on that same page, and they are stricter than a sign you cut yourself. The license guide on this site walks through those pages.
Subscription plans Sponsored link. Opens in a new tab. Subscription license Sponsored link. Opens in a new tab.
Etsy SVG shops Shops sell cut files. The price and the license are on each listing.
Search Etsy for laser SVG files and read that listing before you pay. One shop’s commercial license is not the next shop’s license. Selling the finished object on Etsy also means following Etsy’s intellectual property policy. A file of a movie character is still that character.
Etsy intellectual property policy Opens in a new tab. Etsy seller policy Opens in a new tab.
Glowforge catalog Ready-made designs inside Glowforge Premium.
Glowforge’s Premium page lists a catalog of ready-to-print designs and a vector graphics library. The Premium FAQ says that when the trial ends, you lose the Premium dashboard and the catalog designs. Glowforge owners still have the free Print app. Read the terms shown on a catalog design before you sell the object.
3axis.co A free file library. Sell what you make. Do not sell the files.
3axis.co’s license lets you cut the file and sell the physical product, in any quantity, online or in person. You do not own the design. You may not resell, share, upload, or give away the file, including a file you edited. Their FAQ says the same thing in shorter words: commercial and personal projects are allowed, digital resale is not.
3axis license Opens in a new tab. 3axis FAQ Opens in a new tab.
Free vs paid
Start with the free column. Move to the paid column when you are selling and the free tool is the thing slowing you down.
| Start at $0 | Upgrade when you sell |
|---|---|
| Draw the sign in Inkscape, or in Affinity with a free Canva account. | LightBurn after the 30-day trial, when you want one paid app for a diode or a CO2 laser. Core is $99 and Pro is $199, once. |
| Trace a simple logo with Inkscape’s Trace Bitmap. | Vectorizer.AI when the preview looks right and you are ready to pay to download the file. |
| Drive a GRBL diode with LaserGRBL, an xTool with xTool’s app, or a Ruida CO2 or galvo fiber with the software that came with the machine. | Glowforge Premium for the catalog and the extra tools. Owners keep the free Print app. Read the current price on Glowforge’s page. |
| Download a project from 3axis.co. You can sell the object. You cannot sell the file. | A Creative Fabrica subscription when you want a large library and you will follow that license, including the print-on-demand rules. Kittl’s paid plan is the one their pricing page ties to commercial licensing. |
Two short guides
Questions people ask
Which app should I open first?
Start with the software that came with your laser. If you do not have one, draw in Inkscape. Many diode and CO2 owners switch to LightBurn after the 30-day trial.
Can I sell a piece I cut from a downloaded file?
Only when that file’s license lets you sell the physical object. The 3axis license lets you sell the object and not the file. A Creative Fabrica subscription lets you sell the physical item and not the file.
Do I have to pay before the first sign?
No. Inkscape, LaserGRBL, xTool’s app, and the controller software that came with the machine are the free start. Pay when the free tool is what holds the sale back.
Updated October 23, 2026. The dollar amounts on this page are LightBurn Core at $99, LightBurn Pro at $199, and the two Glowforge Premium prices that disagree with each other ($50 a month or $239 a year on the FAQ, and “from $20 a month” on the sales page). Every other price stays on the vendor’s page.
If you buy through an affiliate link on this page, LaserNook may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Plans and file licenses change, so read the current terms before you sell.