Use EZCAD2 and EZCAD3 projects in LightBurn, Inkscape and CAD software
Many fiber and other galvo lasers ship with EZCAD, and years of jobs end up as .ezd (EZCAD2)
or .ez3 (EZCAD3) files that nothing else can open. EZCAD is a Windows program that usually
stays on the PC wired to the laser, and LightBurn cannot import its projects. This converter
reads the project file directly and rebuilds the job for LightBurn, as a layered SVG and as a
DXF, without EZCAD.
What you get
| You upload | You get |
|---|---|
An EZCAD2 project (.ezd) or an EZCAD3 project (.ez3) | a LightBurn project (.lbrn2), a layered SVG, a DXF, a preview picture, and the preview EZCAD saved in the file |
Choose a single format under Convert to if you only need one file.
- Pens become layers. Every EZCAD pen used in the drawing becomes a LightBurn layer in the pen's colour, named after it ("Pen 2 Outline"); hatched shapes go on a fill layer of the same pen ("Pen 2 Outline hatch").
- The pen settings travel with them, in the fields LightBurn uses for galvo lasers: power, marking speed, loop count as passes, pulse frequency, Q pulse width (for MOPA sources), the laser on, laser off, end and polygon delays, jump speed, the jump delays and wobble. A pen switched off in EZCAD becomes a layer that is switched off.
- Hatches stay hatches. By default a hatched shape lands on a LightBurn fill layer with EZCAD's line spacing, angle, direction (one way or back and forth), cross-hatching, angle increment per pass and number of passes; EZCAD's ring hatch becomes an Offset Fill layer. An outline EZCAD marks with the hatch ("mark contour", "follow edge once") goes on a line layer of the same pen. Choose Exact hatch lines to get the lines EZCAD computed and saved instead, exactly as it would mark them.
- Text, barcodes and QR codes arrive as the outlines EZCAD saved, so they look the same without the font. They are no longer editable as text.
- Shapes: curves, arcs, rectangles (with rounded corners), circles, ellipses and ellipse arcs, polygons and stars, grouped as in EZCAD. Pictures are embedded in the LightBurn and SVG files. The objects of every EZCAD3 layer are converted in order.
- Objects stay where they were in the field. EZCAD measures from the centre of the lens field, LightBurn from a corner, so the drawing is moved by half the field size: 110 mm unless you enter yours under More options. You can also keep EZCAD's own coordinates, or move the design's bottom-left corner to 0,0 for a gantry laser or a CAD program.
The result page shows the converted drawing next to the preview EZCAD stored in the file, a table of the layers with their settings, the number of objects of each type and the size of the design, so you can check everything before downloading.
Open the result in LightBurn
- Under More options, enter the size of your lens field (the one in LightBurn's device settings) so the design lands where it was in EZCAD.
- Download the
.lbrn2file and open it with File → Open in LightBurn 1.0 or newer. - A short note about the conversion appears; the layers are in the Cuts / Layers window.
- Check each layer for your laser, lens and material, then frame the job and mark a test on scrap.
LightBurn has 30 layers. A project that uses more pens and hatch settings than that, such as a test grid with a different hatch in every square, shares a few layers, and the result says so; Exact hatch lines then needs only one layer per pen.
Supported EZCAD versions
EZCAD2 .ezd projects: tested with files from EZCAD 2.7, 2.12 and 2.14 and several other
EZCAD2 builds. EZCAD3 .ez3 projects in the current format (format version 3004). Password-protected projects cannot be read; the result says so.
What is not converted
- Control objects (wait, input and output signals, rotary and axis moves) have no drawing and are left out; the result counts them. EZCAD3 spiral objects and 3D objects are not converted yet, with a warning.
- Hatch settings LightBurn's fill layers have no field for: edge offset, start and end offsets, line reduction, contour loops, and the hatch types that join lines along the edge or work in blocks (they are filled back and forth). You are told when a file uses them, and Exact hatch lines keeps them. EZCAD's "average distribute line" is not carried over; LightBurn keeps the exact spacing.
- Pen settings without a LightBurn layer field: end compensation, acceleration, vector point mode, extra end points, the weld waveform, YAG and SPI source settings. The result warns about the ones a file uses. A MOPA pulse width chosen from the source's list in EZCAD (instead of a number) has to be set again in LightBurn.
- Picture options (invert, dither, fixed DPI): the picture arrives with its own resolution.
- Variable text (serial numbers, dates) is converted as it was last drawn.
- The DXF holds outlines only, not pictures.
Power, speed and frequency: read this before marking
Settings are copied exactly as they are in the file. They belong to the laser the project was made for: another source, wattage or lens needs different values, and the same numbers can mark much harder or not at all. Always test on scrap first.
Privacy
Your file is only used for the conversion. The upload is deleted as soon as the conversion finishes, and the converted files are deleted automatically after 30 minutes, or immediately when you click "Delete now". The file is never sent to anyone else.
EZCAD is software by Beijing JCZ Technology; LightBurn is a trademark of LightBurn Software. This converter is independent and not affiliated with either company.