Beam Bench Documentation
Safety, getting started, full reference, troubleshooting, and the concepts behind a desktop laser engraving app built for makers.
Beam Bench is a free desktop app for driving laser engravers and cutters. A modern, fast, opinionated tool for makers.
It is currently in beta. Expect rough edges. Please report what breaks.
Coming from version 0.1?
Read Moving to version 0.2 for the new panel layout, Properties controls, Outliner, Measure modes, and output behavior.
Start here
- Safety: read this first. Lasers cause fires and blindness.
- Get Started: install through your first burn, in a single linear path.
- Reference: every panel, tool, dialog, setting, and hotkey, one page each.
When you hit a wall
- Troubleshooting: symptoms and fixes for the things that commonly go wrong.
- Explainers: what dithering actually is, why fill mode matters, what the difference between job origin and workspace origin is.
- Community & support: the Facebook group and how to use Help → Report a Bug... inside the app.
Looking for something specific
- Guides: task-driven walkthroughs grouped by goal (hardware setup, firmware, camera, projects, quality, automation).
- FAQs: the recurring questions.
- Release notes: what changed in each version.
A note on this site
The docs evolve alongside the app. If a page contradicts what the app does, the app is right. Use Help → Report a Bug... in the app or post in the Beam Bench Facebook group to tell us.