Job origin vs workspace origin
Distinguish the workspace orientation, job placement anchor, and selection reference point.
The workspace origin defines the coordinate orientation of the bed. Job Origin chooses the anchor used to place a job. The selection reference point in Properties is a separate editing control.
Workspace origin
The Device Settings Origin field chooses Bottom Left or Top Left for the workspace. Displayed Y increases upward with Bottom Left and downward with Top Left. The setting must match the coordinate convention used by your machine setup.
Homing establishes the controller's position reference. It does not select this profile setting. The controller's work offsets can also affect the reported position, so do not infer the correct workspace origin solely from the corner containing the home switches.
Job origin
The anchor used to place the job's bounds. It does not prescribe the first point the laser cuts. Configure placement per project in Laser Control with two settings:
- Start From dropdown:
- Absolute Coords: the job uses the workspace origin directly. The design's canvas position is its absolute machine position.
- Current Position: the job is offset so the head's current position becomes the chosen anchor of the job's bounding box.
- User Origin: same as Current Position, but using a saved User Origin from the Move panel instead of the live head position.
- Job Origin 3×3 grid, when Start From is not Absolute, this picks which corner (or center) of the job's bounding box anchors to the head position.
How they combine
| Scenario | What happens |
|---|---|
| Start From: Absolute Coords | Job uses workspace coordinates directly. The design's position on the canvas is its position on the bed. Job Origin grid is disabled. |
| Start From: Current Position, Job Origin: Center (C) | The head's current X/Y becomes the center of the job. The job draws around the head. |
| Start From: Current Position, Job Origin: Bottom-Left (BL) | The head's current X/Y becomes the bottom-left corner of the job's bounding box. The job draws up and to the right of where the head is. |
| Start From: User Origin, Job Origin: BL | Same as above but using the saved User Origin point instead of "wherever the head happens to be right now". |
A practical example
You have a piece of scrap wood you placed roughly in the bed and want to engrave a logo onto it without measuring.
- Jog the head to where you want the bottom-left corner of the logo on the wood.
- In Laser Control: Start From: Current Position, Job Origin: Bottom-Left.
- Frame to verify.
- Start.
The logo lands where you put the head, oriented per the bottom-left anchor.
Try this instead:
- Start From: Absolute Coords.
Now the logo lands wherever its canvas position said, probably not where the wood is. That is the workspace-origin behavior.
Why this trips people up
The canvas in Beam Bench is a representation of the machine bed. It looks like the workspace. So new users assume "where I put the design on the canvas" = "where it goes on the machine". That is true only when Start From is set to Absolute Coords.
For most workflows where you place material casually on the bed, Current Position + a chosen Job Origin corner is more useful.
Framing
Frame (in Laser Control) checks the planned output bounds. If the frame misses the material, stop and check Start From, Job Origin, profile dimensions and orientation, and the controller's position state and work offsets. Adjust and frame again before starting.
Selection reference point
The reference grid in Properties chooses which part of the selection its position and size controls use. It stays selected during the current app session, including new imports. It does not change Job Origin, home the machine, or set User Origin.
Related
- Laser Control: Start From, Job Origin, Frame
- Device Settings dialog: workspace Origin (BL vs TL)
- Move panel: Set User Origin, Go to User Origin, jog the head, save positions
- Coordinate systems
- Job is rotated or mirrored