Skip to content
Moxisync

Image to DXF for laser and CNC

Trace a PNG or JPG into a DXF of closed polylines in millimetres, ready for LightBurn, laser and CNC software.

Runs on your device

Works offline

One colour, smooth curves, one cut-ready path.

Drop an image, paste it, or

PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF or BMP. It stays on your device.

Try a sample
Result
Paths
0
Nodes
0
Colours
0
SVG size
0 B

From image to DXF

  1. Add the image and stay in Cut mode for a single outline layer.
  2. Clean the toolpath. This page starts with Remove specks at 6 px so the machine does not trace dust, and Smoothing at 6 to avoid jagged, slow paths.
  3. Inspect with Outlines. What you see is what the head will follow.
  4. Download DXF, import it, check the size, and assign cut or engrave operations.

What is in the DXF

  • Closed polylines. Curves are flattened to polylines within 0.2 px of the true curve, which LightBurn, LaserGRBL, RDWorks, Fusion and most CAM software read without trouble.
  • Millimetres. The drawing is in mm at 96 pixels per inch, so a 960 px wide image imports 254 mm wide. Scale it to your final size after import.
  • One layer per colour. In Logo mode each colour becomes its own layer, named after the colour, handy for separating cut from engrave.
  • Holes stay holes. Inner outlines are separate closed polylines, so letters keep their counters.

Need true curves instead of polylines? Download the SVG or PDF: they keep the smooth Bézier curves, and most laser software imports them directly.

Before you cut

Check that stencil-style pieces stay attached: an O cut from sheet material loses its centre unless you add bridges. Keep features wider than your kerf (about 0.1 to 0.2 mm on a diode or CO2 laser, more on a router bit), and run a test on scrap to set power and speed.

Questions people ask

Which programs can open the DXF?

Anything that reads AutoCAD DXF: LightBurn, LaserGRBL, RDWorks, Inkscape, Fusion, FreeCAD, LibreCAD, VCarve and most CAM tools. The file uses plain LWPOLYLINE entities for the widest compatibility.

Why is the DXF a different size than I expected?

DXF files store bare numbers and each program guesses the units. This file declares millimetres at 96 pixels per inch. If your software assumes inches, scale by 1/25.4, or simply resize after import.

Why polylines and not splines?

Many laser and CNC programs handle DXF splines unevenly or not at all, while closed polylines import everywhere. The curves are flattened finely enough (0.2 px) that the steps are invisible at normal sizes.

Can I engrave a photo with this?

A DXF holds cutting lines, not shading. For photo engraving use your laser software's own image mode. For a stencil-style cut of a photo, use Cut mode and adjust the threshold.

Can I get separate layers for cut and engrave?

Yes. Switch to Logo mode with two or three colours: each colour is written to its own DXF layer, which you can assign to a different operation in LightBurn or your CAM software.

All images tools