The Power of Variable Text

Variable Text in LightBurn lets you place special codes in your text that are substituted for something else when sent to your laser, allowing you to create a single design that auto-populates with different values based on your selected input. In this video we will take a deeper look into how Variable Text works as we use it to speed up a batch job of custom table place cards.
Variable Text Documentation:
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Variable Text Formats:
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LightBurn Tutorial Playlist:
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[@patrickbink4617]

Excellent tutorial! There is so much available in Lightburn that I still don't know about and Variable Text is one. I am excited to try it!

[@rohanisousbois]

Nicely thought and explained as always

[@Pipeluis]

gracias muy util

[@DS-ng2kj]

Im going to have to watch that about 100 more times

[@LeandroMattosOficial]

Excellent tutorial! I was looking for this option in the software. I tried to do this, however, the words that use spelling accents are not correct in the design, how can I solve this? I'm Brazilian, I don't know if this was explained in the video.

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

If you save the file as a Unicode text file, it should work. If you're having trouble with it, please email [e-mail] (and include your text file) so we can have a look.

[@migoalaso]

I tried this method for trophy plates. The problem I had was the information was going beyond the desgin space. Ex: .75x4 inch trophy plate. How can I auto condense the information so it stays inside of the plate dimentions?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

On the shape properties for text you can specify a Max Width - the text will be compressed if it exceeds that size.

[@migoalaso]

Hello again. I very new to LB. Can you give me a little more guidance on how to set the Max Width with the shape properties. I was unable to figure it out. Thx again. @@lightburnsoftware7189

[@wuzzytiger692]

Waaay too fast

[@geauxracerx]

Wish I had known about this when I first got my laser. Oh well next time. Mod Bot ftw!

[@thatDIYlife]

That’s a super powerful feature!

[@laserillusionstech]

What if some of the texts are longer than others and goes out of bounds of the design? Is there a way to set text boundary so that the font size automatically adjusts to fit the set boundary?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

If you enable the shape properties window there is a max width that can be set. This will scale the text to stay within those bounds. docs.lightburnsoftware.com/UI/ShapeProperties.html#text

[@bertkraan2817]

so cool! thank you for sharing!

[@leahwalker902]

Does this work when doing a different name on each tumbler? If I have a csv file with 30 names I'm hoping to import then have the software advance to next name automatically when I hit start after loading a new cup? So instead of 9 at a time like in your example it's 1 at a time?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Yes, this is exactly the kind of thing it’s for.

[@Adventures.withKatrina]

for some reason my csv is not bringing in the names I have

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

There’s no way for you to attach it here for us, so please email [e-mail] with your CSV file and your LightBurn project file and we’ll have a look.

[@PoppysWorkshop]

Great tutorial! I continue to be impressed at how much can be done with Lightburn!

[@CalyoWiselyLaser]

Wowow looks so nice

[@SantaDragon]

Thank you for this great tutorial.

[@design8studio]

Great!

[@billieb]

Wow. You talk as fast as I do! There is so much info in this I will have to go back and play at 1/2 speed. I find it interesting that this came out right after Hobo with wood did his vid last week. I had never heard of "variable text" until brought it to light. Thanks for showing all the components.

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Would you believe me if I said this was my attempt at slowing down haha. It is an incredibly powerful and versatile tool. Even if you don't use it daily understanding how and when to use it is absolutely worth it.

[@lanceparker4524]

Is there a way to have the size of the text shrink if you want to constrain it to a certain area of the design?

[@lightburnsoftware7189]

Yes, it sounds like what you want is the max width option. This can be found under shape properties. docs.lightburnsoftware.com/UI/ShapeProperties.html This is not viewable by default so enable it from the window drop down menu. Version 1.5 takes this a step further with the squeeze function: docs.lightburnsoftware.com/Version1_5.html#new-shape-property-added-for-text