Warning
The current version of MillMage is a Release Candidate — a stable version of software that is nearly ready for official release, but in need of additional public testing. Please report any unexpected behavior in the MillMage Software Questions section of our forum, including screenshots and as much detail as possible. Ask hardware compatibility questions in the MillMage Hardware Compatibility section.
Users new to MillMage should follow the Getting Started guide.
Video: How to Use a Release Candidate
This video features our sister software, LightBurn. While there may be slight differences in appearance and layout, the demonstrated processes are similar in MillMage.
Warning
This documentation is in active development and in a prerelease state. These documents are not complete and may include missing pages, broken links, and placeholders. Content is being updated as feedback is reviewed. Your patience is appreciated.
Settings/Preferences
The Settings window contains global user preferences for MillMage — these settings apply regardless of what machine you have set up, and which one you currently have selected.
The Settings window is split into five tabs:
Accessing the Settings Window¶
To open the Settings window, click the gears icon in the top toolbar, or go to Edit → Settings.
If you're on macOS, go to MillMage → Preferences instead.
Settings Window¶
Click any option in the images below to jump directly to the relevant section for that option, or scroll down for an alphabetized list of options and descriptions for each tab.
Click a tab to jump to the relevant section for that tab and the settings it contains.
Editor Settings¶
Auto-save Interval (minutes)¶
Sets the frequency of auto-saves, in minutes. Setting the Auto-save Interval to 0 disables auto-saving.
Auto-saves are stored in the same location as you saved the original file, with _backup appended to its name. If you’ve never named a file, the auto-save will be in your computer's Documents folder.
Each auto-save overwrites the previous auto-save, and when you manually save the file, the auto-saved copy is deleted.
Beginner Mode¶
Enables a simplified version of the MillMage interface which removes several options that new users are unlikely to use.
See Beginner Mode for more information.
Ignore out-of-bounds shapes if possible¶
When Starting projects or saving GCode files for your CNC machine, tells MillMage not to send graphics positioned outside the grid of the Workspace.
Graphics that are partially inside and partially outside the grid will be ignored.
Invert mouse wheel zoom direction¶
Overrides the default scrolling behavior within MillMage to match preferences for macOS or Windows.
Save state of Move / Rotate / Scale switches¶
Stores the state of the Transform Control Toggles, so they persist between restarts of MillMage.
Switch to Select mode after drawing a shape¶
Automatically exit the Primary Shapes creation tool and switch to the Selection tool after creating a shape.
Automatically check for updates¶
Permits (or denies) MillMage the ability to automatically check for updates, and inform you of them.
Beta, or Release Candidate User?
Beta and Release Candidate versions of MillMage will ignore the Automatically check for updates toggle. Users testing early builds will always be prompted to update to the latest testing release available to ensure that the version of MillMage being tested is the most current candidate.
Use System Clipboard¶
Enabling this makes Copy and Paste operations slightly slower, but allows MillMage to:
- Copy and Paste across different runs of MillMage, or between two running copies of the app
- Paste images copied from other software or web browsers
- Paste text directly into the Workspace, auto-creating a Text Object
Auto-launch files in running copy of MillMage¶
When opening projects through your system's file explorer, automatically open any MillMage project files on your computer within a running copy of MillMage, rather than opening an additional copy of the program.
Ignore 'Start' button if monitor is off or asleep¶
Prevents you from accidentally starting your CNC machine by pressing the wrong key when waking the computer. This is particularly useful on CNC machines that don't have enclosures with safety interlocks.
Save Job Log¶
Instructs MillMage to save a log of projects that are run, on what device, and at what time.
It will save a file called MillMageJobs.csv in your system's Documents folder.
Load / Save dialogs¶
These settings permit you to use non-native system dialogs to perform Save/Open/Import/Export operations with MillMage.
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Use internal Load / Save dialogs uses MillMage's internal code to load and save files.
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Use external Load / Save dialogs opens a second application to load and save files.
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Bypass system Load / Save dialogs bypasses your system's Load / Save dialogs.
Try external Load / Save dialogs or Bypass system Load / Save dialogs if MillMage crashes when performing Save/Open/Import/Export operations.
Text Settings¶
See Create and Edit Text — Text Settings for information on these settings.
Units and Grids¶
Units¶
Determines the units displayed in MillMage.
MillMage internally operates in millimeters, but can display in either millimeters or inches. Speeds can be represented as either units per minute.
MillMage automatically converts any existing values when you switch between units.
Snapping¶
MillMage has two snapping behaviors which you can enable or disable here.
Snap to Objects will snap your pointer location to the nearest object center or vertex when creating new objects, drawing lines, or moving objects, making it easier to connect and align shapes.
Snap to Grid will snap your cursor position to the nearest grid location, as specified by the Grid Snap Distance value. Note that the Grid Snap Distance and the Visual Grid Spacing do not have to be the same.
Hold Ctrl/Cmd while moving an object to toggle the status of the snapping behaviors — if they are currently enabled, they will be temporarily disabled, and if they're disabled, they'll be temporarily enabled.
See Snapping for more information.
Grid Contrast¶
Adjust the brightness of the grid in your Workspace, relative to the background.
Grid Contrast Comparison
Visual Grid Spacing¶
Visual Grid Spacing determines the visual size of grid squares at the standard zoom level. As you Zoom In, you'll see a secondary 10 x 10 grid of squares within each larger square. Each smaller square is 1/10th the size of the Visual Grid Spacing value.
Note that this setting is independent of the Grid Snap Distance, which controls how close lines and other shapes must be to a grid line to snap to it.
Grid Snap Distance¶
Determines how close lines and other primitives must be to a grid line to snap to it.
Click Selection Tolerance (pixels)¶
Determines how close your cursor must be to a line or vertex, in screen pixels, to click it.
Increase this number if you have trouble selecting things, decrease it if you find yourself selecting things you didn't mean to.
Object Snap Distance (pixels)¶
Controls how close, in screen pixels, your cursor has to be to an object node or center to activate the Object Snapping behavior.
Shape Move Increments¶
When moving objects with the arrow keys in the Workspace, these values control the distance to move the selection.
Assign individual values to movements when pressing:
- The Left, Right, Up, and Down arrow keys
- Ctrl while pressing an arrow key
- Shift while pressing an arrow key
Display¶
Enable Antialiasing (slower, but pretty)¶
Antialiasing smooths the appearance of lines on your screen. Enabling anti-aliasing will make your design rendering look much nicer, but increases demand on your machine.
If you notice your computer lagging, especially on older computers or when working with very complex designs, try disabling this setting.
Antialiasing comparison
Reduce Motion (slower)¶
Instructs MillMage to try to reduce motion or other flickering effects in the rendering.
If you notice your computer lagging, especially on older computers, or when working with very complex designs, try disabling this setting.
Use Dark Background¶
Shows the Workspace using a dark color scheme.
Show Palette Button Labels¶
Shows numbered labels on the Color Palette swatches, making it easier to tell similar colors apart.
Cursors / Nodes¶
Adjusts the size of special cursors used when Snapping, applying Radii, Bending text, and more, as well as the size of individual nodes when using Edit Nodes.
Adjust the slider to select between Normal, Larger, and Largest.
Node Size Comparison
Toolbar Icon Size¶
Changes the scaling of icon elements in the MillMage UI. This allows for manual overrides for high DPI screens and interface scaling for visually impaired users. Not all program elements may fit on screen if this is increased too high.
Adjust the slider to choose between Smallest, Smaller, Normal, Larger, Large, Very Large, and Largest.
Warning
Setting this slider too high may result in clipping of UI elements. If you scale icons up or down such that you cannot reach the menu items to re-open the Settings window and shrink them, use the method listed here to reset MillMage.
Application Theme (requires restart)¶
Set MillMage to either match the host computer System Theme, Classic Light mode, or Classic Dark mode.
Show full screen line cursor¶
Draws a moving crosshair, centered on your cursor, that spans the entire edit screen.
Show work area center cross¶
Draws an immovable crosshair through the center of your Workspace, spanning the entire grid.
Enable High DPI Scaling (requires restart)¶
MillMage users of monitors with high pixel per inch counts can toggle on Enable High DPI Scaling to improve image quality in both the Workspace, program elements, job Previews and Trace Image renderings.
Round High DPI Scaling to nearest integer (requires restart)¶
Automatically round up or down to the nearest 100th integer, for example 125% will round down to 100%, and 150% will round up to 200% scaling. This feature should be off by default.
Curve Quality¶
Controls the precision MillMage uses in displaying curves on the screen. All curves are displayed as a series of short lines, but the higher this value is, the shorter those lines will be.
Reduce this value to improve performance if your system is slow.
Curve Quality comparison
Font Size¶
Increases or decreases the font size for MillMage window text anywhere in the program. This allows for manual overrides for high DPI screens and interface scaling for visually impaired users. Not all program elements may fit on screen if increased too high.
Adjust the slider to select Default, or a size between 8 and 24 pixels.
Warning
Setting this slider too high may result in clipping of UI elements. If you scale font up or down such that you cannot reach the menu items to re-open the Settings window and shrink it, use the method listed here to reset MillMage.
Import / Export¶
Group imported shapes¶
Automatically Groups shapes imported from a single file together, so they don't get scattered in a complex design.
Import hidden layers from AI files¶
Enables importation of layers hidden in the source file, when importing from AI (Adobe Illustrator) files.
Select imported shapes¶
Automatically selects shapes upon importing them.
Center imported shapes in edit window¶
Enables the automatic placement of all imported shapes into the center of the Workspace.
DXF Import Settings¶
Enable Auto-detect units if possible to have MillMage automatically detect the units used to produce the DXF, if it can.
Select the appropriate unit of measurement for your DXF if the units are not contained in the file, or the DXF may import at an incorrect scale.
Ignore Text Objects ignores text objects included in a DXF file. This can be useful for leaving out dimensions and other notes and only importing relevant shapes.
Auto-close tolerance (mm) determines how close together imported nodes must be for MillMage to automatically close them, placing them on a shared path.
DXF Export Settings¶
When exporting in DXF format, choose whether to Export Arcs or Convert Arcs to Lines.
When Convert Arcs to Lines is selected, arcs in your MillMage designs will be exported as a series of small line segments.
SVG Import Settings¶
Select whether to import SVGs at:
- 96 DPI — the default for Inkscape
- 72 DPI — the default for Adobe Illustrator
If your SVGs import at the incorrect scale, try the alternate setting to the one you currently have selected.
HPGL / PLT Import precision¶
Determines the precision of files imported from HGPL or PLT format.
Output Settings¶
Curve Tolerance specifies the maximum amount of error allowed when projects are output to your CNC machine. The lower the value, the more accurate the curve will be. A value of 0 would be "perfect", but would create very dense data, as some controllers can only process line segments. Most users will be fine leaving this at the default value of 0.01 mm.
Technical Details
In the above image, the blue curve between the two points is the ideal shape. The black line is a straight line between them, and the red line shows the error (how far the line is from the curve). MillMage measures this error, and if it's equal to or lower than the Curve Tolerance value, it outputs the straight line. If not, the curve is subdivided into two linear segments and the process repeats with each new segment. Those segments are shown below in violet, along with their new error values. You can see that the two new lines do a much better job of approximating the original curve.
Most people will probably never need to change this — the default is 0.01 mm. Note that this is the maximum error value allowed, typical output will be better than this, and this only affects curves, not straight lines or vertices — which are exact.
For more help using MillMage, please visit our forum to talk with MillMage staff and users, or email support.