Laser Galvo & Fiber Software

Galvo lasers (mirror-deflected, no moving gantry) are a different software world from gantry diode/CO2 cutters. The vast majority ship with a JCZ controller card and EZCAD; LightBurn Galvo is the paid alternative. MOPA fibers add pulse-width control for color marking on stainless. For the controller cards see Laser Firmware & Controllers; for design source files see Design Vector Apps.

The vendor stack (free, ubiquitous)

• ★ EZCAD2 — closed source, free as in beer; ships with every JCZ-card fiber/galvo machine. Workhorse for fiber, CO2-galvo, and UV-galvo. Ugly UI, weird translations, but full control of pulse, frequency, hatch, defocus, ramp. Updated through 2024–2026.
• EZCAD3 — closed source, free; rewritten EZCAD with 3D dynamic-focus support, 5-axis galvo, multi-card. Required for 3D galvo / DLP galvo / steered Z. Mac/Windows; still rough.
• EZCAD-LITE — community-stripped EZCAD2 (no nags, fewer surprises). Use the official one unless you have a reason.

The paid alternative (LightBurn flavor)

• ★ LightBurn Galvo — closed source, paid (separate license tier from GCode/DSP, ~$120). Brings LightBurn's clean UI, project layout, and material library to JCZ-card fiber and CO2-galvo. Most hobby fiber owners pay for it after a week of EZCAD2 rage. 30-day free trial.

MOPA-specific

• ★ EZCAD2 with MOPA build — vendor MOPA EZCAD adds pulse-width (4–200 ns) control needed for color marking on stainless. The free path to "rainbow stainless" YouTube projects.
• LightBurn Galvo MOPA mode — also exposes pulse width for MOPA fibers.
• GalvoPro (community spreadsheets) — community-shared parameter sets keyed to PW × frequency × speed × power for MOPA color recipes.

CO2 galvo and UV galvo

• EZCAD CO2-galvo profile — same EZCAD2, lens-and-power calibration for sealed RF CO2 galvos (Synrad, Coherent, Hangzhou CDWG).
• EZCAD UV profile — for 355 nm UV-galvo systems; tighter beam, glass/plastic marking.
• LightBurn Galvo CO2 / UV — supported in the same Galvo license.

Industrial / outside hobby scope

• SinoGalvo software — closed source, paid; OEM galvo-controller alternative.
• RayLase weldMARK — closed source, paid; high-end industrial.
• ALLTEC Marking / Fiba MarkingMind — paid; OEM verticals.

Design source upstream

• Inkscape, Affinity Designer, Adobe Illustrator — galvo software ingests SVG / DXF / AI / PLT cleanly. Most artwork starts in Design Vector Apps.
• CorelDRAW — still common in industrial galvo shops; legacy but supported.

Pick this if…

• You bought a JCZ-card fiber and don't want to spend more: EZCAD2.
• You bought a fiber and want a nice UI: LightBurn Galvo.
• MOPA, want color marking on stainless: EZCAD2 MOPA build (or LightBurn Galvo).
• 3D galvo / dynamic focus: EZCAD3.
• CO2 galvo or UV galvo: EZCAD2 with the right profile, or LightBurn Galvo.