Managing Material Libraries¶

Material libraries in Rayforge allow you to organize and manage collections of materials for your laser cutting and engraving projects. This guide explains the difference between core and user libraries, and how to create your own libraries and add materials to them.

Note

Material libraries have currently no functional use - assigning a material merely affects the esthetic appearance. In future releases, materials will be used to derive functional parameters.

Creating a New Library¶

To create your own material library:

Open the Settings menu and select Materials
Click the Add New Library button to create a new library
Enter a descriptive name for your library (e.g., "My Workshop Materials")
Click Create to finalize

Your new library will be created in the user data directory and will be available immediately.

Adding Materials to Libraries¶

Creating a New Material¶

Select the library where you want to add the material
Click the Add New Material button in the materials list
Fill in the material properties:
Name: Human-readable name
Category: Grouping category (e.g., "Wood", "Acrylic")
Appearance: Visual properties (color)
Click Save to add the material to the library

Material Properties Explained¶

Name¶

Human-readable name displayed in the interface
Can contain spaces and special characters

Category¶

Used for organizing materials within the library
Common categories include: Wood, Acrylic, Metal, Paper, Leather
You can create custom categories as needed

Color¶

The color is only used for visual appearance on the work surface - it does not affect the laser path in any way.

Managing Existing Materials¶

Editing Materials¶

Select the material you want to edit
Click the Edit button
Modify the desired properties
Click Save to apply changes

Deleting Materials¶

Select the material you want to delete
Click the Delete button
Confirm the deletion in the dialog

Warning

Deleting a material is permanent and cannot be undone.