Kerfly 1.1.0

Changed

• The snap grid (on or off, and its size), snapping to objects and "Design
  follows the head" are remembered for the next start at once, without
  "Save settings as default". Settings has a new View tab with them.

Added

• Generators (new toolbar group and menu): ready designs from a few
  numbers, each with a preview and the last numbers remembered, inserted at
  the laser head as one group and one undo step:

  • Material test: fields with their own speed and power (or passes),
    each on a layer of its own, the values engraved;
  • Finger-joint box: bottom, walls and lid with fingers, inside or
    outside sizes, kerf compensation;
  • Kerf test: a comb to measure the kerf and slots to find the fit;
  • Gear with involute teeth; Puzzle; Ruler; QR code;
  • Stamp: text, a picture and a frame in the usual stamp sizes,
    inverted and mirrored for rubber, with the cut outline;
  • Test card: every operation on a piece of plywood, to check the laser.

  QR codes use the new library segno (BSD licence), installed with Kerfly
  and included in the packages.

• Linux: Laser → Allow USB access for the laser… adds the rule for the
  laser's USB port with one click (the system asks for the password once),
  so the AppImage needs no terminal commands. Kerfly offers it by itself
  when it cannot connect for want of permission.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-1.1.0-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-1.1.0-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. Allow the laser's USB port once (Laser → Allow USB access for the laser…), see INSTALL.md.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

• macOS 11 or newer (added later): Kerfly-…-macos-arm64.dmg for Macs with Apple Silicon (M1 and later), Kerfly-…-macos-x86_64.dmg for Macs with an Intel processor. A preview, not yet tested with a laser: please report how it works. The app is not signed by Apple; see INSTALL.md for opening it the first time.

Kerfly 1.0.1

Fixed (found by the new release tests)

• After deleting the selected element (or undoing it away, or a new
  project), the options bar and the Layer list above the bed kept showing
  the deleted element.
• Undo of deleting a layer did not bring the layer back (its shapes stayed
  on the default layer). Adding and deleting layers are now steps of
  Undo / Redo.
• Combine shapes → Difference cut sometimes the first shape out of the
  second: the order of the selected shapes changed from run to run. Now it
  is always the order of the element list (the other shapes are cut out of
  the one highest in the list), and a union starts its outline at the same
  place every time.
• A level or upright line could not be made longer or shorter by typing
  its width (height) in the position fields; its height (width) field showed
  0.01 instead of 0.

Tests

• Release tests (tests/test_release.py): a whole working session in the
  real window on a Full HD screen, with real mouse clicks and key presses:
  every drawing tool, every field of the options bar for every kind of
  shape, every command of the menus and toolbars, the panels, the stand-in
  laser. After each step the window must show what its data holds
  (kerfly/gui/truth.py), and each change is undone and redone. The test
  fails when a command, a field or a control was never used.
• The GUI tests check after each step that the window tells the truth, and
  change settings through the fields, as a user does.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-1.0.1-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-1.0.1-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. Add the rule for the laser's USB port once, see INSTALL.md.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

Kerfly 1.0.0

The first stable release: Kerfly is ready for everyday work with K40 lasers.

Kerfly 1.0 runs K40 lasers with Lihuiyu (M2 Nano family) boards on
Windows 10 / 11 (installer) and Linux (AppImage): drawing and node editing,
layers and a material library, pattern fills, living hinges, text on a path,
bridges, SVG, DXF, G-code and pictures, projects in one file, boundary trace,
simulation and job time, and a check that the head stays on the bed before
anything is sent.

Documentation

• README, installation guide, user guide and website describe only the two
  ready-made packages: the Windows installer (with the "Windows protected
  your PC" warning of an unsigned installer) and the Linux AppImage with the
  rule for the laser's USB port. Running from source, tests, translations
  and packaging moved to the new DEVELOPMENT.md, linked at the bottom.

Fixed

• Fill and Living hinge tools: clicking a shape that was already selected
  cut the hinge (or filled it), but the options bar kept showing "No hinge" /
  "No pattern"; it now shows what the shape got.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-1.0.0-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. Add the rule for the laser's USB port once, see INSTALL.md.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

Kerfly 0.19.1

Changed

• The order buttons (up, down, to the start, to the end) are beside the
  element list on the Design tab instead of in the toolbar.
• The element list also shows a single element (it appeared only with two).

Fixed

• Fill and Living hinge tools with shapes selected: the options bar showed
  the pattern a click gives (Lines), not what the selected shapes have; it
  now shows "No pattern" / "No hinge" for shapes without one, and changing a
  number under "No pattern" no longer fills anything.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-0.19.1-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-0.19.1-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. For the laser's USB port see INSTALL.md.
• From source: the source code archives below, with start_kerfly.bat / start_kerfly.sh.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

Kerfly 0.19.0

Fixes from the second laser test (Windows 10, the 0.18.0 installer).

Fixed

• The installed program could not connect to the laser ("USB error: No
  backend available") while the same PC worked from source: the packed
  program did not find libusb0.dll. Kerfly now looks for it itself (where
  pyusb looks, then C:\Windows\System32, then next to the program) and the
  Windows installer also brings its own libusb0.dll (libusb-win32 1.2.6.0,
  the version of the K40 driver), used only when Windows has none. The log
  and the self-test say where it was found, or where Kerfly looked.
• Fill / Living hinge tools with several shapes selected: only the first
  choice reached all of them (the selection was lost); the pattern shown
  first could not be applied. Every choice now reaches all selected shapes.

Changed

• The element list is the order of the job. Within a layer the laser
  does the element at the top of the list first; K40 Whisperer's path sorting
  had mixed the elements by distance (a triangle, ellipse and rectangle were
  cut as triangle, rectangle, ellipse). Inside one element inner shapes are
  still cut first. The order buttons are now Move up (earlier), Move
  down (later), To the start and To the end (PgUp, PgDown, Ctrl+PgUp,
  Ctrl+PgDown); the simulation shows the same order. A single opened file is
  cut as before (byte-identical to K40 Whisperer).
• Trace boundary as a rectangle: it ran along the convex outline, so
  under a curve it followed the curve. Now it drives round the rectangle
  around the design (Settings → Vector: "Boundary trace as a rectangle", on by
  default; off: the outline, as in K40 Whisperer).
• Open lines are cut from the end nearer to the head, so the head no
  longer runs to the far end of a curve first.

New

• Living hinge in a band: the width of the band with cuts (0: the whole
  shape, as before) and where its middle is, from the middle of the shape.
• File → New project (Ctrl+N, toolbar New): an empty bed with the
  default layers; asks to save unsaved changes first.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-0.19.0-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-0.19.0-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. For the laser's USB port see INSTALL.md.
• From source: the source code archives below, with start_kerfly.bat / start_kerfly.sh.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

Kerfly 0.18.0

New

• Ready-made packages. Each release now has a Windows installer
  (Kerfly-<version>-windows-setup.exe: Start menu entry, desktop icon,
  uninstaller, and the option to install the K40 USB driver with Scorch's
  driver installer) and a Linux AppImage (Kerfly-<version>-x86_64.AppImage,
  runs without installing). No Python needed. GitHub Actions builds both from
  packaging/ when a version is tagged, runs the self-test of each, and
  publishes the release with the notes from this changelog.

Downloads

• Windows 10 / 11: Kerfly-0.18.0-windows-setup.exe (installs Kerfly and, if you tick it, the K40 USB driver). Windows may warn about an unknown publisher: choose More info → Run anyway.
• Linux: Kerfly-0.18.0-x86_64.AppImage: make it executable and run it. For the laser's USB port see INSTALL.md.
• From source: the source code archives below, with start_kerfly.bat / start_kerfly.sh.

User guide: https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/guide.html (Polish)

Kerfly 0.17.0

New drawing operations: pattern fills, living hinges and text on a path, plus a tidier window.

New

• Pattern fills. The Fill with a pattern tool (bucket, Shift+F) fills closed shapes with
  engraved lines: lines, cross-hatch, waves, zigzag, circles, honeycomb, diamonds or bricks, with
  size, angle and a margin from the outline. The outline keeps its own layer, so a cut shape is
  still cut and the pattern is engraved. Holes stay empty. The former Hatch is now the Lines or
  Cross-hatch pattern without the outline, with the same laser data; older projects open that way.
• Living hinges. The Living hinge tool (Shift+H) cuts rows of cuts into a closed shape so
  plywood or MDF can bend: straight, wavy or zigzag cuts, with cut length, bridge between cuts, row
  spacing, direction and a solid border along the outline. The cuts are cut before the outline.
• Text on a path. The Text on a path tool (Shift+T) puts the selected text (or a new one) on
  a line, curve or circle, every letter turned along it. Drag the text to slide it along the line;
  set its distance from the line, put it on the other side, or make it straight again.
• Letter spacing for every text.
• Order of elements: bring forward / send backward (PgUp / PgDown), to the front / back.
• Tool strip in three groups (selecting, drawing, operations on shapes) and icons with
  tooltips beside every field of the options bar.

Fixed

• With a text selected, the window could not be narrower than about 1550 px, so it was wider than
  smaller screens. The options bar now scrolls sideways instead.

Pattern fills, living hinges and text on a path have not been tested on a laser yet.
Try a living hinge on a small piece first: how far it bends depends on the material.

Install / update

See the user guide
(Polish) and the
installation guide.
Download the source code below, unpack it and run start_kerfly.bat (Windows) or
./start_kerfly.sh (Linux).

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.md

Kerfly 0.16.0

A version for everyday use: a user guide and website, easier problem reports,
and the K40 Whisperer way of moving the design with the head.

New

• User guide in English and Polish, on the new project website:
  https://cyryllo.github.io/Kerfly/ (Polish).
  In Kerfly, Help → User guide (F1) opens it in the program's language.
• Report a problem on GitHub (Help menu, Bug report button). Kerfly saves a diagnostic
  report and opens the report form with your version, system and board filled in; drag the
  report file into the form. There are forms for laser problems, other bugs, ideas and
  translation fixes, and you can write in English or Polish.
• Design follows the head (the button with a chain link under the unlock button,
  Ctrl+Alt+H). When it is on, the arrows, Go to X/Y and Home move the design together with
  the laser head, as in K40 Whisperer. The corner buttons still only move the head.
  (Not yet tested on a laser.)
• Logo and program icon, in the window and on the taskbar (on Windows, Kerfly now has its
  own taskbar entry instead of Python's).
• README in Polish.

Changed

• Larger jog pad buttons, as tall as the machine buttons beside them.

Install / update

See the installation guide
(Polish). Download the source
code below, unpack it and run start_kerfly.bat (Windows) or ./start_kerfly.sh (Linux).

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.md

Kerfly 0.15.0

Fixes from the first test on a real laser (Windows 10, LASER-M3 board).

Please update if you engrave pictures together with other elements.
In 0.14.0 and earlier, such engravings could run far too high on the bed and into the frame.

Fixed (laser output)

• Raster engraving too high on the bed. A picture was engraved too high when the layout had
  other elements too (for example a picture and a cut outline), or when the picture was scaled or
  rotated. The head could run into the frame. The trace boundary of such a layout reached too high
  for the same reason. Cut and outline engraving were always in the right place. A single, unchanged
  file is not affected and is still byte-identical to K40 Whisperer.
• Trace boundary starts where the head is. The trace used to run along the top edge to the upper
  right corner and back before going round. It now starts at the upper left corner.

New

• Safety check before sending. If a job or a trace would move the head more than 1 mm off the
  laser bed, nothing is sent, and a message says which edge and by how much.
• Head position after Stop. The K40 does not report where its head is. After a job is stopped,
  Kerfly says that the position is unknown and asks for Home before the next job.
• Progress bar with percentage. The bar fills as the data are prepared and sent. The small moving
  bar on its right still shows that Kerfly is working.

Fixed

• The diagnostic log no longer repeats the same status message thousands of times, so the report
  (Help → Save diagnostic report) again covers the whole session.

Install / update

See INSTALL.md
(Polish).
Existing installations update with git pull, or download the source code below. The start
script installs any new libraries.

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.md

Kerfly 0.4.0

New drawing and editing tools.

Drawing

• Polyline (Shift+L). Click the corners. Click the first point to close the shape, or double-click or press Enter to finish an open line. Backspace removes the last corner, Shift keeps 45° angles. You can cut, outline or fill a closed polyline.

• Edit nodes (N). Click a drawn shape and drag its corners. Double-click a side to add a corner; double-click a corner, or select it and press Delete, to remove it. The first edit turns a rectangle, ellipse, polygon or line into a polyline. Rotation, scale and mirroring are kept, and every edit can be undone.

• Snap to objects (on by default; View → Snap to objects, Ctrl+;). Points snap to:

  • corners, centres and side midpoints of other elements and of the bed;
  • the ends and midpoints of lines;
  • any point on a line or curve.

  A marker with a label shows what the point will snap to. In the node tool, a corner also snaps to the shape's other corners and lines up with them, shown by a guide line. Hold Alt to turn off all snapping for a moment.

Arranging

• Mirror horizontally or vertically. Works on vectors and images, also rotated ones.
• Align left, centre, right, top, middle or bottom. Several selected elements align to each other; a single element aligns to the bed.
• Distribute: three or more elements get equal spacing.
• Group / Ungroup (Ctrl+Shift+G / Ctrl+Alt+G). Clicking one member selects the whole group. The group moves, rotates, mirrors, duplicates and is deleted as one. Groups are saved in projects.
• Several selected elements (frame drag or Ctrl+click) move, rotate and mirror together.

Interface

• New Align toolbar group. Materials and Settings have their own group.
• The README has a table of mouse actions and keyboard shortcuts.

Laser output is unchanged and still byte-for-byte identical to K40 Whisperer 0.71.

Installing

Download Source code (zip), unpack it and run start_kerfly.bat (Windows) or ./start_kerfly.sh (Linux). For setup details and the first test on the laser, see INSTALL.md (Polish).

To report a problem, attach the file from Help → Save diagnostic report….

Full list of changes: CHANGELOG.md