Keep your parts
in place.

Leave a bridge to the sheet.

A holding tab is a short section of the outline that you leave uncut. Several small bridges can keep a part attached while you finish the sheet, lift it from the bed and sort the pieces for assembly.

For my wooden models, I prefer to place tabs by hand. I choose outer edges that will be less visible in the finished build and keep them away from slots and mating surfaces. A leftover bump inside a joint makes assembly harder.

These temporary bridges are separate from the tabs or tenons used to join a model together. If the parts stay put but the joints fit badly, check the material thickness and kerf compensation.

Find the tab controls.

If the tab tool is missing, turn off Beginner Mode in Settings / Preferences. This mode hides both the tool and its layer settings. LightBurn’s Beginner Mode reference explains the hidden controls.

Use a Line cutting layer. Double-click its colour in Cuts / Layers, enable Tabs / Bridges and select Manual. Repeat for any other cutting layer that needs tabs.

Choose what stays connected.

Spread the connections around the part. Putting every tab along one edge can leave the opposite side free to move. Choose an edge you can reach for cleanup and avoid a narrow decorative tip that could break when you release it.

Check each small part individually. It needs enough support to stay in the sheet, with enough space to remove the bridges without damaging its shape.

Tune a small test.

Tab Size sets the skipped distance along the outline. LightBurn’s manual default is 0.5 mm; test it on your material rather than treating it as a universal setting.

Use scrap from the same sheet with your intended cutting settings. Inspect the gaps in Preview, then cut a small sample. Check that it stays attached and that you can release it without tearing the plywood.

Parts fall out.

Try a wider bridge or another connection. Check that a duplicate cut path isn’t cutting through the gap.

Parts are difficult to release.

Reduce the width in a fresh test. Support the part while trimming the bridge; avoid twisting delicate details until they snap.

Marks interfere with assembly.

Move the tabs away from mating edges, then trim or sand the remaining bumps flush.

Review the generated positions.

Choose Automatic for a count per shape or regular spacing. Skip Inner Shapes excludes closed shapes enclosed by another shape on the same layer; it leaves manual tabs alone.

Zoom in around slots, corners and narrow details. If the generated positions land on an edge you need clean, use manual placement for that layer. The number of markers alone doesn’t tell you whether the part has good support.

Control names and behaviour checked against the LightBurn Add Tabs documentation. Screenshots retain the interface from the original article.

Add the gaps in Laser Studio.

You can also prepare holding tabs in Laser Studio, the SVG preparation tool I’m building. It supports manual placement and automatic placement by count or spacing on eligible closed cutting outlines.

See the Laser Studio walkthrough for screenshots and the full preparation workflow.

1. Prepare the drawing. Import the SVG, check the Cut assignments and set the scale for your material. Apply any kerf compensation before placing the tabs. Open Tabs / bridges, enable tabs, set Tab size and choose Apply size.
2. Place tabs by hand. Choose Edit tabs on canvas. Click an eligible outline to add a tab, drag a red dot to move it, or double-click it to remove it.
3. Or start with automatic placement. Choose Tabs per shape or Even spacing, check Skip inner shapes, then select Place automatic tabs. Review the result around joints and narrow details. Existing manual tabs stay in place.
4. Export and preview. Resolve any tab warnings, then export the prepared SVG. It contains the gaps, so keep them when importing into your laser software and avoid adding a second set of tabs. Test a small part before the full sheet.

Recheck the tab positions after changing the scale. Keep your original SVG and save the editable Laser Studio project if you want to return to the same setup later.

Open Laser Studio↗

Laser Studio is free to use, with no sign-in required. This workflow uses SVG files.