K40 Whisperer

Background

K40 Whisperer is an alternative to the Laser Draw (LaserDRW) program that comes with the cheap Chinese laser cutters available on E-Bay and Amazon. K40 Whisperer reads SVG and DXF files, interprets the data and sends commands to the K40 controller to move the laser head and control the laser accordingly. K40 Whisperer does not require a USB key (dongle) to function.

K40 Whisperer is a free open-source program released under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

K40 Whisperer Features

Reads SVG files and DXF files

Splits input design based on color formatting (red, blue)

In SVG files blue and red paths are interpreted as vectors for vector engraving and cutting. Everything else is transferred as a raster image.

In DXF files blue paths are interpreted as vector engrave(blue). Everything else is interpreted as vector cut(red). Raster Engraving is not supported for DXF files.

In DXF files everything on layers that have the text "engrave" in the layer name are interpreted as vector engrave.

Performs cuts on features inside of other features before cutting the outside features. (If you cut the outside first the part might drop out of the stock material)

Converts gray scale images to halftone images to simulate varying levels of gray (i.e. engraving pictures). The Halftone option needs to be selected under "Raster"-"Settings" to enable halftoning.

K40 Whisperer Main Window

Supported Controller Boards

Only boards that work with LaserDRW will work with K40 Whisperer. The boards that work with K40 Whisperer are made by Lihuiyu. (Moshi boards will not work)
To see which board you have you can go to "Properties" from the LaserDRW (or CorelDraw) Engraving Manager window and look at which board is selected for the "Mainboard" option. You can also look at the markings on the controller board. (The controller board is the circuit board the USB cable plugs into)

Controller Boards Known to Work with K40 Whisperer:

6C6879-LASER-M3 (M3 Nano: For M3 Nano use the LASER-M3 board setting)
6C6879-LASER-M2 (M2 Nano: This is the default board setting))
6C6879-LASER-B1
6C6879-LASER-M1
6C6879-LASER-M
6C6879-LASER-B
6C6879-LASER-B2
6C6879-LASER-A
HT Master5 (use LASER-M2 setting)
HT Master6 (use LASER-M2 setting)
HT-XEON5 (use LASER-M2 setting)
HT-XEON-DRV (use LASER-M2 setting)

The best way to determine if a laser will work with K40 Whisperer before buying is to check if the laser comes with LaserDRW (Laser Draw) software. If a laser works with Laser Draw it should work with K40 Whisperer.

K40 Whisperer Changes

Changes in Version 0.65:

- Updated to work with latest Pillow release (changed ANTIALIAS call to LANCZOS)

Changes in Version 0.66:

- Fixed error that occurred with Inkscape 1.3 and files with empty text objects

Changes in Version 0.67:

- Fixed DXF engraving/cutting for machines that home in upper right.

Changes in Version 0.68:

- Fixed "Zoom to Design Size" for machines that home in upper right.

Changes in Version 0.69:

- Added support for laser power control with LASER-M3 (M3 Nano) controller boards (Note: board needs to be properly wired for power settings to work)

- Added support for software test pulse laser with LASER-M3 (M3 Nano) controller boards

For the full history look at the K40 Whisperer Change Log

Download

(Right click on the link and select "Save target as" or "Save link as")

K40 Whisperer for Windows (32 bit)	K40 Whisperer for Windows (64 bit)	K40 Whisperer Source	K40 Whisperer Windows Installer. (Includes Windows Driver Installer) These installers will install the correct executable for your operating system (32 or 64 bit)
Sorry, 32 bit version temporarily unavailable	K40_Whisperer-0.69_win64.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.69_src.zip	K40 Whisperer Installer 0.69.exe (64 bit only)
K40_Whisperer-0.68_win32.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.68_win64.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.68_src.zip	K40 Whisperer Installer 0.68.exe
K40_Whisperer-0.67_win32.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.67_win64.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.67_src.zip	K40 Whisperer Installer 0.67.exe
K40_Whisperer-0.66_win32.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.66_win64.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.66_src.zip	K40 Whisperer Installer 0.66.exe
K40_Whisperer-0.65_win32.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.65_win64.zip	K40_Whisperer-0.65_src.zip	K40 Whisperer Installer 0.65.exe

Installing K40 Whisperer

Windows: Setting up K40 Whisperer on Windows

Linux: Setup instructions for Linux are included via the README_Linux.txt file in the "K40_Whisperer-x.xx_src.zip" file.

Mac: Setup instructions for Mac are included via the README_MacOS.md file in the "K40_Whisperer-x.xx_src.zip" file.
(I can't help with Mac specific questions. I don't have experience installing software on a Mac.)
There are alternate 3rd party Mac instructions here: Mac Install Instructions

K40 Whisperer Manual

K40_Whisperer Reference Manual

Creating Input for K40 Whisperer

1. Create your design in Inkscape.
- Use RED lines to indicate cutting.
- Use BLUE lines to indicate vector engraving.
- Use BLACK and other colors to indicate raster engraving. (Raster Engraving is not supported for DXF files.)
2. Adjust the size of the document to match the area you want to export (You can use "File" - "Document Properties" - "Resize Page to Content" to make the page the same size as your design)
3. Within Inkscape select "Save" to save the design as an SVG file.
4. Open the SVG file you just saved in K40 Whisperer.

Halftone (grayscale) Images with K40 Whisperer

In addition to red, blue and black, you can also do grayscale with K40 Whisperer. The stock boards that work with K40 Whisperer are not able to control the power output by the laser. However, grayscale can be simulated by creating a halftone image (dithering) of the raster image. Below is an example of an image that was engraved with the Halftone (Dither) option turned on in K40 Whisperer.

The truck photo came from Wikimedia Commons: Madrid_-_Fargo_Power-Wagon

In order to generate the halftone image in K40 Whisperer the Halftone setting in the Raster settings needs to be selected. When the Halftone option is turned on the image displayed in K40 Whisperer will be shown in grayscale.