Product Updates September 2026, part 1 of 3

What shipped in September 2026, part 1 of 3

• 21 releases published between 2026-09-25 and 2026-09-30. This is an archive page — the current release notes live on the main product updates page.
• 2026-09-30 — PANEL ULTRA Keeps Your Whole Hero Group, and Redrawn Sheets Refund: On a PANEL ULTRA sheet with a chosen hero panel, a request for a group, such as see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil skulls, now keeps the whole group in that panel. Before, the group could be split up and the panel shipped with only one of them. If the engine redraws your panels smaller than their real shape, the sheet is no longer delivered with checker squares left inside the part. It gets one automatic retry, and your credits are refunded if the retry fails too.
• 2026-09-30 — Armory Renders Reopen With the Right Art Zone, and Restore Brings Back Your Result: Opening a finished render from your Armory with Use in Fabricator now brings back an art zone that follows your part. Before, the whole photo became the art zone, so a saved outline came out as a solid black sheet and the next FIRE filled the whole rectangle. Save Outline now stops and explains when the art zone is empty or covers the whole canvas, instead of saving a blank or solid black outline. When your art zone covers almost the whole photo of a part on a plain background, FIRE now asks before spending credits. A blank plate fired edge to edge still goes ahead once you confirm. After Restore Your Last Session, the result you were looking at is back on the canvas, not just your part and art zone. Earlier results stay in EXPORT.
• 2026-09-29 — Free Credits on Every Engine, First-Run Referral Rewards, Proof of Burn Credits, and a Public Outline Library: Your welcome credits now work on every engine. Spend them on SPARK, FORGE, MASTER 2.0 or ULTRA, and on every Coin Designer engine, to see a higher engine on your own part before you buy anything. It is still 12 credits after you verify your email, used within 30 days. Refer a friend and you now earn 15 credits when they fire their first AI run, and 15 more when they make their first purchase. They still get 15 bonus credits. Referral rewards stop at 500 credits per member, and the Refer page now says so plainly. Proof of Burn: rather not start a subscription? Choose 50 credits instead of the free Operator month when you send your burn. No card, no renewal. The offer runs through December 31, 2026, and the date is now on the page. The Terms of Service now say what already happens: a failed AI run refunds its credits automatically, usually within a minute, with no support ticket. We call it the Refund Rule, and it is on the home, pricing and refund pages. The pricing table labels every row correctly again (after 3D RELIEF was added, some rows showed the wrong tool name beside a price), Material 3D Preview is listed at its real 2 credits, and plans read Operator 50, 150 and 350 everywhere on the page. Guide pages for Etsy sellers, sign shops, awards shops, schools and new members no longer show a comparison heading with a placeholder where a competitor name should be. They now have their own question headings. The home page says what Reticle Red does in one line, "AI laser engraving art that fits your part", names the parts and the machines it works with, and the Spanish page leads with the same promise. The free part outlines are now a public library, grouped by part: rifle and pistol magazines, pistol grip panels, knife scales and wallet plates, and tags and blanks. Each outline has its own page with a true-scale preview, its size and safe margin, and one button that opens it in The Fabricator as your art zone. Outlines that members share to the Armory marketplace are listed there too, by part name only. Unlock one and it opens straight in The Fabricator.
• 2026-09-29 — Fabricator: Put a Saved Outline Back on Your Photo: Saved outlines can now go back onto your photo, lined up. Open your photo, pick an outline from your Armory and choose Place on this photo: the outline becomes the art zone on top of it, and your photo and art stay as they are. An outline saved on the same photo lines up exactly, and Undo takes it back. If the outline was saved at a different size, a Line up step opens: drag it, pull the corner to resize, turn it with the top handle or two fingers on a phone, or type exact numbers. Fit to photo and Reset are one tap away. New outlines remember the photo they were traced on. When that photo is in your Armory or a saved workspace, Open with its original photo brings the two back together in one step. Save Workspace now keeps your art zone too, so a reopened workspace has the photo and its outline together. Older workspaces open as before.
• 2026-09-28 — Fabricator: Subjects Stay Clear of the Holes in Your Part: A part with a large hole or cut-out no longer gets its figure drawn across the hole. When the openings leave little room, SPARK CORE, FORGE CORE and ULTRA CORE now draw a single subject (no Style DNA, no reference photo) inside the part's largest clear area, so no hole can cut through it. The rest of the part stays bare. Same engine, same price. Before you FIRE, the Run Plan tells you when a part has openings and where the subject will go. If a run still has to refund, the message names the opening and the clear area, in English and Spanish. If only a small tip of the subject, such as a boot or a rifle muzzle, crosses a cut edge, the Fabricator trims it at the cut, closes the outline there and delivers your art with a note, instead of refunding the whole run.
• 2026-09-28 — Fabricator: PMAG Tones for Polymer Magazines: PMAG TONES, inside FORGE COLOR's palette: pick your magazine colour (Black, FDE, OD Green, Stealth Grey or Mag Grey) and your laser (Fiber or MOPA), and the Fabricator draws only the light tones a laser can actually make on polymer, such as bleach white, bone, tan and smoke grey, on your magazine's own colour. A laser cannot make true colours like red or blue on polymer, so PMAG TONES never offers them. Switch off any tone your laser does not produce. Same 6 CR as FORGE COLOR; PMAG TONES runs on FORGE COLOR only. See it on the magazine before you burn: the result shows your tones over your magazine colour, and the LightBurn file and layered SVG hold one layer per tone, lightest first, named like "Tone 1 - Bleach white". The magazine colour is never a layer, because it is the unmarked plastic. Free PMAG calibration grid (no AI, no credits): download a small test grid for MOPA or Fiber as a LightBurn file or SVG, burn it on a scrap magazine, and note which square gives each tone. Save your picks in the browser and your tone layers carry those settings. The grid is a starting sweep, not recommended settings: results depend on your laser, lens and magazine.
• 2026-09-27 — Fabricator: MASTER COLOR and a One-Tap SVG: MASTER COLOR joins FORGE COLOR: the same palette colour art, drawn by MASTER. It paints richer, fuller scenes that stay tightly inside your mask and gives every colour you pick a real job, so your whole palette gets used. It takes about twice as long as FORGE COLOR and costs the MASTER rate. One panel per fire; for multi-panel sheets use FORGE COLOR. Simple mode now shows the plain "SVG (Illustrator / Inkscape)" download next to the LightBurn, xTool and EZCAD files, on desktop and phone, so you no longer need to switch to Pro to get the SVG.
• 2026-09-27 — Fabricator: Backdrops, Clearer SVGs and Plain Decline Messages: Backdrop chips in the Fabricator prompt: tap Alley, Library, Wilderness, Desert, Neon city, Garage, Battlefield, Snowy forest, Saloon, Jungle, Graveyard or Beach to add that scenery behind your subject, and tap it again to clear it. One backdrop at a time; your subject stays the focus and the scenery stays inside its own panel. You can still type your own setting instead. Finding the SVG is easier: the vector download is now called "SVG (Illustrator / Inkscape)" and the colour download "Layered SVG (one layer per color)", on desktop and phone, with tips saying what each opens in. Colour SVGs now open in Illustrator and Inkscape with one named layer per colour, such as colour-1-cream-EDE6D6. When the engine declines a request, the Fabricator now says so in plain words instead of an error code: this commonly happens with real people, named characters or brands, or explicit content, so try an original character or describe an art style. The message also says whether your credits were refunded.
• 2026-09-27 — Fabricator: Multi-Panel Subjects Without the Surprises: When you ask for a subject on two or more panels with no Style DNA, the Fabricator now asks how it should sit before anything is charged: one hero across the panels (with a preview of the gaps that get cut), one fire per panel, or the hero in one panel with the rest left bare. "Hero in one panel" draws only the panel you pick, so the subject can no longer land on a gap or in the wrong panel. One fire per panel, auto-assembled on your canvas: each panel is drawn by its own fire with its own complete subject, and the Fabricator puts them together on your canvas. It works on Forge and Ultra sheets of 2 to 4 panels, you pay for each panel, and the total (for example 2 panels × 6 CR = 12 CR) is shown before you confirm. If a panel still fails after its retry, nothing is delivered and every panel is refunded. A multi-panel sheet with one subject no longer refunds just because the other panel came back bare as you asked, and its automatic retry no longer tells the engine to crop your subject or fill every panel. A subject drawn across the gap between panels is now caught and redrawn once, then refunded, instead of being delivered sliced. Failure messages now name the panel that failed and the next step.
• 2026-09-26 — Layered Wood: Stepped Edge, Your Own Colour Art, and a Guide: Layered Wood has a new style, Stepped edge: the outline itself steps in sheet by sheet like a topo map, and each terrace carries the part of your picture that falls on it. It suits states, Shape Scenes, logos and your own shapes, and it is now the default for Shape Scene (5 sheets) and for pictures you stack as-is. Narrow shapes get fewer sheets automatically. "Use my picture as-is" now takes colour art as well as line art: a finished Shape Scene, a mandala or your own flat-colour file on a white or transparent background becomes free Layered Wood, with the colour borders as the cut lines. When your picture already has its own shape, the Mandala recipe offers "Keep this shape" beside "Make it a mandala", so it is no longer redrawn inside a circle. Choosing a style is easier: the three styles, Progressive detail, Terraced windows (formerly Offset rings) and Stepped edge, show small previews made from your own picture, every Layered Wood control has a tap-to-open tip, and first-time visitors get three short tips. Stepped boards is now called Stepped sign. New guide: "Layered Wood: stacked wood art without paint" covers the three styles, when to use Mandala, Shape Scene or your own picture, wood and sheet counts, glue-up order and what each message from the check means.
• 2026-09-26 — Shape Scene: 43 New Shapes and a Shape Search: Shape Scene has 43 new outlines for seasonal and gift work: snowflake, gingerbread man, stocking, bell, wreath, Santa hat, reindeer, ghost, bat, witch hat, cauldron, acorn, oak leaf, turkey, pie, house, barn, mason jar, coffee mug, wine bottle, paw print, dog and cat heads, angel wings, cross, deer, bear, fish, arrowhead, compass rose, eagle, flag, anchor, lighthouse, football, baseball diamond, dinosaur, rocket and more. Each one is checked to cut as Layered Wood or Painted sheets. The shape picker is easier to browse: favourites stay on top, one search box finds any shape or US state in English or Spanish, and shapes are grouped by occasion, with the current season first. Two new free samples, a snowflake and a gingerbread man, show the result before you spend a credit.
• 2026-09-26 — Faster Pages, and a Proof of Burn Close Date: Pages open a little faster: the parts of the app that save files and run tools now load only when a page needs them, so the home page and sign-in download about 19 KB less before they appear. Proof of Burn now has a close date: post a real burn made with Reticle Red by 31 December 2026 for a free month of Operator Command. The date is shown on the campaign page.
• 2026-09-26 — Shape Scene: All 50 US States: Shape Scene now includes all 50 US states and Washington, D.C. Open the US states tile, type a name or its two-letter code, and your scene is drawn to fit the state outline, ready as Layered Wood or Painted sheets. A few states use their largest landmass only, such as the Big Island for Hawaii and the Lower Peninsula for Michigan, and the picker says so.
• 2026-09-26 — Vector Stacker: Shape Scene: New in the Vector Stacker: Shape Scene. Pick a shape — pumpkin, maple leaf, heart, circle, shield, star, Christmas tree, ornament or your own outline — describe a scene, and it is drawn to fill the shape edge to edge, with every line tied into the outline so no piece falls out. Cut it as Layered Wood or Painted sheets, checked before you cut. 4 CR per drawing, shown on the button, and a failed drawing refunds in full. Try the free pumpkin and maple leaf samples first.
• 2026-09-26 — Layered Wood: Easier to Find, and Free From Your Own Art: Mandala now starts on Layered Wood, the one-wood stacked look, and asks right after the drawing whether you want Layered Wood or Painted colours, with a preview of each. A switch beside Stack, Flat and Exploded changes it any time, along with Progressive detail or Offset rings and the number of sheets. Use my picture as-is: upload line art you already have — a mandala, a panel, a logo — and turn it into Layered Wood sheets for free, with no AI drawing and no credits. The backer follows your art's own outline, round or not, and photos or colour art get a plain note pointing you to Painted sheets or Make it a mandala instead.
• 2026-09-26 — Mandala Layered Wood: One Wood, No Paint: Mandala in the Vector Stacker now has Layered Wood: one wood, no paint, real stacked layers. Progressive detail puts the full lace on top and closes the finest windows sheet by sheet down to a solid disc; Offset rings steps every window back in terraces. Choose 4 to 8 sheets. It is built from the mandala you already made, so there is no extra charge, and every sheet is checked before you cut.
• 2026-09-26 — Vector Stacker: Mandala: New in the Vector Stacker: Mandala. Load a picture and tap Make it a mandala: your subject is redrawn at the centre of a symmetric mandala with rings of ornament and a round border, in the paints you choose, then separated into painted, glued sheets ready to cut. Pick 2 to 5 rings and 8, 12 or 16-fold symmetry. 4 CR, shown on the button before you spend, and a failed drawing refunds in full.
• 2026-09-26 — Vector Stacker: No More Confetti: The Vector Stacker no longer cuts confetti. Lines and bars thinner than your sheet can hold are left out instead of cut, pieces too small to glue are left out (at least a 5 mm square, more on thicker stock), and a paint that would only cut specks is merged into its nearest colour with a note saying so, so you never cut a sheet for a few crumbs. Exploded view in the Vector Stacker spreads the sheets about three times further apart, so you can see which colour sits on which board.
• 2026-09-26 — Layer Art Drawings Now 4 CR: Layer Art in the Vector Stacker now costs 4 CR per AI drawing, down from 8. Describe a piece or pick a style, and the price is on the button before you spend. Turning your own uploaded picture into sheets is unchanged, and a failed drawing still refunds in full.
• 2026-09-26 — Painted Frames Keep Their Empty Centre: Painting a frame around a shape you want left bare now works: the Fabricator no longer fills the empty centre of a thick painted border and covers it in art. Thin outlines of a part are still filled in automatically, as before.
• 2026-09-25 — Honest Prices, Safer Credits, and More in Spanish: Operator member prices on the pricing page now match what you are charged: ULTRA CORE 10 CR (8 for Operators) and MASTER 2.0 8 CR (7 for Operators). Engines without a member price, such as FORGE, SPARK and PANEL CORE, now bill their listed price for everyone, as the pricing page has always said. Coin Designer now shows the full price of each 3D depth tier instead of a surcharge, and HD Relief on SPARK is 9 CR (Fast stays 7 CR). Out-of-credit messages no longer promise a refund for a charge that never happened, and coin errors appear in Spanish. Production Bridge accepts everyday SVGs from Inkscape, Illustrator and Canva: transforms and basic shapes are converted to exact paths instead of rejected. Your edited power and speed are no longer overwritten when a calibration profile reloads, and your draft stays after a download so you can test, adjust and re-export. Vector Artist results can be sent straight to it. Shop quotes now add up to the cent on screen, in the PDF and at payment, and a shop can send a proposal, portal and e-signature consent in Spanish. Bulk Personalizer keeps your template and pasted list when you switch tabs or reload. Style Foundry and Magic Edit now keep a durable record of every paid run, so a run the server cannot finish is refunded automatically even if the page is closed. Style Foundry also shows its price and your balance in the header like every other paid tool. More of the site speaks Spanish: Image Lab warnings, Depth Studio, Vector Stacker, Box Maker, Puzzle Generator and Wrap Studio. Photo Prep PNGs now carry their real DPI so they import at true size in LightBurn. The Request Board shows what happened to each idea — planned, shipped with a link to the release, or declined with a reason — and lists the most-voted ideas first. The free-credits invitation no longer interrupts pricing, legal or error pages, and a missing page now suggests where you meant to go.

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