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Sessions

Sessions let you save and restore your entire conversion configuration — format selections, format-specific options, tool settings, and file paths — so you can resume work later or reuse a setup across multiple conversions.

Session File Format

Session files use the .lsn extension (LinkCAD Session) and are plain-text INI files with a [LinkCAD] section:

[LinkCAD]
LcLoadDefaults=true
LcImportFormat=GDSII
LcExportFormat=DXF
DxfOutScaling=1000
DxfOutFormatVersion=2000
GdsInIgnoreText=false
ToolApply=SanitizePolygons

This is the same format used by command files. A session file can be loaded from the GUI or used as a command file on the CLI via --config.

Saving a Session

  1. Go to File → Save Session (Ctrl+S)
  2. Choose a location and filename

LinkCAD suggests a filename based on the current import/export formats and a timestamp, e.g. GDSII - DXF 2026-05-06_14-30-00.lsn.

The session file stores all options that were accessed during the current session, including:

  • Import and export format selections
  • All format-specific options (scaling, units, flags, etc.)
  • Tool apply settings
  • Directory paths

Loading a Session

  1. Go to File → Load Session (Ctrl+O)
  2. Select a .lsn file

LinkCAD applies all options from the file. The conversion wizard then uses these restored settings.

A saved session starts with LcLoadDefaults=true: loading it first resets the conversion settings to their defaults, so the session reproduces the conversion it recorded. Application settings, such as the license, window layout and language, are kept. See Resetting to Defaults.

Session files saved by LinkCAD 10 load unchanged.

Recent Sessions

The File → Recent Sessions submenu lists recently opened session files for quick access.

Command-Line Usage

Load a session file using the --config flag:

Terminal window
linkcad.exe --config my_settings.lsn --console --quit

This applies all options from the session, then performs the conversion and exits, provided the session names the input and output files and the output format (see Unattended Conversion). You can supply or override individual values:

Terminal window
linkcad.exe --config my_settings.lsn `
    --import different_file.gds --export output.dxf --output-format DXF --quit

CLI arguments take precedence over values in the session file.

Sharing Settings

To replicate conversion settings on another machine:

  1. Configure all options on the source machine
  2. Save a session file (Ctrl+S)
  3. Copy the .lsn file to the target machine
  4. Load the session on the target (Ctrl+O)

Since .lsn files are plain text, you can also edit them directly or store them in version control.

What Sessions Do Not Store

  • The drawing data itself (cells, layers, shapes)
  • Viewer state (zoom level, display mode)
  • Window positions or UI layout