Laser Stippling
A laser stippling operation engraves an image as a field of dots distributed by image darkness. Darker regions get more closely packed dots, lighter regions get sparser ones; each dot becomes a short laser pulse at the configured power. The result is a pointillist-style rendering of the source image.
How the points are placed
The algorithm seeds an initial random distribution of points weighted by image darkness, then runs Lloyd's relaxation to push them toward weighted-centroid positions iteratively. Relaxation Iterations controls how many smoothing passes run — more iterations produce a more even distribution within the density-weighted regions, at the cost of longer planning time.
Dots Per Mm controls the overall density (and therefore the total number of stipple points). The Seed is the random seed for the initial distribution, exposed so a particular result can be reproduced exactly across runs.
Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Dots Per Mm | Overall density of the stipple pattern. |
| Relaxation Iterations | Number of Lloyd-relaxation passes (more = smoother). |
| Power | Laser power for each pulse, 0-255. |
| Seed | Random seed for reproducible point placement. |
Feed rate comes from the assigned laser tool preset.
Tool requirement
A laser tool. Like halftone, stippling drives the laser on/off per point and doesn't require dynamic power.
When to use
- Pointillist-style image engraving for an artisanal look
- Tonal shading on materials where line-fill or hatch would scorch
- Reproducible stippled portraits or graphics (use the Seed to lock in a result)