Laser Engrave
A laser engrave operation traces the centreline of a path with the laser. There's no offset — the beam follows the design path exactly. It can run as a single pass or multiple passes, with each subsequent pass dropping by a fixed Z step for focus or depth control.
Passes and Z step
Set Number of Passes to repeat the engraving. Each pass after the first descends by the Z Step value. With Z Step = 0 every pass runs at the same depth, which is useful for darkening the engraving with multiple passes at the same Z. With a non-zero Z Step, three passes at 0.1 mm step engrave at 0, -0.1, and -0.2 mm.
Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Power | Laser power, 0-255 (machine-dependent scale). |
| Number of Passes | How many times to trace the path. |
| Z Step | Vertical drop between passes, in mm. |
Feed rate comes from the assigned tool preset.
Tool requirement
A laser tool. Rotary tools won't appear in the selector for laser operations.
When to use
- Engraving text and lettering once converted to vector paths
- Tracing fine line work, decorative outlines, or guide marks
- Score lines that don't need to cut through the material
- Multi-pass darkening of an existing engraving
For raster-fill image engraving (photos, grayscale art), use Laser Hatch for line-fill or one of the image-based laser operations.