A good engraving starts in the file. Here is the order that avoids most re-engraving.
Reviewed by the Vextrify team, tested in our own laser workshops · Updated · How we test
Try Vextrify freeCheck the source, choose the material, handle the background, tune the tone, choose a dithering method, export, then test on scrap. Do the steps in that order, because each step changes what the next one needs.
Look at the photo at full size: sharp eyes, readable faces and open shadows are good signs. Weak sources are covered in the bad phone photos guide. Then pick a profile in Photo Studio. Its 12 profiles each set starting brightness, contrast and gamma and suggest a dithering method, and some, such as clear glass or dark slate, invert by default.
A busy background can burn darker than the subject. Remove it with the background remover, which outputs a transparent PNG, and it is placed over white and left unengraved. Whether you need to is covered in the white-background guide.
Tune brightness and contrast in the live preview and lift shadows so they do not close. Then compare dithering methods; Photo Studio has ten plus grayscale. Remember dot gain: the burn spreads, so the engraving comes out darker than the screen. If it still looks too dark, or flat and muddy, the matching guides list the causes.
Photo Studio exports a PNG at the DPI and output size you choose. Engrave at the DPI the file was made for. Speed, power and spacing come from a material test grid on scrap, never from copied numbers. To repeat the same result across many photos, save a recipe and use Batch. A free account is needed to load and process images.
Sharpness and shadows at full size. A very soft or very dark photo limits what any preparation can do.
Not always. A busy background that competes with the subject is a good reason. The white-background guide explains when it matters.
The DPI you will engrave at, and engrave at that same DPI. The right spacing for your machine comes from a test grid.