Can fiber laser engravers be used for detailed photographic etching?

Yes — a fiber laser with 16-bit depth-map input and LightBurn 3D Sliced mode produces photograph-quality engravings on brass, silver, stainless steel, aluminum, and copper. The depth-map precision (65,536 grayscale levels) prevents visible topography lines that an 8-bit input would burn into the metal.

Are there tutorials for Depth-R on LightBurn or other platforms?

This page is a starting table for five metals. It does not download a LightBurn project file. Copy the row into 3D Sliced and run a corner test.

What are the best practices for using Depth-R with laser machines?

The two decisions that matter most: (1) ensure the depth map is true 16-bit, not an 8-bit upscale — verify with `identify -verbose file.png`; (2) match power % and passes to the specific material rather than using generic settings. Brass at 3 mm thickness, 50 W fiber source: 60–80% power, 35 kHz, 8–12 passes, 660 DPI is a safe starting point.

Which machines is the table written for?

A 50 W JPT MOPA fiber source. Treat XTool, OMTech, and ComMarker as the same class of machine and run a corner test. There is no machine preset file to download.

Why not just use SculptOK or Depth-R's built-in LightBurn export?

An 8-bit file has 256 steps. On a 3 mm brass engrave that is about 0.012 mm per step. The PNG from this workbench is 16-bit grayscale. A 3 mm export does not fill the file to 65535, because that value means 10 mm.

Can I use this for commercial military or corporate coin fulfillment?

Studio is $49 a month. Generate uploads the photograph once so a server model can estimate depth. The sliders after that stay in the browser. Photograph rights are yours.

LightBurn 3D Sliced

A 16-bit PNG for a fiber laser.

Start from the lion. Depth is estimated on the server. The table is a set of starting values for a 50 W MOPA, not a LightBurn project file.

16-bit PNG · Brass · Silver · Stainless

Brass coin with a laser-engraved lion — Engraved brass from the lion sample. The download is the 16-bit PNG, not this photograph.

65,536 grayscale levels — the right default for LightBurn 3D Sliced, Carveco, ArtCAM.

Preview

Lion medallion

Parameters

preset: 16-bit

Max depth3.0 mm

Base thickness1.0 mm

Long side40 mm

Invert

Local adjustments

Gamma1.00

Flatten background0.00

Crop0%

Depth map ready

Export

Sliders rewrite this result locally. PNG and STL match the preview.

Starting values for a 50 W fiber laser

Starting values assume a 50 W JPT MOPA fiber source and a 16-bit depth map input. For 30 W, drop passes by ~30%; for 100 W, drop power % by ~20%. Focus offset is relative to the top surface of the workpiece.

Material	Thickness	Power	Frequency	Passes	DPI	Focus
Brass C260 / C360	2–3 mm	60–80%	35 kHz	8–12	660	+0.3 mm
Brass C260 / C360	1 mm	55–65%	30 kHz	6–8	600	0
Sterling Silver 925	1 mm	45–60%	25 kHz	6–8	600	0
Sterling Silver 925	0.5 mm	35–50%	20 kHz	4–6	560	0
Stainless 304	2–3 mm	70–90%	40 kHz	10–14	720	+0.3 mm
Stainless 304	1 mm	60–75%	35 kHz	8–10	660	0
Aluminum 6061	2–3 mm	50–70%	30 kHz	8–10	660	+0.3 mm
Aluminum 6061	1 mm	40–55%	25 kHz	6–8	600	0
Copper C110	2–3 mm	70–85%	30 kHz	10–14	660	+0.3 mm
Copper C110	1 mm	60–75%	25 kHz	8–10	600	0
Black-coated brass	2 mm	30–45%	20 kHz	2–3	560	0
Anodized aluminum	2 mm	25–40%	20 kHz	2–3	560	0

Starting values for a 50 W source. Copy a row into LightBurn. This page does not download a project file.

Why LightBurn 3D Sliced needs a true 16-bit source

LightBurn's 3D Sliced engraving mode maps every grayscale level in the source image to a specific laser-power percentage. An 8-bit input gives the laser 256 discrete power levels; on a 3 mm-deep brass engraving that is 0.0117 mm per step. The fiber laser's beam diameter at focus is ~20 µm, so the step is three times wider than the laser can resolve — and the staircase burns into the workpiece as visible horizontal topography lines.

A true 16-bit depth map gives the laser 65,536 power levels — 0.000046 mm per step. Below the laser resolution by four orders of magnitude. The staircase vanishes; what remains is the finish quality of your optics, workpiece prep, and material.

Every page on this site that mentions 16-bit refers to this specific physical consequence. The 16-bit depth map generator writes a 16-bit grayscale PNG. The raw field uses the full 0–65535 range. A 3 mm export peaks near 19661, because 65535 means 10 mm.

The step-by-step workflow (20 minutes end-to-end)

1. Export a true 16-bit PNG. In the Depth-Map.com workbench, select the 16-bit preset. Verify: the file must be 16-bit grayscale. A 3 mm relief peaks near 19661. Only the raw model file reaches 65535.
2. Create a new LightBurn image layer. Import at the physical workpiece size (e.g. 40 mm for a challenge coin). Change the image mode to 3D Sliced.
3. Pick the material row. Match brass / silver / stainless / aluminum / copper from the matrix above to your blank. Power %, frequency, passes, DPI, and focus — set all five.
4. Corner test, 10 × 10 mm. If topography lines are visible, re-verify the PNG is truly 16-bit. Re-check LightBurn's "Negative image" toggle: 3D Sliced expects white = deepest cut. Flip if your depth map has the opposite convention.
5. Full engrave. For a 40 mm brass coin on a 50 W fiber: 8–12 minutes. If the first pass is clean, retune power % ±5% for color — darker burns want higher power; lighter burns want lower.

Troubleshooting — common first-pass failures

Visible horizontal steps on finished piece — almost always a hidden 8-bit input. Re-export at 16-bit from the workbench and verify with ImageMagick.
Engraving is too shallow — increase passes before power. Doubling passes gives a cleaner deeper cut than raising power %, which risks oxidation and halation.
Blurred highlights on brass — focus offset is wrong. For 2–3 mm deep engraving, set focus +0.3 mm above the top surface so the beam waist sits mid-depth.
Burn marks around the engrave — halo from stray beam; add a 2 mm air-assist shield or raise frequency to 40 kHz to tighten the pulse.
Image mirrored on the workpiece — LightBurn 3D Sliced polarity. Flip horizontally in the layer, not in the source image.

LightBurn 3D Sliced — FAQ

16-bit depth map generator

The workbench preset that produces the required true-16-bit input.

Challenge coin generator

0.8 mm depth and a 1.2 mm base. Rim and lettering stay in the laser file.

Depth-R alternative

Pro is $19 a month. Depth-R Starter is listed at $26.90.

For Blender and ZBrush

The same depth map in a 3D rendering / sculpting pipeline.

A new photo is one upload.

Generate sends it once. Copy a row from the table into LightBurn. There is no project file to download.