Creating Shades in Laser Engraving Using 'Scan Gap'

2024-03-28 | By Kitronik Maker

License: See Original Project

Courtesy of Kitronik

Guide by Kitronik Maker

Emma shows you how to get more from your laser engraving with Scan Gap ‎Engraving is a medium that relies heavily on contrast between the base material ‎and the engraved surface. I have been looking to find ways to use the settings ‎artistically and so far, I have found the most artistic possibility with the “scan gap” ‎function. ‎

This is purely a very manual artistic endeavor, since programs like Lightburn can ‎process photos for engraving and capture tone and shade.‎

What is ‘Scan Gap’?‎

This is truly a setting that does what it says on the tin. When a laser cutter ‎engraves a surface, moves back and forth to “shade in” the area. This is the ‎‎“scanning” referred to. The “scan gap” is the gap between the horizontal lines the ‎laser draws.‎

The above image demonstrates how the setting works, and how it can be used to ‎create different shades by varying how tightly packed the scan lines are. These ‎are the settings I used. Notice that the higher the number on your scan gap setting, ‎the wider the gap between the scan lines. ‎

NOTE: Depending on material, this can either be lighter shades or darker shades. ‎In the case of engraving slate for instance, the more densely packed the lines, the ‎lighter the shade. On a wood, the denser areas will be darker.‎

Examples of Shading Using ‘Scan Gap’‎

First of all - download the DXF demonstrated HERE.

I have demonstrated this effect simply, using a low-poly squirrel drawing. The low ‎number of polygons with different engraving settings means this will be easy to ‎open in your laser cutting software.‎

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On the left is my plan - this tells me which polygons will be what shades when I get ‎the dxf into the laser cutting software. On the right is how the dxf will look once I ‎export with just the line art.‎

This is how the art looked once I had it set up in the laser cutter software. ‎

How Does It Look?‎

‎If you want to try something more advanced than the steamed beech squirrel, you ‎can do this with higher-poly images, such as this vectorised photo of a cat etched ‎on one of our Slate Signs!‎ ‎

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