Back to MEAM.Design - Laser Cutting - Notes on Etching
Most materials that are approved for cutting also look great when etched. There are two different types of etching that can be done on our lasers:
Vector Etch - which is simply tracing along a path with the power and/or speed reduced significantly from that which would cut through the material. This will leave an outline appearance, and is a fast way to engrave text and shapes.
Raster Etch - when you want to engrave an area, this is the way to go. By setting the laser to raster a solid shape, it will move back and forth across the area, slowly cutting away a thin layer of material as it goes along. With raster etching, the laser power proportional to the darkness of the image pixel, and it is therefore possible to raster etch an image onto your material, where darker areas of the image will be cut deeper into the part.
You'll find instructions for defining filled areas that can then be raster etched in the guides for AutoCAD and DWGeditor, and instructions for easily etching images using Corel Draw.