Photo to Laser Engraving

Dither a photo for wood, slate, leather or metal. PNG for LightBurn or GRBL G-code.

Drag & drop files here, or click to select

Your file never leaves your device · No signup · No daily limit

Up to 100 MB per file

How it works

Drop a photo. Portraits and pets with good light and a plain background engrave best.
Pick the material: it sets contrast, the dot pattern and whether light or dark areas are fired.
Enter the engraving width in mm and the line interval your laser uses; the preview shows every dot at that size.
Download the PNG (it carries its DPI, so LightBurn places it at the right size) or GRBL G-code, and engrave a small test first.

What people use it for

Engraving a family photo or pet portrait on a wooden board, coaster or cutting board.
Photo gifts on slate, where the laser leaves light marks and the image is inverted for you.
Preparing a dithered image for LightBurn's pass-through mode or for LaserGRBL.
Making halftone or dithered artwork for print, stencils or retro graphics.

Good to know

Results depend on the wood species, finish, laser power and focus. The presets are starting points; a 2 × 2 cm test saves a ruined piece.
Grayscale mode only looks right on lasers and materials that respond smoothly to power; most diode lasers on wood give cleaner results with a dot pattern.
The photo stays on your device: every dot is calculated in the browser. Very large sizes at fine line intervals are capped at 16 million dots.

Frequently asked questions

Which dot pattern should I use?

Floyd-Steinberg for most wood, Jarvis or Stucki for smoother tones on slate and leather, halftone for glass or strongly grained wood, and black & white for logos. Switch between them: the preview updates at the real dot size.

What line interval (DPI) should I pick?

0.1 mm (254 DPI) suits most diode lasers. Use 0.08 mm (318 DPI) for a fine beam on hard material, or 0.15 to 0.2 mm for large pieces and faster jobs. The interval should be close to your laser's spot size.

Why invert for slate or anodised metal?

On those materials the laser makes a light mark on a dark surface. Inverting fires the photo's light areas, so the engraved picture looks like the original instead of a negative.

How do I use the PNG in LightBurn?

Import it, check that the size matches the width you set, choose image mode Pass-Through so LightBurn does not dither it again, and set the same line interval.

Related tools

Image to G-code Converter

How it works

Drop a photo. Portraits and pets with good light and a plain background engrave best.

Pick the material: it sets contrast, the dot pattern and whether light or dark areas are fired.

Enter the engraving width in mm and the line interval your laser uses; the preview shows every dot at that size.

Download the PNG (it carries its DPI, so LightBurn places it at the right size) or GRBL G-code, and engrave a small test first.

What people use it for

Engraving a family photo or pet portrait on a wooden board, coaster or cutting board.

Photo gifts on slate, where the laser leaves light marks and the image is inverted for you.

Preparing a dithered image for LightBurn's pass-through mode or for LaserGRBL.

Making halftone or dithered artwork for print, stencils or retro graphics.