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Laser Test Lab
  1. 1Pick your mark
    • The marks
    • The full chart
    • Material breakdowns
  2. 2Find the neighborhood
  3. 3Dial it in
  4. 4Face-off
  5. 5Saved
The Test Lab processStage 1 of 5
  1. 1Pick your mark
  2. 2Find the neighborhood
  3. 3Dial it in
  4. 4Face-off
  5. 5Saved

Stage 1: Pick your mark

What marks can your laser actually make?

"Mark aluminum" can mean five different things. A dark mark. A frosted white one. A bright reflective one. A color. A deep engrave you can feel. Each is a physically different process happening on the surface, and your laser can only do some of them.

This is the map. Find your material, find your laser, and see which marks are on the table and why. No borrowed settings, no guessing at what's possible.

The marks

Dark

A dark mark: smoky gray, charcoal, or black. The workhorse for logos, text, and serials.

Gray etch

A softer gray. Lighter contrast than a dark mark, often smoother and faster to run.

Frosted white

Matte, satin white. Looks the same from every angle. Think the back of a MacBook, or frosted glass.

Bright / polished

Mirror-bright. Flashes when it catches the light, fades from the wrong angle. Angle-dependent by nature.

Color

Oxide colors like gold, bronze, blue, purple, and rainbow. A thin transparent film bending light, tuned by heat.

Deep engrave

Real depth you can feel with a fingernail. Survives abrasion. Costs passes and time.

Cut through

Fully severs the material.

The full chart

Each cell asks the same six questions of that material and that laser, and the answers come straight out of our physics model rather than from a chart somebody typed by hand. Open Why in any cell to read the reason in full. Material names in dotted underline have a full breakdown below.

✓ Yes

The material does it and the physics model says so plainly.

✓* Yes, with a condition

It works, but something has to be true first. The condition is in the reason.

× No

A physical reason blocks it, and the reason is named.

? Not yet modeled

We have not modeled it yet. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible.

Answers tagged Measured come from our own test grids. Answers tagged Literature come from published material behavior, so treat those as a starting point and confirm them on a test card. A few materials at the bottom of the chart are not in the physics model yet and still show our hand-written answers.

What each laser can do to each material, computed from the physics model. Yes, yes with a condition, no, or not yet modeled.
Material
Diode
450 nm
CO₂
10,600 nm
Fiber
1,064 nm
Fiber MOPA
1,064 nm
UV
355 nm
Bare metals
Bare aluminum
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Bare aluminum with Diode

Dark: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or an anodised or painted surface, gives a diode something it can actually burn into. That is a coating on top of the metal rather than a mark in the metal.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch. A marking compound such as Cermark, or an anodised or painted surface, gives a diode something it can actually burn into. That is a coating on top of the metal rather than a mark in the metal.
White: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or an anodised or painted surface, gives a diode something it can actually burn into. That is a coating on top of the metal rather than a mark in the metal.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces a color. A marking compound such as Cermark, or an anodised or painted surface, gives a diode something it can actually burn into. That is a coating on top of the metal rather than a mark in the metal.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. Bare aluminum throws most of a blue beam straight back, and dumps the rest into the bulk before the surface can change, so a continuous beam never concentrates enough energy on the spot to melt or roughen it. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Bare aluminum with CO₂

Dark: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch.
White: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White*: Yes, with a condition×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Bare aluminum with Fiber

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a dark mark on aluminum (bare). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a gray etch on aluminum (bare). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser produces a bright white mark on aluminum (bare). A fixed-pulse fiber laser reaches this by remelting the surface with a fine hatch and high overlap. Expect a satin frost rather than the bright white a MOPA gives you, and expect to hunt for it.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) grows no colored film under this beam, so color here is not a settings problem. The colors you see on other metals come from an oxide layer this surface never forms.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White: Yes×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Bare aluminum with Fiber MOPA

Dark: YesMeasured
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a dark mark on aluminum (bare). We have measured this pairing ourselves, so the settings come from real cards rather than from a textbook.
Gray etch: YesMeasured
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a gray etch on aluminum (bare). We have measured this pairing ourselves, so the settings come from real cards rather than from a textbook.
White: YesMeasured
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a bright white mark on aluminum (bare). We have measured this pairing ourselves, so the settings come from real cards rather than from a textbook.
Color: NoMeasured
No. Aluminum (bare) grows no colored film under this beam, so color here is not a settings problem. The colors you see on other metals come from an oxide layer this surface never forms.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionMeasured
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionMeasured
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White*: Yes, with a condition×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Bare aluminum with UV

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A UV laser produces a dark mark on aluminum (bare). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A UV laser produces a gray etch on aluminum (bare). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a bright white mark on aluminum (bare). UV sources run at low power, so this is a fine, shallow frost on small work. It is a precision mark rather than a fast one, and large areas take a long time.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Aluminum (bare) grows no colored film under this beam, so color here is not a settings problem. The colors you see on other metals come from an oxide layer this surface never forms.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from aluminum (bare), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
Stainless steel
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Stainless steel with Diode

Dark: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or a painted or coated surface, gives a diode a layer it can fuse down onto the steel. That is a coating bonded on top, not the stainless-oxide mark a fiber laser makes.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch. A marking compound such as Cermark, or a painted or coated surface, gives a diode a layer it can fuse down onto the steel. That is a coating bonded on top, not the stainless-oxide mark a fiber laser makes.
White: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or a painted or coated surface, gives a diode a layer it can fuse down onto the steel. That is a coating bonded on top, not the stainless-oxide mark a fiber laser makes.
Color: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces a color. A marking compound such as Cermark, or a painted or coated surface, gives a diode a layer it can fuse down onto the steel. That is a coating bonded on top, not the stainless-oxide mark a fiber laser makes.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, no matter how slowly you run. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch: Yes?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Stainless steel with CO₂

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on stainless steel (304) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A CO2 laser produces a gray etch on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on stainless steel (304) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on stainless steel (304) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White: Yes✓Color: Yes✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Stainless steel with Fiber

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a dark mark on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a gray etch on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a bright white mark on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Color: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a color on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White: Yes✓Color: Yes✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Stainless steel with Fiber MOPA

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a dark mark on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a gray etch on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a bright white mark on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Color: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a color on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch: Yes✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Stainless steel with UV

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on stainless steel (304) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A UV laser produces a gray etch on stainless steel (304). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a bright white mark on stainless steel (304). UV sources are low power, so this is a fine frost on small work. Precision rather than speed, and a large filled area takes a long time.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on stainless steel (304) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from stainless steel (304), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
Mild / carbon steel
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Mild / carbon steel with Diode

Dark: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or paint and mill scale that the beam can burn into, gives a diode a layer it can work on. That is a coating bonded to the steel rather than a mark in it.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch. A marking compound such as Cermark, or paint and mill scale that the beam can burn into, gives a diode a layer it can work on. That is a coating bonded to the steel rather than a mark in it.
White: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark. A marking compound such as Cermark, or paint and mill scale that the beam can burn into, gives a diode a layer it can work on. That is a coating bonded to the steel rather than a mark in it.
Color: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces a color. A marking compound such as Cermark, or paint and mill scale that the beam can burn into, gives a diode a layer it can work on. That is a coating bonded to the steel rather than a mark in it.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. A continuous blue diode spreads its energy over far too long a dwell for steel, which pulls the heat straight out of the spot, so the surface never reaches the temperature where an oxide grows or the skin melts, however slowly you run it. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition×Cut: No
Why

Mild / carbon steel with CO₂

Dark: NoLiterature
No. Bare steel reflects nearly all of this beam and carries the little it absorbs away too quickly, and the darkest it gets is a faint tint. Pushing more power past that point removes material instead of darkening it.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. Bare steel reflects nearly all of this beam and carries the little it absorbs away too quickly, and the darkest it gets is a faint tint. Pushing more power past that point removes material instead of darkening it.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on mild steel (aisi 1018) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on mild steel (aisi 1018) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. Bare steel reflects nearly all of this beam and carries the little it absorbs away too quickly, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes?White: Not yet modeled✓Color: Yes✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Mild / carbon steel with Fiber

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a dark mark on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a gray etch on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on mild steel (aisi 1018) with a fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a color on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
✓Dark: Yes✓Gray etch: Yes✓White*: Yes, with a condition✓Color: Yes✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Mild / carbon steel with Fiber MOPA

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a dark mark on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a gray etch on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser produces a bright white mark on mild steel (aisi 1018). Mild steel does not passivate, and a frosted surface has more area exposed to the air than a smooth one, so a white mark rusts unless it is sealed or oiled.
Color: YesLiterature
Yes. A MOPA fiber laser produces a color on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A MOPA fiber laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch: Yes✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Mild / carbon steel with UV

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on mild steel (aisi 1018) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
Gray etch: YesLiterature
Yes. A UV laser produces a gray etch on mild steel (aisi 1018). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a bright white mark on mild steel (aisi 1018). Low power means a fine frost on small work, and mild steel still rusts, so seal or oil the mark afterwards.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on mild steel (aisi 1018) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes. Each pass removes a shallow layer, so real depth you can feel with a fingernail is a time and power question rather than a settings trick.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from mild steel (aisi 1018), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Cutting metal needs a dedicated high-power cutting machine with assist gas. A marking or engraving laser of the same family removes metal a layer at a time and will not sever sheet.
Brass & copperNot yet in the physics model
Not really
Not really
DarkGray etchDeep engrave
DarkGray etchFrosted whiteDeep engrave
Frosted whiteGray etch
TitaniumNot yet in the physics model
Not really
Not really
DarkGray etchDeep engrave
ColorDarkGray etchFrosted whiteDeep engrave
ColorDarkFrosted white
Coated metals
Anodized aluminumNot yet in the physics model
Bright / polished
Bright / polished
Bright / polishedDark
Bright / polishedDarkColor
Bright / polishedColor
Powder-coated / painted metalNot yet in the physics model
Bright / polished
Bright / polished
Bright / polishedDark
Bright / polishedDark
Bright / polished
Coated tumblers / drinkwareNot yet in the physics model
Bright / polished
Bright / polished
Bright / polishedDark
Bright / polishedDark
Bright / polished
Plastics & acrylic
Cast acrylic
✓Dark*: Yes, with a condition✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition×White: No×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Cast acrylic with Diode

Dark: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
White: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Cast acrylic with CO₂

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on acrylic (cast pmma) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser produces a gray etch on acrylic (cast pmma). A lighter frost is the same engrave run shallower. On extruded sheet this pale, uneven result is often all you can get.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser produces a bright white mark on acrylic (cast pmma). Cast acrylic only. Cast sheet frosts bright and even; extruded sheet engraves clearer and gummier and gives a weak, patchy white. Settings never transfer between the two.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on acrylic (cast pmma) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
✓Dark*: Yes, with a condition✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition×White: No×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Cast acrylic with Fiber

Dark: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
White: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic is invisible to this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic is invisible to this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Cast acrylic with Fiber MOPA

Dark: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch.
White: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Cast acrylic with UV

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on acrylic (cast pmma) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a gray etch on acrylic (cast pmma). The same frost run shallower, with the same low-power speed penalty.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a bright white mark on acrylic (cast pmma). Cast acrylic only, and UV runs at low power, so this is a slow, fine, precise frost rather than a fast one.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on acrylic (cast pmma) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
Extruded acrylic
✓Dark*: Yes, with a condition✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition×White: No×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Extruded acrylic with Diode

Dark: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
White: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Black or pigmented acrylic only, clear stock passes the beam straight through. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic lets this beam pass straight through.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Extruded acrylic with CO₂

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on acrylic (cast pmma) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser produces a gray etch on acrylic (cast pmma). A lighter frost is the same engrave run shallower. On extruded sheet this pale, uneven result is often all you can get.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser produces a bright white mark on acrylic (cast pmma). Cast acrylic only. Cast sheet frosts bright and even; extruded sheet engraves clearer and gummier and gives a weak, patchy white. Settings never transfer between the two.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on acrylic (cast pmma) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
✓Dark*: Yes, with a condition✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition×White: No×Color: No✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Extruded acrylic with Fiber

Dark: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
White: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic is invisible to this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Clear acrylic is invisible to this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, but only under one condition: Pigmented or coated acrylic only, clear stock is transparent to a fiber laser. On the default stock the answer is no, clear acrylic is invisible to this beam.
×Dark: No×Gray etch: No×White: No×Color: No×Deep: No×Cut: No
Why

Extruded acrylic with Fiber MOPA

Dark: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a dark mark.
Gray etch: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a gray etch.
White: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a bright white mark.
Color: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a color.
Deep: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces an engrave with real depth.
Cut: NoLiterature
No. Acrylic (cast pmma) barely absorbs this beam, so the light passes through or bounces off instead of heating the surface. No speed and power combination produces a cut all the way through.
?Dark: Not yet modeled✓Gray etch*: Yes, with a condition✓White*: Yes, with a condition?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Extruded acrylic with UV

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on acrylic (cast pmma) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a gray etch on acrylic (cast pmma). The same frost run shallower, with the same low-power speed penalty.
White: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser produces a bright white mark on acrylic (cast pmma). Cast acrylic only, and UV runs at low power, so this is a slow, fine, precise frost rather than a fast one.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on acrylic (cast pmma) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A UV laser removes material from acrylic (cast pmma), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
ABS & most plasticsNot yet in the physics model
DarkFrosted white
DarkFrosted whiteCut through
DarkFrosted white
DarkFrosted white
DarkFrosted white
Wood & organics
Wood & plywood
✓Dark: Yes?Gray etch: Not yet modeled?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Wood & plywood with Diode

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A diode laser produces a dark mark on wood (generic hardwood). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a gray etch on wood (generic hardwood) with a diode laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a diode laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on wood (generic hardwood) with a diode laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A diode laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A diode laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
✓Dark: Yes?Gray etch: Not yet modeled?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Wood & plywood with CO₂

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A CO2 laser produces a dark mark on wood (generic hardwood). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a gray etch on wood (generic hardwood) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on wood (generic hardwood) with a CO2 laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A CO2 laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
✓Dark: Yes?Gray etch: Not yet modeled?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled✓Deep*: Yes, with a condition✓Cut*: Yes, with a condition
Why

Wood & plywood with Fiber

Dark: YesLiterature
Yes. A fiber laser produces a dark mark on wood (generic hardwood). This comes from published material behavior, so treat it as a starting point and confirm it on a test card.
Gray etch: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a gray etch on wood (generic hardwood) with a fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on wood (generic hardwood) with a fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so an engrave with real depth is on the table. Depth costs passes, and on organics the walls scorch as the pocket deepens, so there is a practical floor on how clean a deep pocket stays.
Cut: Yes, with a conditionLiterature
Yes, with a condition. A fiber laser removes material from wood (generic hardwood), so a cut all the way through is on the table. Depends on thickness. Thin stock cuts in one pass, thicker stock needs more power or more passes, and past a certain thickness the edge chars faster than the cut advances.
?Dark: Not yet modeled?Gray etch: Not yet modeled?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled?Deep: Not yet modeled?Cut: Not yet modeled
Why

Wood & plywood with Fiber MOPA

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Gray etch: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a gray etch on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled an engrave with real depth on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Cut: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a cut all the way through on wood (generic hardwood) with a MOPA fiber laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
?Dark: Not yet modeled?Gray etch: Not yet modeled?White: Not yet modeled?Color: Not yet modeled?Deep: Not yet modeled?Cut: Not yet modeled
Why

Wood & plywood with UV

Dark: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a dark mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
Gray etch: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a gray etch on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
White: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a bright white mark on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Color: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a color on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Deep: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled an engrave with real depth on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.
Cut: Not yet modeledLiterature
We haven't modeled a cut all the way through on wood (generic hardwood) with a UV laser. That is a gap in our data, not a claim that it is impossible. If you have made it happen, a test grid is what teaches the map.Our earlier hand-built chart said this was possible here. The physics model has not covered it yet, so it reads as a gap until a test grid fills it in.
LeatherNot yet in the physics model
DarkDeep engraveCut through
Gray etchDarkDeep engraveCut through
Not really
Not really
Gray etchDark
Paper & cardboardNot yet in the physics model
Gray etchCut through
Gray etchDarkCut through
Not really
Not really
Gray etchCut through
Glass & stone
GlassNot yet in the physics model
Frosted white
Frosted white
Not really
Not really
Frosted white
Slate & stoneNot yet in the physics model
Frosted white
Frosted white
Frosted white
Frosted white
Frosted white

The chips above answer whether a mark is possible. The full map answers it with numbers: the speed, power, and pulse settings that reach each outcome on your machine.

What the five laser types are▾
Diode (450 nm)

Blue light. Common, affordable, gantry. Great on wood. Bounces off bare metal and passes straight through clear acrylic.

CO₂ (10,600 nm)

Infrared. The organics workhorse for wood, acrylic, leather, and glass. Reflects off bare metal, so it needs a marking spray there.

Fiber (1,064 nm)

Standard fiber. Built for bare metal marking and engraving. No pulse-width control, so no color.

Fiber MOPA (1,064 nm)

Fiber with a tunable pulse width. Everything standard fiber does, plus oxide colors on steel and finer control.

UV (355 nm)

Cold light. Marks almost anything with very little heat: glass, plastics, coated metals. Expensive, and usually low power.

Material breakdowns

The full story on each material: what each mark really is, what's physically happening, and the honest limits. The stuff no settings chart tells you.

Jump to:Bare aluminumStainless steelAnodized aluminumCast acrylicWood & plywood

Bare aluminum

Reflects about 91% of fiber light, so every mark is a surface texture. That is why they all shift with viewing angle, and why it never goes truly black.

Bare aluminum is one of the trickiest metals to mark, and it is worth understanding why before you burn anything. Polished aluminum reflects about 91% of a fiber laser's light, so your beam mostly bounces off. Every mark below works by changing the surface so it stops bouncing light back the same way. That is the whole game. It also means every mark on bare aluminum is a texture, and textures look different depending on the angle you view them from. Keep that in mind. It explains almost everything that surprises people about this material.

Drag the block to spin it.

The dark mark

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A smoky gray to charcoal mark. The workhorse for logos, text, and serial numbers.
What's happening
The laser builds a microscopic forest of pits and ridges on the surface. Light falls in and cannot find its way back out. More passes grow the forest deeper and darker.
Honest limits
Bare aluminum never goes truly black. It tops out at a dark gray, and that is physics, not your machine. Steel and titanium go black by growing a colored oxide film, and aluminum's oxide does not play that game. Push the power too hard trying to force it and you make things worse: the surface melts and smooths itself back out, erasing the texture you just built. Darker on aluminum comes from stacking gentle hits, not from one big one.

The frosted white mark

FiberFiber MOPAUV
What you see
A soft, matte, silvery-white mark. Looks the same from every angle. Think the back of a MacBook.
What's happening
A much shallower version of the same texture trick. The laser lightly roughens the surface so light scatters softly in every direction instead of glinting.
Honest limits
It is not a bright white like paint. It is a satin frost. But it is the most dependable mark on this list: even, angle-stable, and fast to run.

The bright polished mark

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A mirror-bright mark that flashes when it catches the light. Gorgeous head-on, nearly invisible from the wrong angle.
What's happening
The opposite of the other two. The laser melts a thin layer and surface tension pulls it flat as it refreezes, like still water turning to ice. You have made a tiny mirror.
Honest limits
The angle-shifting is not a flaw you can tune out. A mirror is angle-dependent by definition. If you want a white mark that reads the same from everywhere, you want the frosted one. Pick this when the piece will be viewed head-on and you want it to pop.

The deep engrave

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A mark with real depth. You can feel it with a fingernail. Survives abrasion and paint fill.
What's happening
Straight material removal. The laser vaporizes metal, layer by layer, over many passes.
Honest limits
Depth costs time. Real depth takes ten or twenty passes, not two. And the bottom of a deep engrave has its own finish, usually a rough gray, so if you want deep AND dark, that is two recipes stacked.
What it can't do

True black, and steel-style rainbow colors. Both come from oxide-film chemistry that aluminum does not have. If someone shows you jet black on 'aluminum,' it is almost always anodized aluminum, which is a different material as far as the laser is concerned, where the coating does the darkening.

Choosing your laser

Bare aluminum mostly ignores diode and CO₂ lasers. The reflectivity that makes fiber marking tricky makes diode and CO₂ marking nearly impossible. You will get a faint smudge at best. If you have a diode or CO₂ and need to mark aluminum, use anodized stock or a marking spray.

Stainless steel

The richest metal for marks. Grows real oxide-interference colors, goes genuinely black by annealing, and takes a deep engrave, all with no coating.

If aluminum is the frustrating metal, stainless is the generous one. It does everything aluminum cannot. The reason is chemistry: stainless has chromium in it, and chromium loves oxygen. Heat the surface with a laser and it grows a thin, clear oxide film, and the thickness of that film is something you can dial with heat. Thin films bend light into colors. Thicker films go black. None of it removes metal, so the part stays smooth and rust-resistant. This is the exact trick TRUMPF says works on steel and titanium but not aluminum, which is why stainless can hit a full rainbow and true black while bare aluminum tops out at gray.

Drag the block to spin it.

The oxide rainbow

Fiber MOPA
What you see
Real color with no paint: gold, bronze, red, purple, blue, teal, green, all the way to a rainbow. The color shifts a little as you tilt it, because it is made of light, not pigment.
What's happening
Same physics as an oil slick or a soap bubble. The laser grows a paper-thin transparent oxide film, and light bouncing off the top and the bottom of that film interferes to make a color. Film thickness picks the color. Thickness is set by how much heat lands per spot, and the main knob for that is speed: slower means more heat means the color marches from gold toward blue toward green toward black.
Honest limits
This is a MOPA specialty. It needs the tunable pulse width that only MOPA has, and the exact numbers do not copy cleanly between machines because color really tracks pulses-per-area, a value each machine reaches differently. A realistic production palette is roughly eight to ten reliable colors, not an infinite spectrum. And the color is heat-made, so reheating the part above about 200°C can fade it.

The black anneal

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A flat, matte-to-satin black. No depth you can feel, and the part stays corrosion-resistant. This is the black used on medical and food-grade tools.
What's happening
The same oxide trick as the colors, pushed further. A thick enough oxide film stops reflecting any single color and just absorbs light across the board, so it reads black. No metal is removed.
Honest limits
Black is the slowest mark to lay down, because it needs the most heat per spot. Push past the sweet spot and you stop growing oxide and start melting the surface, which gives a rougher, blotchier black that is no longer smooth or corrosion-safe. Standard fiber can do a solid black anneal too, it just cannot do the controlled colors the way MOPA can.

The frosted white / etch

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A pale, matte, light-gray-to-white mark. Good for a softer look or a light background.
What's happening
A different mechanism from the colors. Instead of growing a smooth film, the laser lightly roughens the surface so it scatters all light evenly, like ground glass. That reads as pale and matte.
Honest limits
Lower contrast than a black anneal, and like every stainless mark it shifts a little with viewing angle. It is a surface texture, so it is less durable than a grown-oxide color or black.

The deep engrave

FiberFiber MOPA
What you see
A tactile recess you can read by touch. For serial numbers and parts that get handled hard.
What's happening
This one does remove metal. The laser vaporizes and ejects material over many passes to cut a real groove.
Honest limits
Depth costs passes and time (twenty-plus passes for real depth). And a groove gives up the clean, corrosion-safe surface a flat anneal keeps, so for food-contact or medical parts a black anneal is often specified instead of an engrave.
What it can't do

Perfectly repeatable color across different machines. Because color tracks pulses-per-area, a gold recipe from one MOPA will not land as gold on another without re-tuning. Colors are also heat-reversible above about 200°C, and they read best in daylight rather than under narrow-spectrum LED light.

Choosing your laser

CO₂ and blue diode do almost nothing to bare stainless. CO₂ light reflects off it, and a diode's spot is too spread out to reach the oxide-color heat, so both effectively need a marking spray like Cermark to leave a legible black. That is a coating on top, not the stainless-oxide magic above. UV can make colors and fine white marks by a different route, but at low power, so it is a precision tool, not a fast or deep one.

Anodized aluminum

A hard dyed oxide skin over aluminum. Marks beautifully where bare aluminum fights you. Most lasers strip it to bright metal, and MOPA can fracture underneath for a durable black.

Anodized aluminum is a completely different animal from bare aluminum, even though the metal underneath is the same. Anodizing grows a hard, slightly porous oxide skin on the surface, then dyes and seals it. That skin absorbs laser light well, which is exactly what bare aluminum refuses to do. So the thing that makes bare aluminum hard, its mirror-like reflectivity, is hidden under a coating that marks easily. Almost every mark here is really about that coating: taking it away, or changing it, rather than touching the metal.

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The coating-strip mark (bright silver)

DiodeCO₂FiberFiber MOPAUV
What you see
A bright, high-contrast reveal: shiny bare aluminum showing through the anodized color. This is the classic engraved-anodized look, like the text on a laptop or a dog tag.
What's happening
The laser burns or vaporizes the thin colored coating away, exposing the bright metal underneath. You are basically removing paint, not marking the aluminum.
Honest limits
It only goes as deep as the coating, so there is no depth to it. And it removes the anodizing's corrosion protection exactly where you marked. Thin, cheap anodizing gives weaker contrast than a thick hardcoat.

The MOPA black

Fiber MOPA
What you see
A deep, even matte black that stays black from most angles. The premium look for anodized parts.
What's happening
Instead of blasting the coating off, MOPA's short pulses land in a narrow energy window that fractures the aluminum just beneath the still-intact oxide. The clear oxide stays on top and keeps protecting the mark, which is why this black is more durable and less angle-shifty than a stripped mark.
Honest limits
This is a MOPA trick. Standard fiber cannot hit that narrow window, so its 'black' comes out more of a gray. Even on MOPA, hitting the ideal window takes tuning, and results depend on the anodize thickness and seal, which you often cannot see. Two visually identical parts can take the mark differently.

Color and tone shifts

Fiber MOPAUV
What you see
Subtle gold, copper, blue, or olive shifts, or fine gray gradations, rather than a plain black-or-silver.
What's happening
Two things at once: thin-film interference in the oxide (the same soap-bubble effect as on stainless), and partial coating removal that changes how light reflects. The result depends on power, speed, and frequency together, not one single knob.
Honest limits
This is fiddly and not a clean grayscale dial. The dye burns off at a much lower temperature than the oxide melts, so the usable range is narrow (roughly twenty tonal steps at best). For photos, dithering beats trying to ramp power.
What it can't do

Real depth engraving. The coating is only a few thousandths of a millimeter thick, and once you are through it you are back to fighting bare aluminum. Photographic grayscale is also weak here, because the coating responds in steps rather than a smooth ramp. Dithering, not power ramps, gives the best tone.

Choosing your laser

This is the happy exception where almost every laser works. Diode does great on dark anodize but struggles on pale colors, because it needs the dye itself to absorb the blue light (a black dye drinks it in, a gold dye reflects it). CO₂ does clean silver removal and nothing else. UV works on any color and gives the finest detail, just slowly. Only MOPA reaches the true durable black.

Cast acrylic

The engraver's favorite plastic. Frosts bright white when engraved, and flame-polishes to a clear glossy edge when cut with CO₂.

Acrylic and a CO₂ laser are a perfect match, and it comes down to one fact: the CO₂ beam is tuned to a wavelength that acrylic drinks in completely, no matter what color the sheet is. All the energy lands in the top layer and the plastic vaporizes cleanly back into gas rather than charring like wood. That clean vaporization is why acrylic cuts glassy and engraves bright white. One thing to know up front: there are two kinds of acrylic, cast and extruded, and they behave differently under the laser (more on that below). Cast is the one you want for engraving.

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The frosted white engrave

CO₂UV
What you see
A bright, matte-white mark against the clear or colored sheet. The classic frosted-glass look used for signs and awards. On a clear sheet it also glows when the edge is lit, which is how edge-lit signs work.
What's happening
The laser removes a shallow layer and leaves the surface microscopically rough and foamy. That rough surface scatters light in every direction instead of letting it pass through, and scattered light reads as white. Same reason crushed glass or snow looks white even though it is clear.
Honest limits
Cast acrylic frosts brighter and more evenly than extruded. Once it is frosted it is permanent, there is no laser pass that polishes it back to clear.

The flame-polished cut edge

CO₂
What you see
A cut edge on clear acrylic that comes out smooth and glossy, almost like it was fire-polished by hand. This is acrylic's party trick and the reason it dominates laser signage.
What's happening
As the beam cuts, a thin film of melted acrylic on the edge flows back over itself and refreezes clear before the beam moves on, leaving an optically smooth wall.
Honest limits
The air assist has to be dialed just right. Too much air ripples the melt into a frosted edge, too little lets smoke into the cut. Cast acrylic gives the cleaner edge, and thick sheet (past about 10 to 15 mm) starts to crack from thermal stress and needs multiple passes.

Deep engrave & relief

CO₂
What you see
A deep pocket or a multi-level 3D relief, well beyond a surface mark. Used for stamps, molds, and dimensional signage.
What's happening
The same clean vaporization, just more of it. Slower speed digs deeper, more power gets there faster, and multiple passes at higher speed give better depth control than one slow crawl.
Honest limits
Deep engraves on clear acrylic can look a little cloudy compared to a cast opaque sheet. Go too slow in one pass and the melt bulges instead of clearing, so several faster passes usually beat one slow one.
What it can't do

You cannot un-frost a mark, and you cannot laser acrylic in full color (a laser only removes material, it does not add pigment; color acrylic graphics come from UV printing, with the laser doing the cutting). And settings never transfer between cast and extruded acrylic, or reliably between brands and thicknesses, so always test on scrap.

Choosing your laser

Here is the big one: clear acrylic is nearly invisible to a blue diode. The blue light passes straight through like a flashlight through a window (only about 8% is absorbed), so a diode does nothing to clear stock no matter how much power you throw at it. A coat of paint or masking tape gives it something to grab, but that is a workaround, not a fix. Diodes do cut dark and black acrylic, though the edge comes out rough and bubbly rather than polished. Fiber and MOPA pass straight through clear acrylic too, and only mark dark pigmented sheets. UV cuts and frosts beautifully with no yellowing, just slowly and at low power.

⚠ Safety

Two plastics look almost exactly like acrylic and are dangerous to laser. Polycarbonate (often sold as Lexan) melts, yellows, and can catch fire instead of cutting clean. PVC or vinyl mislabeled as 'clear plastic' releases chlorine gas that corrodes your machine and is genuinely hazardous to breathe. If you are not certain a clear sheet is acrylic, do not run it. A quick scrap flame test tells you: real acrylic burns clean, these do not.

Wood & plywood

A tone ladder from light toast to deep char, which is exactly why photo-realistic engraving works on wood. Grain and moisture make every board a little different.

Wood is the friendliest material on this whole list, and it comes down to one thing: heat browns wood gradually. It is not an on-or-off switch. A little heat toasts it tan, more turns it brown, more still burns it black. Because that is a smooth ramp of real shades and not a single threshold, wood can hold a photograph, which bare aluminum simply cannot. The catch is the flip side of what makes wood great: it is a natural material. Grain, moisture, and species all change the result, so wood needs testing on scrap more than almost anything else here.

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The tone ladder: toast, brown, and photo engraving

CO₂DiodeUV
What you see
Anything from a pale tan surface tint through warm brown, with the grain showing through. This continuous range is what lets you engrave a photograph or a shaded logo, not just line art.
What's happening
The laser heat rearranges the wood's own chemistry into new brown compounds, a bit more brown for a bit more heat. Because it climbs smoothly instead of flipping on, you get true shades of tone.
Honest limits
CO₂ gives the smoothest, most controllable ramp. A diode tends to jump from barely-marked straight to charred with a narrow brown middle, so diode photos lean on dithering (lots of tiny dots) rather than true shading. And the grain fights you: the hard and soft bands in a board take the beam differently, so the same settings darken unevenly across the rings. Wetter wood also comes out lighter than dry wood at the same settings.

Dark char

CO₂Diode
What you see
A near-black, burnt, slightly textured mark. High contrast, the bottom of the tone ladder.
What's happening
Push the heat higher and the surface carbonizes to black. A diode is actually good at this, since its light is absorbed best once a little char has formed.
Honest limits
Easy to overdo into scorching, raised grain, and warping on thin stock. Dark woods like walnut reach a rich dark faster than pale woods like maple or basswood.

Deep engrave & relief

CO₂
What you see
Carved depth and multi-level relief, for stamps, signage, and dimensional work.
What's happening
The same burning, just more of it, pass after pass, to remove real material.
Honest limits
Costs passes and time, and CO₂ is far more efficient at it than a diode. Deep cuts char the walls, so a deep-and-clean look often means a cleanup pass.

Cut through

CO₂DiodeUV
What you see
A clean separating cut with a thin kerf and light-to-medium char on the edge.
What's happening
A full-depth burn straight through the board.
Honest limits
CO₂ cuts thick stock in one or a few passes. A diode needs many passes and chars the edge more. UV cuts the cleanest but slowly and only on thin stock. Wet wood cuts slower and smokier.
What it can't do

Color. Wood only does tan through black, because the mark is browned wood, not pigment. And it cannot give you a recipe that transfers cleanly from board to board. Grain, moisture, and species all shift the result, which is the whole reason wood rewards a quick test on your actual stock.

Choosing your laser

CO₂ is the reference tool for wood and works the same on every species and color. A diode is popular and genuinely good here, especially on dark woods and dithered photos, just slower and more prone to charring. Fiber and MOPA are the wrong tool: their light does not couple to wood, so you get uncontrolled scorching at best. UV is clean and precise but low-power and slow.

⚠ Safety

MDF and plywood are bonded with glues that release formaldehyde when burned, so run good filtered extraction. Never laser pressure-treated lumber (it can release arsenic and chromium) or unknown painted or laminate-faced boards. Oily exotics like cocobolo and pitch-heavy softwoods can flare up at resin pockets. And never leave a running wood job unattended, because wood catches fire.

This is Stage 1. Next comes finding your settings.

Picking your mark is where the Test Lab starts. Getting the exact settings for your machine, dialed in and saved for good, is what the next four stages do. They walk you through finding, tuning, and confirming the recipe for the mark you chose here.

Next: find the neighborhood →

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