MOPA Laser Rasterizer Documentation

MOPA Laser Rasterizer started as a way to turn raster images into color-separated vector artwork for MOPA Laser color engraving, but it has grown into a broader collection of laser-artwork tools. It can prepare layered SVG and LightBurn projects, map artwork colors to tested laser settings, create texture with Hatch Palettes, organize color-discovery experiments, generate and edit depthmaps for relief engraving, and explore iridescent diffraction effects in the Experimental Laboratories.

This documentation explains both how to use the application and why the workflows behave the way they do. You will find step-by-step instructions for each tool, detailed explanations of LightBurn and Material Library integration, and practical guides to laser parameters, laser types, color marking, diffraction, depthmaps, and other technology behind the finished engraving.

If you are new to the application, begin with Getting Started and follow the workflow that matches what you want to make. If you already know which tool you need, use the documentation groups to go directly to its complete guide.

Your laser settings remain yours

I know that reliable laser settings can represent hours of testing, wasted material, careful observation, and experience with a particular machine. Some operators are happy to share that work, while others reasonably treat it as private or commercially valuable information.

You do not need to publish your settings to use Rasterizer. Material Libraries and palettes you choose to save in your Swatch Palette Vault are private to your account, and only you can access them.

If you are in a sharing mood, Community Set provides an entirely optional way to help other laser operators. You can add useful laser-source and lens details to one of your Color Palettes and choose to publish its eligible settings anonymously. Other members can then search Community Set for settings from comparable equipment and materials to use as experimental starting points for their own testing.

You do not need to provide laser settings at all. If you prefer to assign settings in your own production software - or your laser does not use LightBurn - you can use SVG-only mode. Rasterizer will still prepare the layered vector geometry, while leaving all laser parameters and production decisions to you.

Guest access

You can evaluate the main workflows without creating an account. Guests can run Rasterizer by uploading a Material Library, uploading a self-contained Fauxlographic Swatch Palette, or selecting SVG-only mode; use Color Lab and export selected settings as a .clb file; complete Fauxlographic Etching Lab calibration and download a Fauxlographic Swatch Palette; and use the browser-based Depthmap Generator without saved color guidance.

A guest can upload the Fauxlographic Swatch Palette produced by Fauxlographic Etching Lab on the Rasterizer page and use it to generate Fauxlographic Artwork. The palette and completed job are not saved to an account, so keep the palette file and download the temporary artwork outputs promptly.

Guest Rasterizer access includes five successfully validated jobs per UTC day. Inputs rejected while the worker validates the artwork, parameters, uploaded Material Library or Fauxlographic Swatch Palette, and selected material when applicable do not consume that allowance. Guest jobs do not appear in Job History, and guest settings and preferences are not saved.

Keep a guest Rasterizer page open while its job runs and download the results promptly. The signed download links shown after completion expire after 15 minutes, and there is no guest Job History from which to recover them. Sign in when you want unlimited Rasterizer submissions, portable seven-day Job History, Swatch Palette Vault, Community Set, saved preferences, or direct selection of saved Fauxlographic Palettes without uploading the palette file for each job.

Choose what you want to make

Not everyone comes to Rasterizer for the same result. Start with the workflow that most closely matches what you want to engrave:

• Layered vector artwork: Use the Rasterizer to convert a raster image into color-separated SVG geometry or a Material Library-backed LightBurn project.
• MOPA Laser color artwork: Map image colors to settings you have tested for producing physical colors on your material. Start with the MOPA Laser color engraving guide.
• Patterned or textured engraving: Use a Hatch Palette when artwork colors should select different hatch angles or line intervals instead of physical engraved colors.
• Relief engraving: Open the Depthmap/Relief Engraving Lab to estimate relative depth, apply color-guided depth, make manual corrections, and export a grayscale depthmap.
• Iridescent diffraction effects: Explore the Fauxlographic Etching Lab to calibrate and apply angle-dependent Fauxlographic Palettes.
• Laser-setting experiments: Use Color Lab for guided test sessions, or build a Material Coupon from settings already saved in your Swatch Palette Vault.

You can also browse the laser-technology guides when you want to understand the parameters, materials, and optical effects behind these workflows before preparing a job.

Getting started

1. Prepare your source artwork. Rasterizer accepts raster images in .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .bmp, .tif, .tiff, and .webp formats.
2. Choose the output workflow. Use a LightBurn Material Library-backed job when you want Rasterizer to apply settings and create a LightBurn project. Choose SVG-only mode when you want the separated vector geometry without embedded laser settings.
3. Choose the output settings source. Signed-in members can choose a Material Library, Color Palette, Hatch Palette, or Fauxlographic Palette saved in Swatch Palette Vault. Guests can upload a LightBurn Material Library, upload a self-contained Fauxlographic Swatch Palette, or choose SVG-Only. If you do not have a palette-ready library yet, use the Palette Library Generator to create one containing every default Rasterizer swatch. Fill its placeholders with settings you have tested, remove UNCONFIGURED from each configured entry, and delete or leave disabled any entries you have not configured. If Material Libraries are new to you, LightBurn's official Material Library documentation explains how libraries, materials, entries, and cut settings are organized.
4. Select the material. Every Material Library-backed job requires a material selection, even when the library contains only one material. The selected material tells Rasterizer which group of settings to search. In a LightBurn Material Library, material names organize related settings, while each entry's Description identifies its setting. Rasterizer matches those Descriptions to Rasterizer swatch names, then applies the cut settings stored in the matched entries. Entries may use any LightBurn thickness value; make each usable Description unique within the selected material so matching is unambiguous.
5. Choose the Rasterizer swatches. Enable only the Rasterizer swatches you want available during processing. A saved Color Palette makes only the official swatches assigned in Swatch Palette Vault available; unassigned swatches remain disabled. A freshly uploaded guest Material Library instead matches each enabled swatch name to an entry Description in the selected material. SVG-Only uses the enabled official swatches without laser settings.
6. Set the processing size. Choose the physical pixel size, then enter either the processing width or processing height in pixels and leave the other dimension set to 0. Rasterizer automatically calculates the other dimension while preserving the source image's aspect ratio. Higher processing pixel counts can preserve more detail, but they also create more geometry, require more memory, and can produce much larger LightBurn project files. The physical pixel size determines the project's initial dimensions by specifying how many millimeters each processed image pixel occupies.
7. Choose an image preset. Select the processing preset that best matches your source image and how you want Rasterizer to prepare it for color separation and vector creation. Standard presets prepare photographs or graphic artwork for color separation, while abstract presets deliberately transform the image into stylized geometry. Review the preset description and adjust its controls to refine how Rasterizer simplifies, cleans, or transforms the image before vector creation.
8. Process the image. Submit the job. Signed-in members can follow pending and processing stages in Job History; guests follow the active Rasterizer page because guest jobs are not retained in Job History.
9. Download and inspect the output. Every successful job provides a layered .svg file, while Material Library-backed jobs also provide a .lbrn2 LightBurn project file. Guest download links shown after completion expire after 15 minutes, so download them before leaving the page. Inspect the generated project and verify every production setting before sending it to your laser.

Rasterizer accepts a maximum processing dimension of 1,600 pixels and a minimum physical pixel size of 0.01 mm. Start with a moderate processing dimension and increase it only when the finished artwork benefits from the additional detail.

A smaller physical pixel size is not always better. Much like choosing lines per inch, useful resolution is limited by your laser's effective spot size. Setting pixels smaller than the spot your laser can reliably produce may cause excessive overlap and significantly worse results. For best results, begin with a pixel size at or slightly above your laser's effective spot size, then refine it through testing.

How does it work?

1. Resize and quantize: Rasterizer resizes the source image to the requested processing dimensions, then maps its pixels to the enabled Rasterizer swatches available to the job.
2. Build vector regions: Rasterizer traces connected areas of the same swatch color into closed vector shapes.
3. Apply the selected processing: Standard preset controls clean and simplify traced shapes, while abstract presets use their own rules to construct stylized geometry. When Minimum Island Area removes a tiny region, Rasterizer transfers its footprint to the touching swatch that shares the most pixel sides, keeping the filled layer partition continuous.
4. Separate the layers: Rasterizer combines shapes assigned to the same swatch and resolves the layer geometry so each color occupies its intended area of the project.
5. Attach settings when supplied: Saved Color Palettes use explicit setting-to-swatch assignments from Swatch Palette Vault. Freshly uploaded guest Material Libraries match enabled swatch names to entry Descriptions in the selected material. Rasterizer places the resulting geometry on LightBurn layers configured with those settings. SVG-only mode still creates color-separated vector geometry, but it skips Material Library matching, does not apply LightBurn cut settings, and does not produce a LightBurn project file.
6. Export the result: Every successful job exports its layered vector geometry as an .svg file. A Material Library-backed job also exports a .lbrn2 file containing the separated geometry and assigned cut settings for inspection, editing, validation, and ultimately execution in LightBurn.