Exporting a Depthmap for Relief Laser Engraving
The Lab creates every export locally in the browser. The ordinary PNGs contain relative-depth information; the Parallax PNG transforms that edited depth into horizontal angle ramps, and the Parallax SVG converts each non-background angle pixel into clipped parallel-line geometry.
8-bit PNG
An 8-bit grayscale PNG stores 256 possible brightness levels and is broadly compatible with image editors and laser software. It is often sufficient for shallow relief, early tests, and software that reduces imported images to 8-bit precision internally.
16-bit PNG
A 16-bit grayscale PNG stores up to 65,536 possible brightness levels and can preserve smoother gradients throughout a compatible workflow. Confirm that every application in the workflow retains 16-bit grayscale data because some software silently converts imported images to 8-bit.
Parallax PNG
Parallax is an 8-bit grating-angle map based on Ben Krasnow's depth-map conversion. White (255) is reserved for background that should not be processed, middle gray (127) is the neutral grating plane, and horizontal grayscale ramps around foreground boundaries encode nearer or farther displacement. It is not a conventional relief depthmap.
Parallax Strength changes the length of those boundary ramps. Far-Depth Background Cutoff determines how much of the map's farthest depth becomes white unprocessed background. Raise the cutoff when the subject lacks a clean background; lower it when legitimate far-depth details disappear. The conversion uses the currently edited depthmap and never uploads it to the server.
Parallax SVG
The SVG export runs the same parallax mutation directly in the browser and then follows Krasnow's grayscale-to-SVG approach. Every non-white angle-map pixel becomes one square physical cell containing parallel black lines. Grayscale values rotate those lines across a minus-90-degree to plus-90-degree range; white background pixels create no geometry.
SVG Cell Size controls the physical width and height represented by each source pixel. SVG Line Spacing controls distance between grating lines, and SVG Stroke Width controls their imported vector stroke. The displayed SVG Physical Size is the final pixel dimensions multiplied by the selected cell size. High-resolution maps can create very large SVG files and substantial geometry, so validate a small map before scaling up.
What the exported PNG includes
Every export starts from the result of Near Clip, Far Clip, Depth Curve, Invert Depth, Depth Palette guidance, enabled swatches, Boundary Feathering, proportional resizing, perimeter border padding, Perimeter Padding Depth, and painted corrections. The Parallax export then applies its background cutoff and horizontal edge conversion. The shaded relief projection is only an inspection aid and is not included in any exported image.
Laser settings are not embedded
The PNG files do not contain laser settings. The SVG contains explicit grating-line geometry but still does not embed tested power, scanning speed, pulse frequency, pulse duration, focus distance, pass count, or a LightBurn layer recipe. After importing the SVG, assign a tested diffraction-grating laser setting and preserve its scale. The Lab does not create a ready-to-run LightBurn project.
Build a material-specific mapping
Determine how the receiving software maps grayscale values to laser exposure, power, or passes. Then measure the material removed using the exact laser, lens, focus distance, workpiece material, surface preparation, extraction, and cleanup process you intend to use. Do not assume that grayscale brightness will produce a linear change in physical depth.
Safety and review
Preview the imported image, verify its physical size and orientation, and confirm whether black or white produces greater removal in the receiving software. Test the process on a small material sample before engraving valuable work. Deep engraving can produce substantial heat, debris, tapered walls, redeposition, changing focus distance, fire risk, and very long processing times. Never leave an operating laser unattended.