Single-stroke vectors for tight engraving.

What every engraving deliverable contains

Engraving has three distinct vector requirements depending on the tool: single-stroke for rotary, outline-only for fiber, and depth-stepped grayscale for photographic raster engraving. We build to whichever your tool needs and deliver all formats.

Single-stroke fonts for rotary engraving

Rotary engravers cut along a path with a tool diameter — they don't fill regions. A standard outlined font has two paths per letter (inside and outside outline), which the rotary tool would have to follow both edges of. Single-stroke fonts use one centerline path per letter so the tool traces it once at the proper depth.

• Single-line / single-stroke fonts: each letter is one continuous path along the centerline. Standard for rotary engraving on awards, trophies, name tags.
• Outline-only conversion: when the design must use a specific font that doesn't have a single-stroke version, we convert outlines to centerlines manually for rotary use.
• Depth specification: rotary tools cut to a specified depth along the path; we don't dictate depth (that's a tool setting), but the path is geometrically correct for any depth.

Fiber laser surface marking

Fiber laser surface marking (on metal, anodized aluminum, hard plastics) typically traces the outline of shapes without cutting through. The vector requirement is outline-only paths — fills are computed by your software (Trotec JobControl, EZCAD, RDWorks) based on hatch settings.

Outline-only paths

Single closed path per shape. Fills are not part of our vector — your laser software computes fill via hatch patterns at the engrave step.

Annealing-friendly geometry

For black anneal on stainless, we keep paths large enough that the laser doesn't lose sharpness at small features. Minimum feature size flagged on your order.

Anodized aluminum (color removal)

Standard outline-only treatment; anodized layer is removed to expose substrate underneath. Same vector as standard fiber marking.

Multi-pass tone variation

If your machine supports varying power across passes for tonal marking, we can layer the file so each layer corresponds to a power percentage.

Raster engraving from photographic source

Photographic raster engraving (memorial portraits, pet portraits, custom tumblers) needs grayscale step conversion — the photo becomes a grayscale image where each shade level corresponds to a laser power percentage. The deliverable is a vector file with the photo as an embedded grayscale element prepped for raster mode in your laser software.

• Photographic source converted to high-contrast grayscale optimized for engraving substrate.
• Tone curves adjusted for substrate (black acrylic, anodized aluminum, marble, wood differ in dynamic range).
• Embedded as a grayscale raster layer in the AI/PDF deliverable, ready for raster mode in LightBurn / Trotec / Epilog.
• Background removed where engraving full background isn't desired.

How complexity drives the engraving price

What to send us when you place an order

1. Source artwork (any raster format, or photo for raster engraving)
2. Engraving tool: rotary (Roland EGX/MPX, Mophorn), fiber laser (Trotec, Epilog, OMTech, xTool F1), CO₂ (Glowforge, Boss, Trotec Speedy, Epilog Helix)
3. Substrate: anodized aluminum, stainless steel, brass, wood, acrylic, leather, glass, marble
4. Finished engrave size and quantity
5. Operation type: single-stroke, outline-only, or raster engrave from photo
6. Engraving software: LightBurn, Trotec JobControl, Epilog Dashboard, EZCAD, RDWorks
7. Deadline and rush flag