Laser Engraving Settings by Material: Speed & Power Chart

Good laser engraving settings start from a known range, not from zero. On a 5–10 W diode, wood engraves well around 50–80 mm/s at 40–70% power; a 40–60 W CO2 laser engraves it at 250–400 mm/s and 15–35%. Cutting 3 mm plywood takes full power, 3–4 mm/s and two or three passes on a 10 W diode, one pass at 10–20 mm/s on a CO2. The charts below give starting points for 13 materials, and a ten-minute test grid turns them into your own numbers.

Treat every value here as a place to begin: real optical power, the lens, focus, air assist, the age of the diode or tube and even the batch of plywood all change the result.

How laser engraving settings work together

Speed and power: energy per millimetre

What marks the material is the energy delivered to each millimetre, roughly power divided by speed: double the speed and you halve it. The pairs are not fully interchangeable, though: high power at high speed gives a crisp, shallow mark, while slow speed lets heat spread and char the edges.

Power is a percentage of what your laser really emits. A “10 W” diode should mean 10 W of optical output; some listings quote electrical input instead, which is why a “40 W” machine can behave like a 5 W one. Many diode programs show speed in mm/min: multiply mm/s by 60 (100 mm/s = 6,000 mm/min).

Passes, line interval and DPI

Passes repeat the job. For cutting, two fast passes often leave a cleaner edge than one slow pass, because the smoke clears in between. For engraving, a second pass goes deeper rather than darker.

Line interval is the gap between fill lines; DPI is the same idea upside down (interval in mm = 25.4 ÷ DPI, so 0.1 mm is 254 DPI). A tighter interval overlaps the lines: darker, smoother, slower. The engraving values below assume 0.08–0.1 mm. Photos follow their own rules, covered in our guide to engraving a photo with a laser.

Focus and air assist

A focused beam is a dot a fraction of a millimetre wide; a few millimetres off, the same power spreads and fades. Focus on the surface for engraving; for thick cuts, focus slightly into the material or lower the head a little on each pass.

Air assist blows smoke and flame out of the cut: full flow for cutting (cleaner edges, fewer flare-ups, a cleaner lens), a gentle flow for engraving to limit smoke stains.

Diode laser settings: speed and power chart (5–10 W and 20 W)

Starting points for 455 nm blue diode modules with air assist, focus on the surface and a 0.08–0.1 mm interval. Within each range, the slower speed or higher power suits the lower wattage. If your machine cannot reach a listed speed, slow down and lower the power in proportion.

Material	Engrave, 5–10 W	Engrave, 20 W	Cut, 5–10 W	Cut, 20 W
Solid wood (basswood, poplar)	50–80 mm/s, 40–70%	80–100 mm/s, 30–45%	3 mm: 3–5 mm/s, 100%, 1–3 passes	3 mm: 7–10 mm/s, 100%, 1 pass
Plywood (birch, poplar)	50–80 mm/s, 35–70%	80–100 mm/s, 30–40%	3 mm: 3–4 mm/s, 100%, 2–3 passes; 6 mm: about 2 mm/s, 4 passes	3 mm: 6–8 mm/s, 100%, 1 pass; 6 mm: 3–4 mm/s, 1–2 passes
MDF	50–80 mm/s, 40–70%	80–100 mm/s, 30–50%	3 mm: 2–3 mm/s, 100%, 2–4 passes	3 mm: 4–6 mm/s, 100%, 1–2 passes
Bamboo	50–80 mm/s, 40–70%	80–100 mm/s, 35–45%	3 mm: 3–4 mm/s, 100%, 2–3 passes	3 mm: 6–8 mm/s, 100%, 1 pass
Vegetable-tanned leather	50–80 mm/s, 20–35%	80–100 mm/s, 15–25%	1.5 mm: 6–12 mm/s, 100%, 1–2 passes	1.5 mm: 12–20 mm/s, 100%, 1 pass
Corrugated cardboard	80–120 mm/s, 15–30%	100–150 mm/s, 10–20%	3 mm: 8–15 mm/s, 100%	3 mm: 15–25 mm/s, 80–100%
Paper and thin card	80–120 mm/s, 10–25%	100–150 mm/s, 8–15%	25–50 mm/s, 80–100%	50–80 mm/s, 50–80%
Cork sheet	80–120 mm/s, 15–30%	100–150 mm/s, 10–20%	3 mm: 6–10 mm/s, 100%, 1–2 passes	3 mm: 12–20 mm/s, 100%
Acrylic, dark opaque only	40–80 mm/s, 50–90%	60–100 mm/s, 30–50%	Not recommended: thin sheet, about 2 mm/s, 2–4 passes	About 2 mm/s, 1–3 passes; never clear
Slate	50–100 mm/s, 40–80%	80–150 mm/s, 30–60%	—	—
Glass, coated only	25–50 mm/s, 80–100%	50–80 mm/s, 60–90%	—	—
Anodized aluminium	10–40 mm/s, 80–100%	40–100 mm/s, 40–70%	—	—
Stainless steel, with marking spray	10–20 mm/s, 100%	20–40 mm/s, 80–100%	—	—

CO2 laser settings (40–60 W) and fiber for metals

The 10.6 µm beam of a CO2 laser is absorbed by almost every organic material, clear acrylic and glass included, so it engraves several times faster than a diode. Use the slow end of each range for a 40 W tube and the fast end for 60 W. Many owners keep glass tubes below about 80% to make them last.

Material	Engrave	Cut 3 mm (1/8 in)	Cut 6 mm (1/4 in)
Solid wood	250–400 mm/s, 15–35%	12–25 mm/s, 50–70%	5–10 mm/s, 60–80%
Plywood	250–400 mm/s, 15–35%	10–20 mm/s, 55–75%	4–8 mm/s, 65–85%
MDF	250–400 mm/s, 15–30%	6–12 mm/s, 60–80%	3–6 mm/s, 70–85%
Bamboo	250–400 mm/s, 20–35%	10–20 mm/s, 60–75%	4–8 mm/s, 70–85%
Vegetable-tanned leather	300–500 mm/s, 12–25%	8–20 mm/s, 40–60%	—
Corrugated cardboard	300–500 mm/s, 10–20%	15–40 mm/s, 30–60%	10–20 mm/s, 50–60%
Paper and card	300–500 mm/s, 8–15%	100–300 mm/s, 10–25% (thin sheet)	—
Cork sheet	300–500 mm/s, 15–25%	20–50 mm/s, 30–50%	10–20 mm/s, 40–60%
Acrylic, clear or coloured	300–450 mm/s, 15–30%	8–15 mm/s, 60–85%	3–6 mm/s, 70–85%, or 2 passes
Slate	300–500 mm/s, 20–40%	—	—
Glass	150–300 mm/s, 15–35%	—	—
Anodized aluminium	300–500 mm/s, 15–30%	—	—
Stainless steel, with marking spray	40–120 mm/s, 60–90%	—	—

Metals: fiber laser starting points

CO2 light bounces off bare metal, and a diode barely darkens stainless steel. A 1064 nm fiber laser marks it directly; pulse frequency matters as much as power. For a 20–30 W fiber, try:

• Stainless steel, light mark: 800–1,200 mm/s, 35–65%, 30–40 kHz, 0.05 mm interval.
• Stainless steel, dark mark: 100–300 mm/s, about 40%, 60–80 kHz, 0.01–0.02 mm interval.
• Anodized aluminium: 500–1,000 mm/s, 20–60%, 20–40 kHz, 0.01–0.03 mm interval.

Colours on stainless steel need a MOPA source, whose pulse width can be adjusted. Galvo machines add their own jump and delay settings: see galvo and fiber marking in Bernie.

Material notes the charts cannot show

Laser settings for wood

Density does most of the work: basswood and poplar engrave fast and evenly, while walnut, oak and maple need more energy for the same tone. Pine’s hard and soft growth rings burn at different rates, so fills look striped. Masking tape keeps smoke stains off the surface.

Laser cutting settings for plywood and MDF

In plywood, the glue decides the cut: two sheets of the same thickness can need very different speeds, and plywood sold for lasers, with fewer voids, is more predictable. MDF cuts cleanly but slowly, with a dark edge and heavy smoke.

Leather, cork, cardboard and paper

Use vegetable-tanned leather: chrome-tanned leather and PVC faux leather give off toxic fumes. Leather marks with very little power. Cardboard, paper and cork catch fire easily: keep air assist on and lower the power before slowing down. White paper reflects much of a blue diode’s light; darker paper marks far more easily.

Acrylic: engrave on a diode, cut on a CO2

A blue diode beam passes straight through clear acrylic, and through most light or blue sheets, so it cannot cut or engrave them directly. It engraves dark opaque acrylic well, but clean cuts are a CO2 job. On a CO2, cast acrylic engraves to a frosty white, while extruded acrylic cuts with a flame-polished edge.

Slate, glass and metal

Slate turns light grey; more power only flakes it, so stay moderate, use a 0.1–0.15 mm interval and wipe on a drop of oil. A CO2 frosts glass best through a damp paper towel or a film of dish soap, which limits chipping; a diode needs a coating such as paint or marking spray, washed off afterwards. On anodized aluminium the laser removes the dye (black gives the best contrast), and a metal-marking spray fuses a dark layer onto stainless steel.

How to run a laser material test grid

A test grid is the quickest way from a chart’s guess to a setting you trust. Ten minutes on an offcut beats an evening of ruined boards.

1. Use the real material. Same sheet, same finish, same thickness, with focus and air assist exactly as for the real job.
2. Pick two variables. Usually speed across the columns and power down the rows, with interval and passes fixed. Take the range from the chart and stretch it a little.
3. Keep it small. A 5 × 5 grid of 8–10 mm squares fits on a coaster-sized offcut.
4. Go from low to high energy. Fast, weak squares first, so you can stop before anything flares.
5. Read it in daylight. Wipe off the soot and pick the square with the tone you want and clean edges; on wood, the darkest is rarely the best.
6. Refine. Run a tighter grid around the winner, or test interval or passes the same way.
7. For cutting, cut small squares at decreasing speeds, keep the fastest one that drops out on its own, then slow down by about 10% as a margin.

Materials you must never laser, and basic safety

• PVC and vinyl, including many faux leathers: they release chlorine compounds that form hydrochloric acid, harmful to you and corrosive to the machine.
• Polycarbonate: it discolours, catches fire and cuts badly.
• ABS: it melts rather than cuts and gives off toxic fumes, hydrogen cyanide among them.
• HDPE and polystyrene foam: they melt and ignite easily.
• PTFE (Teflon), fiberglass, carbon fiber, treated wood: toxic fumes or dust.

If you cannot identify a plastic, do not laser it.

Finding and saving your settings in Bernie

Bernie, our free laser engraving software, is built around that cycle: start from a known setting, test, save.

1. Start from the library. More than 1,800 settings come in 17 libraries: general diode and CO2 settings, per-machine libraries (Creality Falcon2, Elegoo Phecda, Snapmaker Ray, xTool D1…) and MOPA fiber. Set up your laser from the catalog of 17 machines or with “Find My Laser”, and the material library is linked to it: see the compatible machines.
2. Apply it in one click. Settings are sorted by material and thickness, reapplied instantly and tied to your machine. Each of the 30 layers carries its own speed, power, passes and air assist: details on the layers and material libraries page.
3. Bring your LightBurn libraries. .clb libraries import and export, frequency, Z and ramps included.
4. Test a new material. The material test engraves a speed × power grid (or interval, or passes) by increasing energy. Spot the best square, and “keep this square” saves it for next time. A shared folder on iCloud Drive or the network keeps one library on all your computers.
5. Check before you burn. The preview renders the job on the material (wood, plywood, cardboard, leather, slate, black acrylic, anodized aluminium), estimates the time and, with “Why this line?”, shows the layer, speed and power behind any line. The pre-flight check blocks mistakes such as a speed that is too high.

For photos, a five-step assistant covers focus, speed and power, interval, dot correction and the image settings: see images and photos. If a result disappoints, the built-in help “My job is…” goes from the symptom (offset, burnt corners, too faint…) to the causes and the fixes; it is part of the files and built-in help features.

Still choosing a machine? Compare diode, CO2, fiber and galvo lasers and what each one can cut.

Laser engraving settings: frequently asked questions