🩹 SPOT/HAIR REMOVE

What it does: Removes small imperfections like dust spots, hairs, or blemishes from your image.

How to use:

• Select the tool
• Adjust brush size for the area you want to remove
• Paint over the unwanted spot or hair
• Release mouse button - the area automatically fills in using surrounding pixels
• The Fill Radius controls how much surrounding area is used for the fill

Best for: Cleaning up dust, scratches, stray hairs, small blemishes before laser engraving

☀️ DODGE/BURN

What it does: Selectively lightens (dodge) or darkens (burn) areas of your image.

How to use:

• Select the tool
• Choose DODGE mode to lighten areas or BURN mode to darken
• Adjust brush size and strength
• Paint over areas to gradually lighten or darken them
• Build up the effect with multiple strokes

Best for: Adding depth, enhancing contrast in specific areas, bringing out details that will engrave better

📋 CLONE/HEAL

What it does: Copies pixels from one area to another (clone) or blends copied pixels with the destination (heal).

How to use:

• Select the tool
• Choose CLONE for exact copying or HEAL for blended results
• Hold Alt and click to set your sample point (where to copy from)
• Paint over the target area to apply the copied pixels
• CLONE: Exact copy of sample area
• HEAL: Blends copied area with surrounding pixels for seamless results

Best for: Removing larger objects, duplicating patterns, fixing damaged areas, seamless repairs

〰️ WARP/NUDGE

What it does: Pushes and warps pixels by dragging them in any direction.

How to use:

• Select the tool
• Adjust brush size (larger = affects more area)
• Adjust strength (how much pixels move)
• Click and drag to push pixels in the direction you drag
• Use subtle movements for best results

Best for: Straightening edges, adjusting hair position, subtle shape corrections, fixing minor distortions

⚠️ Note: Use carefully - this tool can create distortion. Best for small adjustments only.

🖐️ PAN

What it does: Lets you move the image around the canvas to see different areas.

How to use:

• Click the PAN button to activate
• Left-click and drag anywhere on the image to move it
• Click a tool button to deactivate pan mode
• Shortcut: Hold Spacebar while any tool is active to temporarily pan

When to use: When zoomed in and you need to access different parts of the image

🔄 RESET VIEW

What it does: Returns the image to the position and zoom level it was at when you first opened ADJUSTMENTS.

How to use:

• Click the button to instantly restore the view
• Returns to the exact zoom level and position from when you entered adjustments
• Also turns off Fit to Canvas if it was activated

Example: Enter adjustments at 100% zoom, centered → Zoom to 300%, pan to corner → Click RESET VIEW → back to 100% zoom, centered

📐 FIT TO CANVAS

What it does: Automatically scales small images to fill approximately 65% of the canvas area.

How to use:

• Click once to scale the image up
• The button stays highlighted while active
• Click again to return to original size
• Works as a toggle - on/off

When to use: When you upload a small image (like a 200×200px cropped logo) - makes tiny images easier to see and work with

Example: Upload 200×200px image → appears tiny on screen → Click FIT TO CANVAS → scales to ~420×420px → Much easier to edit!

ZOOM CONTROLS (− / Slider / +)

What it does: Changes the magnification level of your image.

How to use:

• Click − button to zoom out (minimum 10%)
• Click + button to zoom in (maximum 400%)
• Drag the slider for precise zoom control
• The percentage shows your current zoom level

When to use: Zoom in (200-400%) to work on fine details, zoom out (50-100%) to see overall composition. Combine with PAN to navigate large or zoomed images.

Note: Zoom doesn't change your image - only how you view it. Your export will always be at the dimensions you set in RESIZE.

🎯 AUTO ADJUST

What it does: Applies calibrated settings optimized for laser engraving - adds sharpening and contrast for cleaner burns.

Best for: Quick preparation of photos and images. Great starting point before fine-tuning.

Tip: After Auto Adjust, toggle Invert if your material burns "in reverse" (like slate, anodized aluminum, or spraypaint).

🔄 INVERT

What it does: Flips light and dark values - white becomes black, black becomes white.

When to use:

• Invert ON: Dark materials where laser removes coating (slate, anodized aluminum, spraypaint, acrylic back-engraving)
• Invert OFF: Light materials where laser darkens surface (wood, leather, cork, stainless steel marking)

📊 LEVELS

What it does: Sets black point (darkest value) and white point (lightest value).

How to use:

• Drag left handle to set where black starts
• Drag right handle to set where white starts
• Narrows the tonal range for more contrast

Tip: If your image looks washed out, bring the handles inward.

☀️ BRIGHTNESS

What it does: Makes entire image lighter or darker.

Range: -100 (darker) to +100 (lighter)

Tip: Small adjustments (-20 to +20) are usually enough.

🎚️ CONTRAST

What it does: Increases or decreases difference between light and dark areas.

Range: -100 (less contrast) to +100 (more contrast)

Tip: Higher contrast helps details engrave more distinctly.

🌗 GAMMA

What it does: Adjusts mid-tones without affecting pure black/white.

Range: 0.2 (darker mids) to 2.2 (lighter mids)

Tip: Use gamma to bring out shadow detail (increase) or make highlights pop (decrease).

🔪 SHARPEN

What it does: Makes edges and details crisper for cleaner engraving.

Range: 0% (no effect) to 200% (very sharp)

Recommended: 10-30% for most images. Auto Adjust applies 11%.

⚠️ Too much sharpening creates harsh edges that may engrave unevenly.

🌫️ SMOOTH

What it does: Softens the image, reduces noise and fine detail.

Range: 0 (no effect) to 50 (heavy blur)

Tip: Light smoothing (5-15) can reduce noise before dithering.

📈 CURVE

What it does: Fine-tunes how different tonal ranges are rendered - think of it like adjusting specific zones of your image independently.

Sliders (all stack together):

• Midtones (-100 to +100): Controls the middle grays. Positive adds "punch" and contrast. Negative flattens the image towards gray.
• Shadows (-100 to +100): Controls dark areas. Positive lifts/brightens shadows to show detail. Negative crushes/darkens shadows.
• Highlights (-100 to +100): Controls bright areas. Positive boosts/brightens highlights. Negative dims/reduces highlights.

Common uses:

• Dark areas too dark? → Increase Shadows (+20 to +50)
• Image looks flat? → Increase Midtones (+20 to +40)
• Highlights washed out? → Decrease Highlights (-20)
• Need more dramatic look? → Midtones +30, Shadows -20

Tip: Small adjustments (±10 to ±30) usually work best. All three sliders combine for the final effect.

⬛⬜ THRESHOLD

What it does: Converts image to pure black and white (no grays).

Controls:

• Enable: Toggle threshold on/off
• Level (0-255): Pixels above this become white, below become black

Best for: Line art, logos, text, high-contrast graphic designs.

Tip: Preview in real-time to find the perfect threshold point. Usually 100-150 for most images.

⚠️ Not for photos - use dithering instead for photographic images.