🩹 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:

• Press and hold the Left mouse button first
• Then press Spacebar while still holding the mouse button
• Drag to move the image
• Release Spacebar or mouse button to stop panning

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. Use Left Click + Spacebar + Drag 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.

⚡ HD+ — Ablation & Coating Removal

What it does: Our best profile for high-resolution surfaces where the laser ablates or removes a coating to reveal a different colour beneath. Runs the full pipeline with adaptive edge polish for maximum detail.

Materials: Anodized aluminium, spraypaint-coated items, acrylic (back-engraved), painted tiles, powder-coated metals, coated tumblers, Cermark/Enduramark treated surfaces, stainless steel marking, bare brass.

How it works: These materials have uniform, engineered surfaces that can resolve fine detail at high DPI (500–1000). The pipeline runs CLAHE, adaptive sharpening, server-side tonal analysis, then applies an adaptive high pass edge polish as a final step — extracting fine edges and blending them back at a conservative, image-adaptive strength calculated from your image's characteristics.

Tip: Most coated materials need Invert ON so dark areas in the image become the laser's removal zones. Compare HD+ vs HD on the same image to see the edge polish difference.

🔥 HD — Fracture Materials

What it does: Controlled contrast for materials where the laser creates micro-fractures on the surface, cracking or chipping to reveal lighter material beneath. Moderate processing avoids over-fracturing.

Materials: Slate, marble, granite, stone, glass, ceramic, porcelain, corian, mirror.

How it works: Fracture materials respond differently from burn or ablation surfaces — too much fine detail causes unpredictable micro-cracking, and transitions between engraved and unengraved areas are inherently rougher. This profile uses moderate contrast with controlled sharpening to create clean tonal zones that the laser can fracture predictably.

Tip: Slate and stone typically need Invert ON — the laser fractures the dark surface to reveal lighter stone beneath. For glass with marking compounds, Invert is usually OFF.

💎 SD — Organic Burn Materials

What it does: Strong, purpose-built processing for organic materials that the laser burns through pyrolysis. Deeper tones, aggressive contrast, and edge polish tuned for substrates where grain and texture compete with your image.

Materials: Wood, leather, cork, bamboo, cardboard, paper, fabric, MDF, plywood.

How it works: Organic materials physically swallow fine detail — wood grain, leather texture, and heat diffusion all blur subtle gradations. This profile pushes harder than HD: stronger CLAHE, deeper gamma, higher contrast with shadow lift and highlight pull-down, plus an organic-tuned edge polish to help fine detail survive the substrate's natural texture.

Tip: Wood and leather typically don't need Invert — the laser darkens the surface naturally. SD now includes edge polish (same as HD+) tuned specifically for organic materials.

🔬 CLAHE

What it does: Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization — enhances local contrast across different regions of the image independently, bringing out hidden detail in shadows and highlights.

How it works: Unlike global contrast which pushes everything equally, CLAHE divides the image into small tiles and optimises each one. Detail hiding in dark areas gets revealed without blowing out bright areas.

Tip: CLAHE is applied automatically as part of HD+/HD/SD auto-adjust. The manual button lets you apply it independently for fine control. Click again to undo.

✨ ADAPTIVE SHARPENING

What it does: Enhances detail in textured areas like skin, fur, wood grain, and edges while leaving smooth areas like backgrounds and gradients untouched.

How it works: Unlike the Sharpen slider which applies equally everywhere, this analyses local texture and only sharpens where detail actually exists. Fine texture gets a tight sharpen, broader edges get a wider enhance, smooth areas are left clean.

Tip: Apply after CLAHE for best results. Also applied automatically as part of HD+/HD/SD auto-adjust. Click again to undo.

🔍 EDGE POLISH

What it does: Manual high pass sharpening with a live preview. Same technique used by HD+ auto-adjust, but with full control over radius and strength.

How to use:

• Edge Preview: Grey canvas with edges visible — like Photoshop's High Pass filter. Increase radius to see more edge structure emerge.
• Blended Preview: Shows the final result — your image with edges polished at the current strength.
• Radius: Controls edge width. Low = fine detail only. High = broader tonal edges included.
• Strength: Controls how much edge detail is blended back. Start low, increase until edges are defined without halos.
• Zoom: Slide to magnify, drag the preview to pan. Reset button returns to fit view.

Tip: The popup opens with server-recommended values based on your image. For most images, a small nudge from the defaults is all you need. Use Edge Preview to find the right radius, switch to Blended Preview to check the result, then Merge.

🔄 INVERT

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

When to use:

• Invert ON: Materials where laser removes coating or fractures surface — anodized aluminium, spraypaint, acrylic back-engraving, slate, marble, stone, glass
• Invert OFF: Materials where laser darkens/burns — wood, leather, cork, paper, 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.

🪞 MIRROR

What it does: Flips the image horizontally (left-to-right).

How to use: Click once to mirror, click again to flip back. The toggle is instant — no sliders, no settings.

Best for: Engraving on the back of transparent or reflective materials (mirrors, acrylic, glass). When viewed from the front, the image reads correctly.

Tip: Also useful for iron-on transfers and any reverse-side application where the final image needs to appear non-mirrored to the viewer.