3D Relief Engraving on Wood with the xTool F2

This is how I take a plain wooden coaster and turn it into a 3D relief engraving with the xTool F2's blue diode. It's simple to do, it looks really effective, and it's a good string to add to your bow. They make great gifts, and you could sell them too.

The trick is a two layer workflow in xTool Studio: a normal engrave, then a high contrast copy of the same image on top that pushes the dark areas deeper. I tested the settings six or seven times to find the sweet spot, and they're all below.

Jump to: What you need · Position and focus · Getting a low relief image · Making it round · Preparing the image · Layer order · Settings · Framing and engraving · Cleaning up

What you need

• A bamboo or wooden coaster. You can try any wood. Mine are bamboo, 100 mm in diameter.
• A diode laser. I'm using the xTool F2. This will also work on the F1, F1 Ultra and F2 Ultra, you just need to adjust your settings.
• A low relief image (more on that below).
• 99% isopropyl alcohol and paper towel for cleaning up afterwards.

1. Position the coaster and focus

I use my self-centering jig to pull the coaster into the middle and guarantee the position, because I like repeatability. There's nothing stopping you putting the base plate in and laying the coaster on top, though. Whatever you prefer.

1. Turn the knob on the side of the F2 clockwise until the two dots on the coaster join together.
2. In xTool Studio, click New project in the top right and it connects to your machine.
3. If you want, run an auto focus too. It turns the lights off, takes the measurement, turns them back on and updates the camera image with your coaster in it.

2. Getting a low relief image

The key ingredient is a low relief image: a picture that looks like it's been carved, with light raised areas and dark recessed ones. You've got a few options:

• search online for low relief engraving images, or buy them on Etsy;
• look for projects on Atomm where someone has shared one;
• ask an AI tool like ChatGPT to make a few;
• generate one with xTool's AI Make on the Atomm website, which is what I did.

Making one with AI Make

1. Sign in on the Atomm website and open AI Make.
2. Click Style and pick Low Relief. It's made for exactly this kind of engraving.
3. Pick your aspect ratio. There's no round option, so I went for square and cropped it later.
4. Describe what you want. I typed "a majestic looking cat with a detailed background" and clicked the arrow.
5. When you're happy with the result, click Download.

AI Make uses credits. I think you get some free ones to start with, so feel free to use those to try this out.

Back in xTool Studio, use Import image to bring it in.

3. Making it round

If you've got a square coaster, you're laughing, skip this bit. Mine is round, and I wanted the design to fill it.

1. Click Vector shapes on the left and pick the circle. Hold Shift and drag, which locks the aspect ratio so you get a perfect circle.
2. Set it to 95 mm for my 100 mm coaster. I don't want it right on the edge, I want a nice border around it. Center it on the coaster.
3. Center the image over the circle and make it big enough to crop. Drag one of the middle handles, not a corner. A corner anchors to the opposite corner, but a middle handle keeps it in place while it grows.
4. Select everything, right click and choose Create mask. The faded area shows what's being cut away.
5. The circle stays editable. These images are never perfectly round, so I unlocked the aspect ratio and nudged the circle with the arrow keys until it covered the image nicely. Then click Done.

Finally, center it on the coaster again and resize it. I made mine 94 x 94 mm with the aspect ratio locked.

4. Preparing the image (the secret sauce)

This is where it gets a little more involved, but follow these steps and it works.

Sharpen it

Select the image, click Edit, go to Adjustments in the top left, and turn Sharpness up to the maximum it allows (50). The more definition you have, the more detail you get.

Add a high contrast copy

1. Copy and paste the image (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V) so you have two.
2. Put the first image on its own layer color. I used red.
3. Right click the second image and put it on a different layer. I used green. It doesn't change what it looks like, but it makes the next steps easier.
4. Select the second (green) image, click Edit, go to Adjustments, and tick Grayscale.
5. The slider starts at 255. Drag it down to about 170. The image goes really light in places and really dark in others. Leave the sharpness at 50.

Here's why it works. On wood, light means the laser barely touches it, and dark means a deep engrave. This second image tells the laser exactly where to go deeper, which is what gives you the 3D effect.

Stack and group them

1. Drag a box over both images.
2. Open the align dropdown in the toolbar and choose Align center, so they sit exactly on top of each other.
3. Right click and choose Group. Now you can set the material settings once for both.

5. Setting the layer order

The grayscale image needs to engrave second.

1. In the bottom left, open the Layer and object list. You'll see a red layer and a green layer.
2. Right click each one and Rename it. I call red "First pass" and green "Second pass". You don't have to, but it makes life a lot easier.
3. Drag the First pass (red) layer to the top.

6. My settings

These are for a wooden coaster on the xTool F2. Blue light and Atkinson are both critical. The line between burning the engraving and getting no 3D relief at all is a fine one, and this is the sweet spot from my testing. They're in my free Laser Settings Library as well, alongside the rest of my xTool F2 settings.

On the F1, try the same settings. On the F1 Ultra I'd take the power down a little and maybe increase the dot duration. Either way, test on a spare coaster first.

7. Framing and engraving

1. Click the arrow next to the frame button in the bottom right. It's set to rectangle by default, which just frames the box around the design. Change it to Outline.
2. Click Frame and check the outline sits where you want it on the coaster.
3. Next to the Process button, click the arrow, change Auto planning to User defined, and turn on By layer. That makes sure the two layers run in the order you set.
4. Click Process, then start the job. Mine said 1 hour. These usually take between 40 minutes and an hour, but they're well worth the wait.

Safety: this makes a lot of smoke. Close the lid and make sure you have good extraction, or you'll get a smoky smell in the room.

8. Cleaning up

Whatever settings you use, you'll get some charring. To clean it off:

1. Spray it with 99% isopropyl alcohol. I really cake it.
2. Pat it firmly with a paper towel. Patting rather than wiping means the towel doesn't break apart and get into the gaps. You'll see quite a lot come off.

Look how clear and contrasting it comes out. You could add a varnish or protective coat if you want. I've used exactly the same technique on all of mine, including this one of my dog Ted.

Give it a try

You can produce something that looks really professional and artistic with very little input. Try the settings and let me know how you get on in the comments on the video, and tell me what you'd like to see as a project next.