How to Engrave Aluminum Business Cards with the xTool F2 (Photos, Text and QR Codes)

Black anodized aluminum business cards are one of my favorite things to make on the xTool F2. You can make your own cards to hand out, make them for other businesses, or put a photo on one as a gift that lives in someone's wallet.

I've made two videos on these. The one above covers photos, and my earlier video covers text, icons and a scannable QR code. This guide puts both together, with the settings I use for each.

Jump to: The cards · Placement and jigs · Focusing · Text and icons · QR codes · Text settings · Frame and engrave · Photos · Photo settings

1. The cards

I use 0.45 mm thick black anodized aluminum cards. You can buy them in big packs and they're fairly cheap. At this thickness they're rigid and feel like a premium item. You can get thinner ones, but they're floppy and I'm not a fan.

On the F2, the infrared laser removes the black anodized layer and leaves a bright white mark, which is why these look so sharp.

2. Placement and jigs

You can just lay a card on the base plate and line it up by eye, and it will be fine for a one-off. I use a jig because it puts the card in exactly the same place every time, so I can repeat the result. I'm not saying that to sell jigs. It's just good practice.

For the text card I used my Metal Business Card Jig. It holds the card in the same position every time.

For the photo cards I used my Self-Centering Jig. I like it for one-offs because I can lock the card down, then rotate and angle it exactly as I need. You'll see why that matters when we get to framing.

Both jigs are made for the xTool F1, F2 and F1 Lite.

3. Focusing

1. Look at the two dots on the card. If they're apart, you're out of focus.
2. Turn the knob on the side of the laser head counterclockwise to lower the head until the two dots join. That's manual focus done.
3. In xTool Studio, click New project in the top right. You'll hear a beep when the F2 connects, and a green symbol shows it's ready. If you have more than one machine, pick yours first.
4. I also run the autofocus as a check. Click the auto measure button next to the thickness box. The light dims while it takes a reading, then you get an updated camera picture and a focus number. Mine read 15.4 mm.

4. Text and icons

For the text card I made up a business on the spot: a window cleaner called Chris, with a made-up phone number.

1. Click the Text tool, click on the canvas and type your first line. Set it to Engrave.
2. Copy and paste it for each extra line (name, phone number) and edit the words.
3. Open the xTool elements library and search for what you need. I searched business and used the briefcase, then found a hammer and wrench under Other by clicking See all.
4. Drag things into place with the left mouse button. Guide lines pop up to help you line everything up.

5. Add a QR code

A QR code means people can scan the card and land on a website.

1. Click the applications button on the left and choose Code generation.
2. Pick QR code (there's a barcode option too), type the web address and click Save.

Turn it into a vector

Here's a tip. The QR code comes in as an image, so the settings panel shows dot duration, power and DPI, while your text shows power and speed. I prefer to engrave in vectors where I can. Power and speed are easier to work out, and a vector just engraves better than an image.

1. Select the QR code and click Edit in the top toolbar.
2. On the left, click Trace. QR codes are made of very defined shapes, so it traces them really well.
3. Click Save, drag the traced copy out, and set it to Engrave.
4. Delete the original image and move the vector QR code into place. I put mine bottom right.

6. Settings for text, icons and QR codes

I saved these as my own material for black anodized aluminum, so I just pick it from the material library and apply it.

The colors on the canvas are just layers (I made the QR code red so I could see it better). They don't change the result.

7. Frame and engrave

1. Click the arrow next to the framing button. For a text card, Rect is fine, because you only need to know the design stays inside the card.
2. Click frame and check the light on the card. It's hard to see on dark materials, so look closely.
3. Click Process. You'll see the time (31 seconds for this card) and you can click View path preview to see the order it will engrave in.
4. Click Start, wait for the beep, then press the button on the machine.

I record with the lid up so you can see. Please engrave with the lid down. Even though you can't see the infrared laser, it can still damage your eyes. It also makes lots of fine particles, so vent it out of a window or into an air purifier.

It comes out really clean.

8. Photos on business cards

Photos are where it gets more interesting, and the settings depend on the photo. In a family photo, each person is quite small, so the detail is finer. A single portrait that fills the whole card can take a higher DPI. That's why I have two settings.

Shape the photo with a mask

Some people make the photo bigger than the card so it fills the whole thing. You can't do that with the jig in the way, and I like a small border anyway, so I used a mask.

1. Click Import and bring in your photo.
2. Open the Elements tab, go to Basic shapes and pick a shape you like.
3. Turn the aspect ratio lock off for the shape, so you can stretch it to roughly the size of the card. Center it.
4. Keep the aspect ratio lock on for the photo so it doesn't look stretched, and size it so it fills the shape with the parts you want to keep.
5. Drag a box around both, right-click on the canvas and choose Create mask. The area outside the shape goes lighter. Click Done.
6. Fine-tune the position, leaving a slight border around the edge.

Invert it

This is the part people miss. On dark surfaces like black anodized metal, the laser burns the dark layer away and leaves it light. So anything dark in your photo ends up light, and anything light ends up dark. Engrave it as it is and it looks like a negative.

1. Select the photo, click Edit and open Adjustments.
2. Click Auto adjust. It sharpens the photo and tunes the contrast for engraving.
3. Click Invert.

If you pick a black business card material before you do this, Auto adjust inverts it for you. I had no material set at that point, so I inverted it by hand. I didn't change anything else. I've done a lot of testing on this material and Auto adjust does a good job.

9. Photo settings

Pick the right preset for your photo. Both use the infrared laser.

All three business card settings are in my free Laser Settings Library with the rest of my xTool F2 settings.

Frame with the outline

For a shaped photo, use the outline frame so you can see the actual shape.

1. Click the arrow next to the framing button in the bottom right and choose Outline.
2. Click frame. My card wasn't quite parallel with the photo, so I rotated it slightly in the self-centering jig until it lined up.
3. Click Process. My family photo took 3 minutes 21 seconds.

Don't worry if the process preview shows your photo un-inverted. That's what Studio did on my version, and the engraving still came out the right way around.

The detail on the family photo came out really clear, and everyone's faces had good contrast. For the single portrait I turned the card to portrait, masked the photo the same way, switched to the single portrait preset, ran Auto adjust and inverted it again. Both came out great.

Show me yours

These make brilliant gifts and they're great to sell. If you have a question, or want to show me what you made, leave a comment on the photo video or the text and QR code video.