If you've just got yourself an xTool F2, or you've had one a little while and you're still guessing at the settings, this one is for you. I've made a lot of F2 videos over the last year, and here I've pulled together the ten settings I use the most, all on real projects, so you can see what each one looks like when it's finished.
Everything is below with the exact numbers from my own xTool Studio screens, plus a bonus 3D relief at the end. Every setting here is also in my free xTool F2 laser settings page, so you don't need to write anything down. Tap a material to jump straight to it.
Jump to: Reading the settings panel · Black on stainless steel · Powder coated tumbler · Anodized aluminum · Slate · Glass · Wood · Cutting basswood · Black acrylic · PU leather · Cork · Bonus: 3D relief · Get every setting free
Before you start: reading the F2 settings panel
The F2 has two lasers in it: a 15W blue diode and a 5W infrared. The very first thing you choose in the settings panel is Laser type, so make sure it's the right one before you touch anything else.
- Blue light is, as a rough rule, for wood, leather, cork and cutting.
- Infrared light is for metals, slate and some plastics.
A lot of the problems I see in the comments come down to the wrong laser being picked. If something isn't marking the way you expect, check that first.
For text and line art (the panel on the left above) you'll mostly be looking at three numbers:
- Power is how hard the laser hits.
- Speed is how fast it moves.
- Lines per cm is how tightly the lines are packed together. More lines gives you a more solid fill, but it takes longer.
Photos work a little differently (the panel on the right). Instead of a speed you'll see Dot duration, which is how long the laser sits on each dot, and DPI, which is how many dots you get per inch. That's why the photo settings below look so different from the text ones, so don't worry when you see them.
1. Black on stainless steel
This is the one I get asked about more than any other. You're not cutting into the steel here. You're heating the surface, and the heat is what turns it black. That's why it's so slow, and why I run it twice, to get it properly black rather than a dark gray.
| Laser | Power | Speed | Lines per cm | Passes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared | 92% | 20 mm/s | 300 | 2 |
- Select your design and set Laser type to Infrared light.
- Start from the Black Annealing preset in xTool Studio, then set the values above. I leave the engraving mode on Bi-directional.
- Let both passes run. After the first one it will look dark gray, and the second takes it to black.
- When it's done, give it a wipe and you'll see how dark it really is.
It's permanent, it won't rub off, and it looks brilliant on name bars, keychains and anything with a mirror finish.
2. Black powder coated tumbler on the RA3
This one uses both lasers on the same job, on the RA3 rotary. The first layer on the blue laser does the heavy lifting and burns away the powder coat. The second layer on the infrared is a clean pass. It doesn't go any deeper, it just cleans up what's left behind so the steel underneath comes out bright silver instead of dull and patchy. You can see the difference on my test tumbler above, and if you skip the clean pass you'll see it straight away.
| Layer | Laser | Power | Speed | Lines per cm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Remove the coat | Blue | 52% | 400 mm/s | 200 |
| 2. Clean pass | Infrared | 18% | 400 mm/s | 200 |
Because both layers are in one job, the tumbler stays exactly where it is for the clean pass. A full wrap takes a while, but once it's set up on the rotary you can leave it to it. When it's finished, wipe it down with a bit of isopropyl alcohol and you're done.
3. Anodized aluminum (pens, business cards and photos)
I've put pens, business cards and my hip flask together because the settings are so close to each other. All of these are on the infrared laser. The laser takes off the colored layer and leaves the bright aluminum underneath, so a black piece gives you the most contrast. That's why you'll see me use black ones so often.
Text and line art
| Item | Power | Speed | Lines per cm | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pens | 90% | 950 mm/s | 200 | Crosshatch on |
| Business cards | 90% | 1900 mm/s |
The pens in the video are held in my Metal Pen Engraving Jig, which fits the F1, F1 Lite and F2.
Photos
Photos are where anodized aluminum comes into its own. I use one setting for a photo of one person or one pet, like this German Shepherd, and a slightly different one when there are a few people in the photo.
| Photo | Power | Dot duration (µs) | DPI | Dither |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One person or pet | 95% | 82 | 495 | Jarvis |
| A few people | 97% | 70 | 385 | Jarvis |
The hip flask settings are in the library as well, if that's what you're making.
4. Slate
This is the one that catches a lot of F2 owners out. You'd think slate would be a blue laser job, but on the F2 I use the infrared, and I pick the Slate material in xTool Studio for both text and photos.
| Job | Laser | Power | Speed or dot duration | DPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text and line art | Infrared | 60% | 600 mm/s | |
| Photos | Infrared | 100% | 225 µs | 350 |
Slate is a natural material, so every coaster is a little different, and focus height makes a big difference too. If yours comes out lighter or darker than mine, run a small test in the corner first and adjust the power from there.
It's one of my favorite materials for photos. The engraving comes out light gray on the dark stone, and it looks like a proper keepsake.
5. Glass (the paint method)
The blue laser light goes straight through clear glass, so on its own it won't mark it. The trick is paint. The paint absorbs the laser, and the heat from that is what marks the glass underneath.
- Brush on a coat of black tempera paint and let it dry.
- Engrave with the settings below. I ran this glass on a rotary.
- You'll see little sparks as it goes. That's the paint coming away, and it's normal.
- Once it's finished, wash the paint off under the tap.
| Laser | Power | Speed | Lines per cm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 80% | 190 mm/s | 160 |
You're left with a clean frosted engraving on clear glass. It's cheap, it works every time, and you can do it with the laser you already have.
6. Wood (keychains and bamboo pens)
Wood is what a lot of you will start with, so here are two. Both are on the blue laser.
| Job | Power | Speed | Lines per cm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beech wooden keychains | 84% | 500 mm/s | 120 |
| Bamboo pens, engraving | 75% | 300 mm/s | 120 |
| Bamboo pens, score line | 70% | 175 mm/s | n/a |
On the pens I add a thin score line around the design after the engraving. That outline is what makes the text pop, and it's such a small change for how much better it looks. These are sitting in my Bamboo Pen Engraving Jig.
Every wood is a bit different. If you're using something softer, like pine or poplar, bring the power down a little to stop it charring.
7. Cutting 3 mm basswood plywood
A lot of people don't realize the F2 can cut at all. For 3 mm (1/8 inch) basswood plywood it's slow, but that's what you need to get all the way through cleanly.
| Laser | Power | Speed | Passes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 100% | 6 mm/s | 1 |
This layered rose was engraved and cut in one go, and every piece dropped straight out. Before you lift anything, check the cut has gone all the way through, because once you move it you can't line it back up.
8. Black cast acrylic
This one uses both lasers again: the infrared for the photo and the blue for the cut. On black acrylic the photo engraves white, so you get a lovely contrast.
| Job | Laser | Power | Dot duration or speed | DPI | Dither |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo | Infrared | 48% | 284 µs | 305 | Jarvis |
| Cut out | Blue | 90% | 3 mm/s |
If you take one thing from this section, it's this: the acrylic needs to be black, or at least a dark color, for the blue laser to cut it. Clear acrylic lets the blue light straight through, so it won't cut.
9. PU leather keychains
These are one of the easiest things to make on the F2. These settings are for the brown ones.
| Laser | Power | Speed | Lines per cm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 82% | 655 mm/s | 140 |
- You'll see a few small flare-ups while it's engraving, which is normal for PU leather. Keep an eye on it and never leave it running on its own.
- Different colors of PU leather react differently. If you switch to a new color, run one test piece before you do a whole batch. I've seen people ruin a full set that way.
If you make these in batches, my PU Leather Keychain Engraving Jig holds them in place on the F2.
10. Cork
Cork is a great one for photos. Both of these are on the blue laser.
| Job | Power | Speed or dot duration | Lines per cm or DPI | Dither |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text and line art | 80% | 1750 mm/s | 110 lines per cm | |
| Photos | 30% | 60 µs | 350 DPI | Jarvis |
Cork burns very easily, so you need far less power than you'd think for photos. That low setting is what keeps all the detail in the fur on this golden retriever. Cork coasters are cheap, they look great, and people love them as gifts, so it's well worth having this one saved.
Bonus: 3D relief on wood
Instead of a normal photo, you use a depth map image, where the shades of gray tell the laser how deep to go. The laser takes the wood away a layer at a time, and you end up with something you can feel, not just see.
| Laser | Power | Dot duration (µs) | DPI | Dither |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | 80% | 185 | 700 | Atkinson |
I used the Bamboo Coaster material in xTool Studio. This cat took about an hour, so it isn't a quick one, but look at the depth on it. I have a full 3D relief tutorial if you want to see every step.
Get every setting free
You don't need to copy any of these down. They're all on my xTool F2 laser settings page, along with a lot more for the F2, and the full Laser Settings Library covers the other xTool machines too. It's free.
- Each setting shows the laser, the power, the speed and everything else you need.
- You can filter by material, so you find what you're after in a few seconds.
- If you've got a setting that works well for you, there's a form on there to send it in.
I've also made a full video on nearly every one of these, going through the whole thing step by step from setting up the job to the finished piece. They're all in one playlist, in the same order as this guide.
Got a question about any of these?
Put it in the comments on the video, and you know I reply to as many as I can. And if there's a material you'd like me to cover next on the F2, let me know there too.
