xTool Studio Update, March 2026: Text on a Path, Warp, AI Emboss and More

The xTool Studio updates in early 2026 added some features people had been asking for for a long time: text that follows a path, warped text, see-through images, settings that survive copy and paste, AI depth maps and a few more. In March 2026 I ran through my favorites on my F2 Ultra UV.

This is a guide to what those updates added and how to use each one. As far as I know, they all still work the same way today. For the features that have been added since, see my latest xTool Studio update guide.

Jump to: Attach text to path · Warp text · Image opacity · Copy settings between tabs · AI Emboss depth maps · Math in the size boxes · Halftone maker

1. Attach text to path

I had a coaster sitting centrally in my jig, so I knew exactly where it was, and I wanted text running around the outside edge. In the past you had to arch text by hand, and it was fiddly. Now you can put it on an exact path.

1. Draw your shape. I drew a circle, holding Shift so it stayed round, made it 90 mm and centered it on the coaster. I put it on a red layer so it was easy to see.
2. Type your text. Mine was "If this video is helpful, please subscribe".
3. Drag a box over both the text and the shape so they're both selected.
4. Right click anywhere on the workspace and choose Attach text to path.

The text now sits perfectly around the circle, and it works with any shape. Use the bounding box grips to reposition it, then nudge the font size up with the arrow at the top until the text goes all the way round. At size 32 mine was evenly spaced right around the circle.

2. Warp text

Before this, you were pretty much stuck with the font and the size. Now you can bend your text into a shape.

1. Type your text. I put "Chris from L3D" in the middle of the coaster on a blue layer, set to engrave.
2. Select it and click Warp in the top toolbar.
3. Pick a Style. There are lots of them. I used Flag for a wavy flag look.
4. Adjust the Warp value to make it more extreme, or take it below zero to bend the other way. You can also change the horizontal and vertical perspective and the direction.
5. Click Confirm.

Circular text round the edge and flag text in the middle. That's a really easy way to make a coaster look custom. If you'd like a jig to hold your blanks in the same spot every time like mine, you'll find them in my F1 Ultra, F2 Ultra and F2 Ultra UV jig collection.

3. Image opacity

People had been asking for this one for ages. I had a photo of a dog and a wallet with an unusual shape, and I wanted to cut the photo to follow the outline of the wallet. To do that you need to see through the photo to the item underneath, and you couldn't change opacity before.

1. Select your image and click Adjust.
2. At the bottom there's a new Opacity slider. Drag it down and the image becomes see-through.

Now you can position the photo where it looks good on the item and draw around the item at the same time. I used the vector pen tool to draw a quick, crude shape around the wallet, joined it at the top, then selected both the photo and the shape and chose Create mask, then Done. You end up with the photo cut to the shape of your item. Turn the opacity back up when you're finished.

4. Copy settings between tabs

In the past, if you copied a design from one tab to another, the settings you'd applied got lost and you had to set them up again. That's changed.

I had a blue paw print and an orange Love design on a bottle opener, each with its own settings from my color engraving tests. I selected them both, right clicked, chose Copy, opened a new tab and pasted them in. When I selected them in the new tab, their settings had come across too.

If you reuse designs on different blanks or in different projects, this saves you a lot of setting up.

5. AI Emboss: make depth maps inside Studio

If you've done coin embossing or 3D relief, you'll know you need a depth map: a shaded image that tells the software how deep to go. You used to have to make it in another program, save it and import it. Now you can do it all on the workspace.

1. On the right, change the processing mode to Embossment. You'll see the message saying embossing needs depth map images.
2. Import your photo. I used a picture of my dog Ted and roughly placed it on a brass coin.
3. Select the image and click AI Emboss in the top toolbar.

4. On the left, click Generate Emboss. It costs 6 credits, and the original image is replaced by the depth map.

This ties in nicely with opacity. Turn the opacity down to place it on the coin, right click to create a circular mask, adjust the image inside it and click Done. I also cut out the black background, then turned the opacity back up.

That's a full depth map of a photo, positioned and shaped, without leaving Studio. Click Preview at the bottom right to see how it will look. Since then, the November 2026 update has raised the depth map limit to 1,024 layers, which I cover in the latest update guide.

6. Math in the size and position boxes

I use CAD software for 3D design, and this has been in CAD for a long time, so I'm glad it's here. You've always been able to type a width, height or X and Y position at the top. Now you can type a sum into those boxes and Studio works it out.

• Width is 50 and you want 5 mm more? Type +5 and it becomes 55.
• Type 55/2 and it halves it.
• In the position boxes, 75+10 moves it to 85.

You might never need it, but it's handy for small, precise adjustments without having to remember the number you're aiming for.

7. Halftone maker

This is a new generator for creating halftone and dot work textures from your images, like a comic book style. You'll find it in the Generator section of the tools panel on the left.

1. Open Halftone maker, click Create New and import an image.
2. Use the sliders on the right to set things like the dot spacing.
3. Change the color with the color selector if you want.
4. Click Export and it goes onto your workspace, ready to use.

Personally I don't have a use for it yet, but it's good to know it's there.

Which one have you been waiting for?

For me it's attach text to path and the copy and paste settings. Let me know in the comments on the video which features you'll use. If you're setting up an engrave, my free Laser Settings Library has tested settings for xTool machines.