From relief to finished piece.
Depth2Beam is organized around three named workflows. Coin Depth Maps is self-contained — prompt to coin export, nothing else. Stacked Layers and Layered Relief share the same relief-building setup below and only diverge at the export step, so there's no separate pipeline to learn for one versus the other.
Workflow: Coin Depth Maps
The most locked-down of the three workflows, on purpose — it only accepts prompt-generated artwork and only exports a coin-format depth map. There's no upload step and nowhere for a real photo to go.
Choose the Coin Depth Maps workflow
Pick it from the workflow picker at the top of the console. Selecting it hides Auto Prep's upload card entirely — there's nothing to load, only something to describe.
Describe the design in the Relief Generator
Write a prompt the same way you would anywhere else in Depth2Beam. Trying to drop a file onto the console instead is blocked with a message pointing you back here — this workflow never accepts an uploaded image, real photo or otherwise.
Generate
The result is automatically cropped to a round coin composition and the Export tab's Coin export card is the only export option shown — Stacked Layers and Layered Relief exports are hidden, since this workflow doesn't produce a fabrication-ready panel for either of those paths.
Not happy with it? Re-roll
Regenerate from the same prompt for a new seed, or adjust the prompt and try again — each generation re-applies the coin crop automatically.
Export the coin depth map
Download the coin-cropped height map straight from the Export tab. There's nothing further to configure — Coin Depth Maps is intentionally a narrower, simpler path than Stacked Layers or Layered Relief.
Do this once, no matter which of these two paths you're taking.
Both workflows below pick up from here — the relief itself doesn't know or care yet which export you're headed toward. (Coin Depth Maps, above, doesn't use this setup at all.)
Load or generate a source
Drop in a logo or artwork file — or, with no source image at all, open the Relief Generator and describe a subject to generate one from a text prompt. A real photo or portrait upload is detected and blocked with a message rather than run through the wrong math.
Pick a relief engine
Auto Prep will steer you toward Shape or Blend based on whether your artwork is Logo/Crest or Mixed — a real photo or portrait upload is detected and blocked instead, with a link to the Relief Generator. Skip straight to Manual Workflow if you'd rather choose the engine yourself.
Sculpt the relief
Tune Detail Strength and Denoise, paint-mask the subject if needed, and choose Raised or Intaglio. Get the relief looking right in preview before moving on — both fabrication exports are built from whatever the relief looks like at this point.
Crop to a panel shape (optional)
Crop to a coin, coaster, or custom panel preset and add a rim or bezel now if you want one, then open the Export tab.
Workflow: Stacked Layers
Posterizes the relief into separate cut-layers that you cut individually and physically stack. Depth comes from real material thickness, not a laser burning into one piece.
Set Layer Count (3–8)
More layers means finer depth resolution, but also more individual pieces to cut and stack by hand. Start around 5 and adjust from there.
Choose Cumulative or Discrete
Cumulative is what you want for an actual physical stack — each layer nests inside the one below it. Discrete isolates a single ring at a time, useful only for inspecting one band before committing.
Set Min. Island Size
Filters out cut fragments too small to physically handle, so the export doesn't hand you a sliver you can't place by hand.
Set Kerf Compensation
Enter your laser and material's known kerf width (commonly 0.1–0.3mm). This grows each layer's cut path outward — and shrinks interior holes — so the material your beam actually removes doesn't leave the finished stack undersized. Leave at 0 to cut exactly on the traced line.
Leave Registration Marks on
Adds alignment ticks to every layer so the stack goes together unambiguously when you're gluing or pinning it by hand.
Preview before you cut anything
Switch the 3D viewport to Preview Stacked Layers to see the assembled result as a stepped/terraced solid — exactly what the physical stack will look like — before spending any material.
Export Stacked Layers (.zip)
You get one SVG and one DXF per layer, labeled L1 of N through LN of N (L1 = base), sized to your panel's real physical dimensions. Cut each from plywood, cardstock, or acrylic — whichever your material choice — and stack them in order.
Workflow: Layered Relief
Posterizes the same relief into depth bands baked into one LightBurn project, engraved into a single piece of material in successive passes — no cutting or physical stacking involved.
Set Depth Layer Count (3–8)
This is independent from the Stacked Layers layer count above — you can run a 5-band engrave and a totally different 8-band physical stack from the same relief.
Choose Laser Type, Wattage, and Material
Pick CO₂, Diode, or Fiber, enter your machine's wattage, and choose a material — depth-engraving materials like solid wood, plywood/MDF, cast PMMA acrylic, or laser-safe leather, or a surface-marking material like anodized aluminum, coated metal, ceramic tile, slate, or a certified laminate/polymer.
Apply Auto Layer Profile
Generates conservative starting power, speed, and pass values for every depth band, scaled to your laser, wattage, material, and depth. These are starting values, not guaranteed production settings.
Review and tune each layer
Walk through the per-layer grid and adjust power, speed, passes, and interval by hand where the auto profile needs correcting for your specific setup.
Export Layered LightBurn (.lbrn2) or Layered SVG
The .lbrn2 opens directly in LightBurn with every depth band as its own non-overlapping image layer. Prefer editable vectors instead? Layered SVG gives you one color per discrete depth band to bring into other software.
Test before the real job
This workflow is still in beta — review every layer's settings in LightBurn and run a material test piece before committing to a finished piece. The downloadable Layered Engraving Guide (PDF) covers material modes, calibration, and a full safety checklist.
Ready to try it on your own relief?
Pick your workflow at the top of the console — Coin Depth Maps is ready the moment you have a prompt; Stacked Layers and Layered Relief are waiting in the Export tab as soon as you've sculpted a relief.
Launch Depth2Beam →