Frequently Asked Questions

DithX was created out of frustration with how difficult it is for beginners to find clear, reliable information about laser engraving. When I started over five years ago, I discovered that every forum, group, and video gave different advice, and it was almost impossible to know where to begin. That experience inspired me to build something better.

I spent more than 3.5 years developing DithX as a free, non-profit web application designed to genuinely help new and experienced laser users. No paywalls, no tricks, no upsells - just a clear, accessible tool that makes image preparation easier for everyone.

Thanks to the unconditional support of my official sponsor Opt Lasers, who cover the server costs, DithX could launch in December 2025 and remain completely free. Every license currently runs until 2050, and even after that, DithX will stay free; the date will simply be renewed with a single update.

DithX exists to give people a real helping hand - not to send them in circles or tell them to "just search YouTube." It is built from experience, from passion, and from the desire to make laser engraving easier for everyone.

I hope my enthusiasm inspires others to help each other as well - to share knowledge, lift each other up, and make the laser community a better place. If you want to support that spirit, feel free to share your work (including your settings) in the DithX Facebook group so we can all learn and grow together.

DithX is a free online platform for preparing photos for laser engraving, available at dithx.optlasers.com. It runs entirely in your browser and offers 27 high-quality dithering algorithms along with intuitive tuning tools. This makes it easy to turn any photo into a clean, engraving-ready result without installing software, creating an account, or paying for access.

For most images, Floyd-Steinberg is a reliable starting point because it delivers balanced, natural-looking results on a wide range of materials. If you are engraving on very smooth surfaces, algorithms like Jarvis or Sierra often produce softer gradients. For materials with more texture, Blue Noise or Stucki can give better detail and contrast. You can switch between algorithms at any time to see which one fits your image and material best.

Engravings often appear too dark because the laser produces more heat than the material can handle, causing dot gain and heat spread. Reducing the power, increasing the speed, or both, usually helps create a lighter and cleaner result. Applying a bit of gamma correction before dithering - often around 2.2 for photos - can also brighten midtones and prevent the engraving from becoming overly dark.

Engravings often appear too light when the image does not have enough contrast or when the laser moves too quickly to deliver sufficient energy. Increasing the contrast in your source photo can help the details stand out more clearly. You can also reduce the engraving speed slightly to allow the laser to deposit more heat. If you prefer to adjust through dithering, algorithms like Stucki or Burkes tend to preserve mid-tones more strongly, which can produce a richer result on many materials.

The most reliable way to find the ideal focus height is to perform a ramp test. This test shows you exactly where the laser produces the sharpest and thinnest line. Once you identify that point, measure the distance and use it as your working focus height. Every laser module has its own optimal focus distance, so using the measured value from your ramp test ensures the best possible detail and consistency.

Set offset correctly in LightBurn so each scan line starts and stops at the correct moment. This keeps line timing aligned and helps produce much sharper engravings with cleaner edges.

Yes. DithX works with LightBurn and with all common diode and CO2 laser systems. When you prepare an image in DithX and the dithering is already applied, set the image mode in LightBurn to Passthrough. This prevents LightBurn from dithering the image a second time, which would otherwise cause double dithering and reduce the overall engraving quality.

You can learn DithX more quickly through clear, step-by-step video tutorials. The official walkthroughs, tips, and engraving examples are available on the DithX YouTube channel at youtube.com/@DithX-youtube. New videos are added regularly to help you improve your results and understand the tools more efficiently.

DithX temporarily stores your image only while you are working on it, so the tool can process your adjustments. As soon as you download the result, the file is automatically removed from the server within a few minutes. Nothing is saved, nothing is logged, and no images are kept after your session ends.

Yes. We ask users to register, but not to collect personal data or track behavior. Registration exists purely to keep the platform safe and to prevent misuse or automated attacks. DithX is a non-profit project, and all information is handled with care and used only for protecting the service. Your account simply ensures that the platform remains secure, stable, and accessible for everyone.

No. DithX has absolutely no usage limits. Unlike many other platforms, everything is fully open and available without restrictions. The project is built around an open community mindset, where users can prepare their photos, puzzles, slicer files, or contour traces freely and without worrying about credits, caps, or hidden limits. DithX is 100% free to use, and every feature remains accessible for everyone.

DithX works with every common laser type and brand. All diode, CO2, fiber, UV and galvo systems can use images prepared in DithX without any special requirements. As long as your machine can engrave a standard bitmap image, it is fully compatible. This includes all well-known hobby, professional and industrial brands. The exported file you receive is always a PNG, and for tools like Puzzle or Contour Trace an SVG, so every laser software can handle it without issues.

DithX supports all common image formats used in laser engraving. You can upload JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, and GIF files without any issues. These formats are fully compatible with the DithX processing engine and work smoothly across all tools in the platform.

The ideal DPI depends on your laser's spot size and the physical size of your engraving. As a general guideline, many diode and CO2 users get excellent results around 254 DPI when the engraving is larger than roughly 200 mm in one direction. On your Opt Lasers XT-50, this produces very clean detail because the spot size matches that density well.

For smaller engravings below 200 mm, a higher DPI such as 318 or even 423 can work better, since the laser places the dots closer together and preserves more fine detail. The right value always depends on your laser module, lens, and spot size, so it is something you should test on your own machine to find the perfect balance between detail and smoothness.

Banding can appear for many different reasons, and it usually comes from small mechanical or optical issues in the laser setup. Tight belts, worn rollers or bearings, incorrect focus height, wrong offset calibration, or even poor lubrication can all introduce tiny movements that show up as visible stripes. Using a light machine oil - such as sewing-machine oil - helps the system run smoothly at higher speeds.

There is no single cause that applies to every machine. Everything in your setup needs to be correctly aligned and tuned from A to Z before you achieve perfectly smooth results. Finding that sweet spot takes testing and experience, but once your entire system is dialed in, banding almost always disappears.

No. DithX is a web application, but it cannot run properly on phones or tablets. The tools rely heavily on CPU and GPU processing power, and several features use AI components that mobile devices cannot handle reliably. For stable performance and correct results, DithX requires a desktop or laptop environment.

No. DithX is a web application and requires an active internet connection. The processing power needed for the tools comes from our server, so the application cannot run offline. All calculations, including the AI-based features, depend on this server-side performance to ensure speed, accuracy, and stable results.