# Grayscale laser engraving: newbie questions

**URL:** <https://forum.snapmaker.com/t/grayscale-laser-engraving-newbie-questions/20397>\
**Category:** Snapmaker 2.0 (3-in-1)\
**Created:** [August 12, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://forum.snapmaker.com/t/grayscale-laser-engraving-newbie-questions/20397 "2021-08-12T20:26:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ReedMikel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@ReedMikel](https://forum.snapmaker.com/u/ReedMikel)\
**Post date:** [August 12, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://forum.snapmaker.com/t/grayscale-laser-engraving-newbie-questions/20397/1 "2021-08-12T20:26:35Z")

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Using Luban with my SM2 A350 , I have some questions about how grayscale engraving works (in my case on some thin 1/4" cedar):

1. I assume one should **not** select “fixed power” for the toolpath properties of a grayscale image? I’m thinking that for grayscale, Luban will auto adjust the laser power for any given dot to match the darkness from the image? Or, does Luban use a constant laser power and instead vary the density (number) of dots to accomplish grayscale?

2. If Luban implements grayscale by using varying laser power (in the g-code), how does one tweak Luban for the particular material being engraved? e.g. oak wood require much more laser power than a soft wood like cedar. The only thing I’ve seen when editing a grayscale image toolpath is “fixed power” setting. So that makes me wonder if maybe we are supposed to use a fixed power setting - and set it lower for software woods, higher for harder woods? I guess “dwell time” would be another way to tweak the laser for different materials…

3. I did a quick look in the User Manual, but didn’t see anything that delved into these topics. Maybe it is documented somewhere?

TIA,

Mike

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**Author:** ![ReedMikel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@ReedMikel](https://forum.snapmaker.com/u/ReedMikel)\
**Post date:** [August 13, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://forum.snapmaker.com/t/grayscale-laser-engraving-newbie-questions/20397/2 "2021-08-13T12:13:46Z")

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I forgot this forum isn’t very active, so I’ll try posting this on Facebook…