LaserCanvas
Cutting, engraving and scoring: the three operations
Cutting goes all the way through. Scoring is a single pass at low power that marks a line without severing it. Engraving rasters back and forth to remove a shallow area. They differ in power, speed and — crucially — whether the toolpath follows an outline or fills a region.
The three, side by side
| Operation | Path | Typical power | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut | Follows the outline | High, slow, often multiple passes | The part falls out |
| Score | Follows the outline | Low, fast, one pass | A visible line; material stays in one piece |
| Engrave | Rasters side to side, filling | Low, fast, one pass | A shallow recessed area |
The first distinction people miss is that scoring and engraving are not the same thing at different strengths. A score follows your line; an engrave fills the shape your line encloses. Draw a circle, score it and you get a ring. Engrave it and you get a filled disc.
Order matters, and it is not the order you drew them in
Run engraving and scoring before cutting. Once a part has been cut free it is no longer held in place — it can shift, tip into the honeycomb, or be nudged by air assist. Anything you then try to engrave on it lands in the wrong place or on the bed.
- Engrave — the part is still held by the surrounding sheet.
- Score — fold lines, registration marks, decorative detail.
- Cut inner holes — still supported by the outer material.
- Cut the outer outline last — the part is released only at the very end.
The inner-before-outer rule matters for the same reason at a smaller scale. Cut the outline of a washer first and the disc is loose while you try to cut its centre hole.
Scoring is underrated
A score line is the cheapest detail in laser work. It takes a fraction of the time an engrave does and adds structure that cutting cannot:
- Fold lines in card and thin leather — score one side and the material bends cleanly along it.
- Registration marks for aligning a second pass or a two-sided job.
- Outlines around engraved areas, which sharpens an edge that rastering alone leaves fuzzy.
- Line art, where an engraved fill would take twenty times as long for a worse result.
Why engraving takes so much longer
A cut traverses the outline once. An engrave sweeps the head across the whole area, line by line, at an interval typically between 0.05 and 0.2 mm. A 100 × 100 mm filled square at 0.1 mm interval is a thousand passes of 100 mm — a hundred metres of travel for one square.
- Line interval is the main lever. Doubling it halves the time and coarsens the finish.
- Engrave only what needs it. Outlined text scores in seconds; filled text takes minutes.
- Angle matters on wood — engraving across the grain rather than along it gives a more even tone.
Common questions
What is the difference between scoring and engraving?
Scoring follows your drawn line and marks it; engraving fills the area the line encloses by rastering back and forth. A scored circle is a ring, an engraved circle is a filled disc. They also differ hugely in time — a score is one pass along a path, an engrave is hundreds of passes across an area.
Why did my engraving land in the wrong place?
Usually because it ran after the cut. Once a part is cut free it can shift or drop, so anything engraved afterwards misses. Put engrave and score layers before cut layers, and cut inner holes before outer outlines.
Can I cut and engrave in the same job?
Yes, and you should — but as separate layers with their own settings, ordered engrave, score, then cut. One set of power and speed values cannot serve both, because an engrave that used cutting power would burn straight through.
Should I engrave with more passes or more power?
Neither, usually. Engraving depth is mostly controlled by speed and line interval. Extra power tends to widen and darken rather than deepen, and extra passes on a raster fill often produce a blotchy surface because each pass lands slightly differently.