Free tool from Arnold Prints
Depth Map Studio
Turn any image into a 16-bit depth map for deep laser engraving — challenge coins, medallions, dog tags, poker chips and wood relief. Built for 60W MOPA fiber lasers.
- 100% free
- No account
- Your images never leave your browser
- Runs in your browser
How it works
- Drop in an image. A grayscale relief render, a logo, or a photo.
- Pick your blank. Real stock sizes for challenge coins, poker chips and dog tags.
- Export. 16-bit PNG or TIFF master, 8-bit PNG/BMP, or stacked slice masks.
What it does that most tools don't
- Genuine 16-bit. The height map is a float buffer end to end. Bit depth is verified after encoding, not just claimed.
- Anti-band dithering. Depth banding on brass is a quantization artifact. Sub-step dither scatters the error and the terraces dissolve.
- Slice optimizer. Measures real error against the continuous relief and tells you the fewest passes you can safely run.
- Beam-spot check. Flags detail finer than your laser spot — the detail that silently vanishes.
- 3D preview. See the relief as brass, copper, steel, aluminum, zinc or titanium — raw or chemically blackened.
Questions
Does my image get uploaded anywhere?
No. Every step runs inside your browser. There is no server, no account and no upload — you can disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works.
Which lasers does this support?
It is tuned for 60W MOPA fiber — the xTool F2 Ultra and OMG/JPT machines — and also handles Q-switched fiber, CO2 and diode. The xTool F2 Ultra runs XCS only (xTool removed LightBurn support), so the tool switches to stacked slice masks for that machine automatically.
Is 16-bit actually better than 8-bit?
Where your software accepts it, yes — LightBurn 2.1.00+ does. An 8-bit image carries 256 threshold states, so passes beyond that re-use the same states. Where 16-bit isn't accepted, anti-band dithering closes most of the gap.
Will a grayscale value give me an exact depth in mm?
Not until you calibrate. Depth depends on your machine, lens, focus and the exact alloy. Every preset is a starting point, and the tool labels them as uncalibrated.
Is it really free?
Yes, and there's no export limit or watermark. We make engraved coins and medallions for a living — if you'd rather have them made, we're here.
Do you track anything?
Only an anonymous count of how many times the tool is opened and how many files are exported — so we can tell whether it's worth continuing to develop. No image data, no accounts, no identifiers, and nothing that could single you out.
Rather have them made?
We run these machines every day. Send us artwork and we'll quote engraved coins, medallions, dog tags and custom metal work.