Typically, you'll find the laser engravers we've put together in our buyer's guide in use in artisan workshops. Many of the laser engravers you'll see here are used to produce items you might see for sale on sites like Etsy. Laser engraving helps add a higher level of customization or personalization to products, as well as the ability to create more precise and harder-to-move patterns on materials.
Whether it's jewelry, signs, wallets or purses, and more, extremely creative and talented individuals use laser engraving to create fun and exciting objects around the world.
Laser engraving machine software
When it comes to laser engraving software, you may need two pieces of software - one for the design and one to control the laser engraver itself. Both have many options for you to choose from, but we've picked out some of our favorites here for a more detailed look.
Laser GRBL
According to its website, LaserGRBL is a free laser control software with over 60,000 users worldwide. It is fully compatible with the open source GRBL motion control firmware for CNC and laser engraving.
It's a relatively simple tool and it's easy to recommend because it's easy to use and free, which means you don't have to struggle and pay to learn the ropes. While this may be a good starting point, once you learn more about laser engraving, you may feel the need to move on to something else.
Light Burn
LightBurn has a huge fan base who often point in the direction you should seek to upgrade from free software to paid software. LightBurn itself actually mixes some design and control in its functionality, making it a very versatile tool.
At $40, it's affordable and offers a lot of benefits for its price point, giving you a greater degree of control and flexibility with laser control options.
