From flat image to 3D relief carving
Depth Studio converts photos, logos, or AI-generated art into grayscale height fields built for deep engraving: a free deterministic engine for clean geometric relief, plus an AI depth engine for organic sculpted looks. Preview the carve in 3D before you burn, then export a 16-bit grayscale PNG for LightBurn or CAM.
By Scott Bedow, Founder & Lead Developer · Published August 3, 2026
Manufacturing manager who runs CO2, diode and MOPA fiber lasers; builds and maintains every Reticle Red tool.
Method — Compared on publicly documented feature availability as of the stated date. Reticle Red is our own product — read the competing claims at the source, which each row links.
Deterministic engine resolves the full 65,536 levels — no banding in deep relief
Live 3D preview before you commit to a burn
Free deterministic engine plus AI depth generation
Open Depth Studio Read Depth Map Mastery →
Frequently asked questions
Why does 16-bit matter for relief?
An 8-bit depth map only has 256 height steps, which shows as visible terracing in deep carves. 16-bit gives 65,536 steps, so gradients stay smooth across the full carve depth.
Which engine actually resolves all 65,536 levels?
The deterministic engine. It accumulates height in floating point and quantises once into a real 16-bit PNG, so a deep carve gets the full level budget. The AI depth route is different and we would rather say so: the depth models we call return an 8-bit payload, which we normalise across the full 16-bit range. The container is 16-bit either way, but the deterministic path is the one carrying 16-bit worth of distinct heights. If you are chasing the smoothest possible deep carve, start there — it is also the free one.
How is this different from a free browser-based depth map generator?
Reticle Red offers three deliberate production routes instead of a generic scene-depth estimate: a deterministic 65,536-level engine for exact geometry, Nano Pro Edit for fast generated sculpting, and queued HiTem3D for the final purpose-built relief. It also adds a 3D preview, depth calibration and tuning panels, a settings card, physical-size PNG metadata, Armory recovery, and handoff into Coin Designer, Crystal Fabricator, LightBurn, or EZCAD. We have not run a controlled output comparison against every competing tool, so this is a description of scope, not an unsupported quality claim.
What machines can use the output?
Any workflow that accepts grayscale depth maps: CO2 and fiber lasers running multi-pass deep engrave modes, and CNC routers via CAM software that converts height fields to toolpaths.
Production checks before you export
Use the workflow on a representative sample before committing customer material. Confirm the finished dimensions, smallest line weight, layer assignments, focus, and machine parameters in the software that will run the job. A short test on matching scrap catches scale, contrast, kerf, and material-finish differences while they are still inexpensive to correct.
Related guides
Customer quotes
Named Reticle Red customers, quoted from their own public posts with permission. They describe the platform as a whole, not one tool, and they are not ratings.
“I love this software!”
“This is the easiest I have seen.”
“Reticle Red is becoming one of my favorite software to use. It has a lot of tools that many others do not, and approaches things differently to create more consistent results. A++”
“Reticle Red definitely takes the guess work out of your design work with tutorials to walk through the process. I highly recommend it.”
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