Neural Relief

Deterministic, Nano Pro, and HiTem3D relief for laser carving.

Neural Relief converts a photo or line drawing into a 16-bit grayscale height map through three explicit routes. Free Metal, Dome, Tonal, and Plate modes use Reticle Red's deterministic relief engine and resolve the full 65,536-level range. AI Sculpt Fast uses Nano Pro Edit for a generated sculpt in about a minute; AI Sculpt HD uses the purpose-built HiTem3D relief model on a 5–11 minute queue. AI provider images carry roughly 256 source levels that we normalize into a 16-bit container, while the deterministic engine computes in floating point before its final 16-bit quantization. White pixels = highest peaks. Black pixels = floor (zero engraving depth).

Operating Steps

Step 1: Upload Source Art

Drop or click to upload a photo or line drawing. Portraits, sculptures, leather-tooling references, logos, and ornament all work. Paid AI Sculpt routes automatically prepare small inputs at a 2048px working edge before generation.

Step 2: (Optional) Isolate Subject — 1 CR

If your photo has a busy background, click 'Isolate Subject' first. It removes everything except the main subject and makes the background pure black, which the laser will read as the material floor (zero Z-depth). This produces cleaner relief edges around the subject.

Step 3: Choose a Relief Engine & Execute

Metal, Dome, Tonal, and Plate are free deterministic modes that resolve the full 65,536-level range. AI Sculpt costs 6 CR and usually takes about a minute; HD Relief is a queued 6 CR job that usually takes 5–11 minutes. The live button shows the charge before you run, and paid AI results are saved to your Armory.

Step 4: Tune in the Depth Calibration Panel

Once the scan completes, the Depth Calibration panel appears. Use the histogram and Surface Detail Restoration slider to shape the map. See the 'Depth Map Mastery' section for full details on what every control does.

Step 5: Preview in 3D & Download

Toggle the 2D/3D view buttons. The 3D preview shows the actual displaced geometry — useful for confirming relief before downloading. Export as PNG and import into LightBurn or your CAM software in Grayscale 3D Slice mode.

Tactical Tip

Start with a free deterministic mode when the source already encodes shape through clean lines or grayscale tone. Choose AI Sculpt Fast for iteration and HiTem3D HD for the final relief; if fine source texture is getting flattened, use Surface Detail Restoration at 30–60% and watch the histogram spread.

Material Recommendations

Basswood / Pine — Best general-purpose 2.5D substrate. Low power, multi-pass at 254–300 DPI.
Slate tile — Excellent contrast. Use slow speed and a defocused beam for grayscale depth.
Leather — 100W CO2 at low power produces beautiful soft relief. Avoid edge ramp here.

Before a production run

Save the source file before changing geometry or parameters, confirm the final physical dimensions, and inspect the smallest details at the intended output size. Use matching scrap to test focus, speed, power, frequency, and layer order. Record the settings that worked with the material and machine so the next job starts from a verified result.

Open Neural Relief Tool Workspace