Tone preparation

Clipping

Loss of detail when multiple tones are forced to the same maximum white or minimum black value.

By EngravePrep Editorial Team

In the workflow

Why Clipping matters

Clipped hair, clothing, or facial shadows become flat regions that no dither can reconstruct.

Practical check

How to evaluate it

Use a histogram or close visual inspection to find featureless white and black regions. Once important tones are clipped, changing the dither cannot reconstruct them.

Go deeper

A complete, machine-neutral workflow for choosing, cropping, tuning, dithering, sizing, inspecting, and testing a laser engraving photo.

Read the complete guide

Prepare the pixels

Use the terminology in a real photo workflow.

Crop, tune, size, dither, and export a one-bit PNG on iPhone or iPad. Test the result on scrap with your machine and material guidance.

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