Tone preparation

Gamma

A nonlinear tone adjustment that primarily moves midtones while affecting the endpoints less than a simple brightness change.

By EngravePrep Editorial Team

In the workflow

Why Gamma matters

Gamma is useful for opening a shadowed face or controlling middle values before the image is dithered.

Practical check

How to evaluate it

Compare gamma adjustments with brightness adjustments on the same crop. Gamma should mainly change the middle values while leaving the endpoints more stable.

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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