BusiEngrave

Step 1Open the tool. There is nothing to install, and it keeps working without internet.

Step 2Pick the plate. Engraving laminate has two layers: the text colour is the core that appears where the tip removes the top layer, so you choose a combination and not a colour. Set the size, the corner radius and the mounting holes here.

Step 3Type your text, one line per line. Letter height is the height of a capital, as measured on a finished plate, and every line lands on the plate itself so you see exactly where it ends up.

Step 4Pick the tip width AND the tip angle. A V cutter is a cone, so the groove gets wider the deeper you go: tip + 2 x depth x tan(half the angle). Only looking at the tip is what makes fine letters fill in.

Step 5The green range is the depth that works: deep enough for the core colour, shallow enough that the letters stay open. If there is no range at all, that combination cannot be engraved and you need a sharper cutter or larger letters. The thinnest stroke is measured from your actual letters, not estimated.

Step 6Read the check. It measures the thinnest line of your letters at the real size and tells you whether the chosen tool can do it, before you order.

Step 7The price works itself out while you design. You can change the rates yourself.

Step 8Download the engraving-ready PDF at exact size. The plate outline and the holes are red, the engraving is blue: that is how the machine tells cutting from engraving.

Step 9Pro members unlock the tool once through the shop. After that it works offline too.

Step 10Done, or something went wrong? Open the dashboard and start over with a clean sheet.