Laser material test card

A grid of squares, each at its own speed and power, with the numbers marked on the card. Burn it on a scrap of your material and keep it: the square that looks right is your setting. Every square is its own colour, so Glowforge, LightBurn and xTool Studio each give it its own step.

Your laser and material

Laser Material Software

What to test

Lowest power % Highest power % Slowest speed Fastest speed Speed shown in Test Rows (speeds) Columns (powers) Square size Gap Passes per square Words on the card Cut a card outline (last)

Your card

Letters and numbers on the card: A–Z, 0–9 and . , / - + % '. Anything else is left off.

Settings chart

Set each colour's step to its speed and power. The steps are in the order to run them: the gentlest first.

How to use it

Pick your laser and material. Hamrun fills in a range around a published starting point (the same ones the editor uses), or a wide range when there isn't one.
Download the SVG and the chart. Open the SVG in your laser software: each colour shows up as its own step or layer.
Set each colour to the speed and power in the chart. On a Glowforge, set the labels to score and the outline to cut; on LightBurn or xTool Studio, set each layer's mode the same way.
Run it on scrap of the same material, and stay with the machine. For cuts, pick the fastest speed and lowest power that drops the square cleanly; for engraving, the best contrast without charred edges.

LightBurn and xTool Studio also have a built-in material test that sets every square for you. This card is for software that doesn't (Glowforge), or when you want the numbers burned into the card you keep.

Never put these on a laser

Running G-code instead?

For a GRBL or Marlin laser, the editor's Shop tools makes this grid as G-code with the speed and power already in it, and checks the file. Got G-code from somewhere else? Check it here.