What is the effect of halftones when laser engraved?

Halftones are a collection of dots that represent an image or part of an image that is made of a continuous color. When produced in a particular size and spaced a specific distance from one another, these dots can create an optical illusion that a gradient or lighter tone of a color is represented in the image.

Halftones can be found in printing or engraving when the process in binary; either the print/engraving is produced, or it isn’t. Think of a laser. The laser can either be actively lasering or not at all. Black areas in a design will be lasered and white areas will be left bare. The first image below is a typical production-ready halftone, and the second image represents the lasered result of that image.

A typical production-ready halftone. (Images courtesy Shon Roti)

The lasered result of the halftone image.

—9th Street Designs