Studio Settings Reference

Lengths are listed in millimeters; the studio shows inches when Imperial is selected. Layered or Flat marks a control that appears for one output type only. Controls marked Regenerate need Regenerate terrain before export; all others update the preview on their own. Headings follow the panels in the studio's sidebar rail; Find a setting at the top of the sidebar jumps to any control by name. For how to use them, see the studio tour.

Project

The project name is in the top bar, and the output type sits just below it.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Project name	Up to 120 characters	Crater Lake	Also names exported files.
Output type	Layered, Flat	Layered

Place and size

The Place panel.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Location	Place search, coordinates, current location, surveyed lakes, example locations	Crater Lake, Oregon	Regenerate. Choosing a surveyed lake also selects Layered and turns on Water depth.
Map frame	Pan, zoom and drag handles on the Map preview; Lock aspect ratio		Regenerate when the area changes.
Units	Metric, Imperial	Metric	Display only. SVG files always use millimeters.
Crop shape	Rectangle, Circle	Rectangle	A circle uses the width as its diameter.
Width	Up to 10,000 mm	300 mm	Regenerate if the aspect ratio changes.
Height	Up to 10,000 mm	200 mm	Rectangle only. Regenerate if the aspect ratio changes.

Terrain layers / Contour design

The Terrain panel.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Vertical exaggeration	1–10×, in 0.1 steps	2×	Layered. Updates automatically and rounds to whole sheets, with a minimum of two and no upper layer cap. The studio shows the applied value.
Material thickness	0.5–25 mm	3 mm	Layered. With exaggeration, sets the layer count.
Contour lines	On, off	On	Flat. Off engraves only map details, water and marks.
Contour density	4–40 lines	12	Flat. Lines across the elevation range.
Index contour	Every 2–10 lines	5	Flat. Every nth line is drawn heavier.
Smooth contours	On, off	On	Rounds sharp corners on contour shapes.
Minor contours	0.05–1.5 mm	0.16 mm	Flat. Line width.
Index contours	0.05–1.5 mm	0.32 mm	Flat. Line width.

Map features

The Features panel. Its line weight presets, Fine, Balanced (default) and Bold, set every line width in the project, including those in other panels. Widths in this guide are the Balanced values; each ranges from 0.05 to 1.5 mm. A feature's width and style settings appear under its switch when it is on.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Roads	On, off	On
Major roads	0.05–1.5 mm	0.38 mm	Line width.
Local roads	0.05–1.5 mm	0.26 mm	Line width.
Road appearance	Centerline, Outlined	Centerline	Applies to major roads.
Outline spacing	0.2–4 mm	0.8 mm	Outlined roads only.
Road ends	Round, Square	Round
Trails	On, off	On
Trail width	0.05–1.5 mm	0.22 mm
Trail pattern	Solid, Dashed, Dotted	Dashed
Transportation labels	On, off	Off	Road and trail names.
State / province boundaries	On, off	Off
Boundary width	0.05–1.5 mm	0.24 mm
Latitude / longitude grid	On, off	Off
Grid width	0.05–1.5 mm	0.16 mm
Engraved border	On, off	On	Flat.
Border width	0.05–1.5 mm	0.34 mm	Flat.

Water

The Water panel.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Water outlines	On, off	On
Water width	0.05–1.5 mm	0.3 mm	Line width.
Water fill	None, Lines, Ripples, Dots	None	Flat, with water outlines on.
Water depth	On, off	On	Layered. Carves lake and sea floors into the stack.
Depth exaggeration	0.25–4×, in 0.05 steps	1×	Layered, with water depth on. Relative to the terrain's vertical scale.
Limit depth layers	On, off	Off (automatic)	Layered. Automatic coverage adds depth sheets without compressing land relief.
Maximum depth layers	Positive whole number	Current required depth sheets when enabled	Layered. Explicit allowance below the lowest land; saved with the project.
Fit lake depth to available layers	On, off	Off	Layered. With an explicit depth-layer limit, compresses over-deep lakes into the allowance instead of flattening their floors.
Maximum depth	Per lake, from 1 m	Published estimate	Layered. Shown for modeled lakes with a depth estimate. Reset restores estimates.
Acrylic water inserts	On, off	Off	Layered, with Water depth on. Cuts each lake's shoreline out of the sheet that carries its waterline and exports a fitted acrylic insert for it, as separate acrylic files with their own sheet layout. The sheet below gets a 2 mm ledge for the insert to rest on, and map detail over the water is engraved on the acrylic. Lakes on the bottom sheet, and arms narrower than 3 mm, stay wood. Each lake can be switched back to wood in the list below the switch.
Acrylic thickness	0.5–25 mm	Material thickness	With acrylic inserts. Thinner than the wood sits just below the shore; thicker stands proud of it, with a warning.
Acrylic kerf	0–1 mm	Laser kerf	With acrylic inserts. Full kerf width in acrylic; half is applied to each side of an insert's cut.
Fit clearance	0–0.5 mm	0.1 mm	With acrylic inserts. Gap left between each insert and its wood opening on every side, so it drops in without forcing.
Water paint templates	On, off	Off	Layered. Adds a paper stencil SVG beside each panel with visible water, cut to the piece outline with windows over the water that stays visible after assembly, so you can spray paint it without colouring the land. Needs water outlines, which are fetched even with Water outlines and Water depth off. See water paint templates.

Aviation (US)

The Aviation panel. FAA data covers the United States and its territories, and is decorative only: not for navigation.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Class B, C and D airspace, Special use airspace, Runways, Airports, Navaids, Obstacles	On, off	Off	Each its own switch.
Identifiers and airspace altitudes	On, off	Off
Airspace and runways	0.05–1.5 mm	0.24 mm	Line width, shown once any aviation detail is on.
Symbol size	1.5–8 mm	3.2 mm	Shown once any aviation detail is on.

Airspace in 3D

Available with Layered output in the Aviation panel, under Airspace in acrylic. Airspace is separate from the engraved aviation map details. Follow the design guide and assembly guide for the full workflow.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Airspace in 3D	On, off	Off	Builds FAA acrylic airspace above the terrain; requests its data when enabled.
Build as	Layered, Solid	Layered	Acrylic only where airspace starts or ends, or sheets filling the volume.
Each level	Whole slice, Shelves only	Whole slice	Layered. A piece cut to all the airspace at that height, or only the shelves that start or end there.
Acrylic	Clear, Chart colors	Clear	Clear pieces engraved in the chart's line styles, or blue and magenta acrylic after the sectional.
Class B, Class C, Special use, Class D	On, off	B, C and special use on; D off	At least one stays selected. Class D builds flat lids. FAA coverage only.
Ceiling cap	1,000–60,000 ft MSL, or automatic	Highest selected B/C ceiling; otherwise 10,000 ft	Limits the representation, including unlimited sectors. It is an absolute altitude, not height above the airport.
Acrylic thickness	1–10 mm	Material thickness	Sets airspace stock thickness and available space between levels.
Acrylic kerf	0–1 mm	Laser kerf	Separate compensation for acrylic cuts.
Rod shape	Round, Square	Round	Choose the actual support stock.
Rods meet pieces	Glued segments, Through holes	Glued segments	Through rods carry pieces on holes; additional short segments may still be needed.
Rod diameter / Rod width	2–12 mm	4 mm	Changes socket geometry and support placement.
Socket clearance	0–0.5 mm	0.1 mm	Fit allowance for the rod. Test against your stock and laser kerf.
Socket depth	1–30 mm	6 mm	Terrain seat depth; a backing sheet may be required.

Airspace uses Vertical exaggeration from the terrain settings. Changes rebuild the preview; changing the map area requires fresh terrain generation. The settings summary reports the generated pieces, levels, height and rods.

Labels and marks

The Labels panel.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Engraving font	Technical, Rounded, Stencil	Technical	Used by every label unless the title picks its own font.
Text size	2–10 mm	3.1 mm	Capital-letter height.
Label and guide lines	0.05–1.5 mm	0.2 mm	Line width for text, north arrow, markers and assembly guides.
Elevation labels	On, off	On
Label X, Label Y	−90 to 90%	−55%, 55%	Preferred position from the center.
North arrow	On, off	On
Compass design	Minimal, Classic, Mariner	Classic
Diameter	12 mm to a limit set by the artwork size	24 mm
Placement	Anywhere inside the material	Bottom right	Move on preview, then drag or use the arrow keys, and choose Done. The corner handle or + and − resize it there. Reset position returns to the default.
Scale bar	On, off	On	Length follows the map scale.
Scale bar placement	Anywhere inside the material	Near the top-left edge	Move on preview, like the north arrow.
Title	On, off	Off	Up to 3 lines of 40 characters, engraved in capitals. Starts from the project name.
Title letter height	3–30 mm	6 mm	The title font defaults to the engraving font.
Title placement	Anywhere inside the material	Bottom left	Move on preview, like the north arrow. Lines align toward the nearest edge.

Fabrication

The Fabricate panel.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Laser kerf	0–1 mm	0.15 mm	Layered. Full kerf width; half is applied to each side of a cut.
Minimum feature	0.2–5 mm	0.8 mm	Pieces, holes, and short lines smaller than this are removed. Contour detail stays the same at any setting, so raising it clears specks without coarsening the outlines that remain.
Work area width, Work area height	0 or 20 mm and up	0 (off)	Layered. Your laser bed. Layers larger than it are split into tiles that fit; 0 leaves that axis unlimited. See split large maps.
Assembly guides	On, off	On	Layered. Alignment outlines and layer numbers.

Panels and seams (export dialog)

In the export dialog, above Sheet layout. The seam controls appear once the work area splits a layer.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Material-saving nests	On, off	On	Layered. Cuts upper layers from covered parts of lower sheets.
Glue margin	2–25 mm	8 mm	Layered, with nests on. Covered glue area kept around nested pieces.
Puzzle seam tabs	On, off	On	Layered, when split. Cuts covered seams as interlocking tabs so each piece only fits its neighbour.
Assembly labels	On, off	On	Layered, when split. Engraves each piece's id, such as `L03-B2`, where the next layer hides it.
Seam offset	0–50 mm	10 mm	Layered, when split. How far seams shift between alternating layers, so no seam sits over another.

Custom data

In the Custom data view. See bring your own data for how the sections fit together.

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Markers	Up to 250; Pin, Circle, Triangle, Star, Cross	None	Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees; Size 1–200 mm (default 8 mm), shown in the selected units.
Paths	Up to 250; Trail or Boundary; 2–2,000 points each, 10,000 in total	None	Engraved even when built-in trails or boundaries are off.
Marker icons	Up to 24 SVGs, 1 MB each; Base or Center anchor	None	Simplified to 800 points each.
Graphics	Up to 24 in the library, 50 placed; Engrave, Score or Cut; 3 mm up to the piece's shorter side	None	SVG up to 1 MB, simplified to 3,000 points. See custom graphics.
Import	GPX, KML or GeoJSON, up to 20 MB	None	Adds markers, trails and boundaries in one undo step.
Depth chart units	Feet, Metres, Fathoms	Feet	Layered. PNG, JPEG, WebP or PDF. See trace a depth chart.
The chart prints	Depth below the surface, Height above a datum	Depth below the surface	Layered. Heights also need the water's surface level.
Path type and interior	Outer shoreline, island boundary, or depth contour; deeper or shallower interior	Depth contour, deeper	Layered. Assign each contour its printed value. An optional innermost bottom or summit value replaces the default flat interior; no uniform interval is required.
Depth points	3 or more, on different contours	None	Layered. Required for raster preparation; native PDF style selection can prepare without marks. Every included path still needs a confirmed value.
Contour review	Confirm, correct, join, close, redraw, exclude; undo/redo	Unreviewed	Layered. A source shoreline and valid closed, noncrossing depth contours are required.
Chart alignment	4–64 distributed WGS84 control points	None	Layered. Enter longitude/latitude and confirm the source overlay before generation.
Layer review	Explicit confirmation	Unchecked	Layered. Required to keep the generated chart. Edits invalidate approval.

Preview

Control	Range or options	Default	Notes
Preview mode	Map, Cut layers, 3D stack (layered); Map, Engraving (flat)	3D stack	Does not affect exports.
Cut material	Terrain sheets, Airspace acrylic	Terrain sheets	Cut layers only, when airspace levels exist. Select acrylic, then use the level slider to inspect its pieces and altitude.
Layer	Any generated layer		Layered. Selects the sheet shown in Cut layers.
Stack–Exploded	0–1	0.35	Layered, 3D stack only.

See export files for what each download contains and troubleshooting for warnings and blocked exports.

Studio settings reference