ForumRetinaEngrave 5: SubSurface EngravingMake 2D Images 3D Instantly with RE5

Make 2D Images 3D Instantly with RE5 📌 Sticky

1 post · started May 11, 2026 PDT
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FSL Admin
May 11, 2026 10:19 PM PDT
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Sub-surface engraving is one of the highest-margin jobs you can run on a laser — 3D photo-crystals, glass awards, glass cubes, layered acrylic — but the bottleneck has always been the asset prep. Turning a flat photo into a usable point cloud or depth map used to mean third-party tools, manual sculpting, and a lot of trial passes through the glass.

RE5 collapses all of that into a single click.

AI 2D-to-3D Depth Map Generation

Drop in a regular 2D photo — a portrait, a product shot, a pet picture — and RE5 generates a depth map automatically. The AI reads the image, estimates relative depth, and produces a grayscale heightmap that's ready to drive a 3D engrave job. No external software, no hand-painting layers.

AI 2D-to-3D Point Cloud Generator

For sub-surface work in glass and crystal, RE5 takes the same input and produces a 3D point cloud — the format the laser actually needs to fire bursts at specific X/Y/Z coordinates inside a transparent material. Point density is tunable per material so you can dial in detail vs. throughput without rebuilding the asset.

3D Point Cloud Depth Editor

Built-in editor lets you adjust depth ranges, push features forward or back, mask out areas, and re-export — all before sending the job. If a particular face needs more depth or the background needs to fade out, you do it in the same tool that drives the laser.

Why this is a big deal

Three things used to gate sub-surface work:

• Source files — most customers send you a photo, not a 3D model. RE5's AI removes that handoff.
• Conversion software — separate apps cost money, take time, and break workflow.
• Tuning — depth/density tweaks used to mean exporting again. The built-in editor lets you iterate live.

Applications

• 3D photo crystals and glass cubes — turn a customer's phone photo into a glass keepsake
• Layered acrylic awards with depth-modulated relief
• Decorative architectural glass with photographic relief
• Memorial and personalization markets (photos of loved ones, pets, weddings)

Try it now in RE5 — the AI generators are in the Design + Import workspace. Full feature reference: https://fslaser.com/software/

Share your first 3D conversion below — would love to see what people are running on this.