About plastic substrates

Plastic engraving has changed significantly over the last few years. Before lasers came into use, plastics manufacturers designed their materials for rotary engraving systems (mechanical engravers), which used rotating cutters to remove the top layer of material. The thickness of the top layer, or "cap layer", was therefore chosen to make mechanical engraving easier.

The cap layer was about 0.010 in (0.25 mm) thick, and laser engraving was almost impossible, because the laser power needed to cut through it melted and distorted the plastic.
Plastics manufacturers have since developed a wide range of plastics with a thin top layer of 0.002–0.003 in (0.05–0.08 mm) and much better engraving properties. These are also called microlaminates, or simply laser-engravable plastics.

With so many different plastics available, always run tests to check whether a given type is suitable for laser processing. As a rule, the specification for a two-ply plastic states how it should be engraved. Plastics of different colours, even from the same manufacturer, may need different speed and power settings.

Use the recommendations in this guide as a starting point for finding the right speed and power settings. If the recommended speed and power give unsatisfactory results, start by adjusting the power. If that does not help, start again and adjust only the speed. Once you get a satisfactory result, save the settings for that type of plastic so that you do not have to repeat the process.