Laser Time EstimatorFREE
Estimate cut and engrave time from an SVG or manual measurements, plus electricity cost at your $/kWh rate.
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is the estimate?
Expect ±20% for cut time and ±30% for engrave time. The calculator models cut path length ÷ speed + engrave area ÷ (speed × line interval) + a traversal overhead percentage. It does not simulate acceleration, which dominates on short segments and tight geometry. For production pricing, run one real job at your chosen settings and measure it once; use the calculator for quoting new work.
What settings should I plug in?
Use the Settings Database. Open your machine + material combo, copy the cut speed and engrave speed into this tool. If your engraver lists a line interval (also called DPI or scan gap), use that directly. Typical: 0.1mm interval for fine photos, 0.15mm for text and logos, 0.2mm+ for solid fills on wood.
What is traversal overhead?
The time the laser head spends moving between cuts or scan lines without firing. Short on long simple parts, large on dense tile patterns. 10% is typical for single-piece work, 20–30% for grids with many small parts, and 40%+ for raster engraves with lots of whitespace. Bump it up if your jobs consistently finish slower than expected.
Why does the SVG upload underestimate fill area?
The tool approximates filled paths by their bounding box with a 0.65 density factor. That's fine for logos and text but inaccurate for very sparse or very dense shapes. If precision matters, enter the engrave area manually. For polygons and rectangles, the area calculation is exact.
How is the electricity cost calculated?
(Machine wattage × total time in hours) × your $/kWh rate. Diode lasers draw 60–120W total (including controller, fans, air assist). CO2 lasers draw 200W–1kW+ depending on tube size and chiller. If you don't know, 300W is a reasonable default for a mid-range hobby laser. At $0.15/kWh, a one-hour job costs about 5 cents in electricity.
Is my file uploaded?
No. SVG parsing runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server, and nothing is stored.
"Used it with a Glowforge — engraved beautifully with no changes. I will be purchasing more digital downloads from this shop."
— Anna
"I was struggling with lining up my NFC business cards. I was able to not only line them up much better but also do multiple cards at once — making that job so much easier."
— Camp
"Excellent quality and design. Cut clean and neat!"
— LYNN
"Great jigs. Appreciate the time saved not having to build this from scratch!"
— Bruce
"Excellent quality. Item as described. Expectations exceeded."
— Michael
"This template made my slate coasters so much easier. 4×4 coasters from Michaels drop in easily and are easy to remove. Def worth it."
— chris