BeamInk

Laser engravers are usually built around a pretty static workflow. You prepare the artwork, import the file, preview it, hit start, and let the machine do its thing. BeamInk does the opposite. It turns a drawing tablet into a live drawing controller for an xTool F1.

Live engraving with lasers

As far as I can tell, I have not come across anyone else building this exact end-to-end setup before. That alone made it too interesting not to build.

Under the hood, the idea is fairly simple. The BeamInk Python software captures pen input on Linux through evdev, maps the tablet area to the F1 work area, and streams live G-code to the laser engraver.

There is really not much else to it. It is fun, it is creative, and I hope that at some point I come across someone who can actually draw and makes something cool with this.

Code is available on GitHub.

Have fun!