Calarnexa is a series of tools primarily aimed at laser cutters/engravers, but can also potentially be useful for CNC machines and 3D printers. Feel free to experiment with each!

Cutout: This tool allows you to choose a photograph, and it will generate an SVG file to recreate it using nothing but various sized holes cut out of a material (typically 3mm wood panel). No photos are uploaded to a server - everything happens right in your web browser. The "Preview" checkbox will let you see the expected physical appearance. Drag the sliders around to instantly change how your image is converted. Each change may take a few seconds.

Hex: This tool allows you to create hexagonal background patterns for combination with other artwork. The end result is meant to be saved as a PNG (rather than an SVG, although you have options) and burned using darker = higher power, to get a three-dimensional engraving. The tool allows you to place words in front of the hexagonal background, but it isn't necessary - you can put whatever you like in front of the background with another tool, such as Lightburn. Drag the sliders around to instantly change the result.

Mandala: This tool is used for the creation of three-layer mandala designs. There is an option in the saved SVG file to have each of the three rings separated so that they can be cut out individually. In a tool like Lightburn, each ring will be on a different cut layer. The "Preview" checkbox will let you see the expected physical appearance. Drag the sliders around, but the result will not change right away. Drawing the mandala is a little time consuming, so it will only update when you hit the "Update" button.

Columns: This tool helps you convert your photographs into images made by cutting vertical columns out of a piece of material such as wood or acrylic. The columns are shaped in such a way that, from a distance they faithfully reproduce the original image (although up close they look quite abstract). Your material may be dark (and so the cutouts are assumed to be light), or your material may be light (and so the cutouts are assumed to be dark). Before cutting, be aware that the column widths might be thinner than what your laser is capable of (depending on exactly which settings you choose). You can scale the resulting SVG up in your software (such as Lightburn), but of course only up to the maximum size of your laser's work area. Be willing to experiment!

Voronoi: This tool generates various shapes filled in with voronoi patterns. You can then export these, and bring them into a tool light Lightburn and use the "outline" function to turn the lines into actual thicker strips. I find these make really nice "stained glass" patterns if you are cutting out colored acrylic sheets. Use black for the pattern outline, and then fill in the spaces with various bits of the colored acrylic. As a warning, sometimes when using a "star" pattern, the voronoi shapes will break the outline. In that case, just pick a different random seed. Rotating the pattern by changing the offset angle will change the distribution and shape of voids because they are chosen based on the rotated shape (for instance, if you select symmetry, the mirror line is chosen based on the rotated shape, not the unrotated shape). If you want to rotate the shape without changing the distribution and shape of the voids, rotate it after the fact in software such as Lightburn.

The name "Calarnexa" comes from Quenya (Elvish) words for "lamp" ("calar") and "sharp" ("nexa"). Effectively, this is my attempt at an Elvish word for "laser cutter". I did not like "Calarcirma" (lamp/knife), "Calarnaica" or "Calarsicil" (both versions of lamp/dagger), or "Calarmacil" (lamp/sword) as names for this tool. "Calarnexa" just sounds better.

This is free, but if you wind up using it, please send a photo of your finished results to me at . Thanks are appreciated!