Maker Guide

How to Make a Laser-Cut Agamograph: Three Pictures, One Sheet of Plywood

When I was a kid, there was an agamograph at my sister's house. It was made of glass strips, with photos cut up and glued between them, and it showed a different picture depending on where you stood. I never forgot it. Growing up I made a few myself, cutting pictures into strips and gluing them one by one. So when I built the Agamograph Generator for Designer Bee, this was the project I most wanted to hold in my hands: three pictures engraved on one sheet of plywood, one from the left, one from the right, and one straight on.

Here's the whole build, step by step. If you'd rather watch it, the full agamograph build video is on our YouTube channel.

What you need

• One sheet of 3 mm (1/8 in) plywood, or 2 mm for the Fine Detail preset.
• A laser cutter that can engrave a picture and cut through that plywood: a desktop diode laser, Glowforge, xTool, or a CO2 machine all work.
• Three pictures, or none at all: the Designer Bee crew loads as a sample so you can cut one straight away.
• Masking tape, and wood glue if you want the piece to be permanent.

Design it in your browser

Open the Agamograph Generator and upload three pictures: one for the left, one for the right, and one for straight on. I used the sample pictures on the site. They are dithered, which gives the wood a classic engraved look. Your own photos work too, and they have a different vibe.

Pick the preset that fits your laser bed and your plywood: Standard, Fine Detail, Large, or Kids Size. The Standard strip sheet is about 240 × 130 mm, so it fits an entry-level 300 × 200 mm bed with room to spare. Change the number of strips and watch the 3D preview: you can turn the finished piece and see it from the left, the right, and head-on before you cut anything.

Download the three files

The tool gives you three SVG files: 1 Board, 2 Strips side A, and 3 Strips side B. Each one has red cut lines and one blue engrave image. In your laser software, set blue to engrave and red to cut, and make sure the engrave runs before the cut in every job.

Run a test first

At the makerspace I started with a test: small squares at different power settings, on a scrap of the same plywood, until the cut just went through. Every sheet of plywood is a little different, so this five-minute test saves a ruined board.

Cut the board

Run file 1 on the first sheet. It engraves the front picture, then cuts the slots and the outline in one job. Take the board off the bed and set it aside.

The flip trick: the hole is your jig

The strips are engraved on both sides, so the strip sheet has to turn over between two jobs. Tape a second sheet down at all four corners and run file 2. It engraves side A and cuts the outline of the strip blank. Leave the scrap frame around it exactly where it is.

Now lift out the blank, turn it over like a page (the left edge goes to the right), and drop it back into the hole it came from. The top edge must stay at the top: a blank turned head over heels also fits the hole, but it puts the pictures in the wrong order. Then run file 3 without moving anything. It engraves side B and cuts the strips free. The hole is your jig, so nothing moves and both sides line up on their own.

What went wrong (and how I handled it)

One side cut through in one or two passes. The other side took four or five. I could have turned the power up, but I was scared the wood would burn. So I checked after every pass, without moving the sheet, until every piece came out easily. Slow, but nothing burned. If your laser struggles too, extra passes are the safe fix.

Assemble the strips

The strips press into the slots on the board, and the order matters. Pick the strips off the bed one at a time, starting from the right end, and press each one into the next empty slot on the board, starting from the left. Hold each strip with its picture upright and facing you, then turn it a quarter turn so the teeth point at the board.

I set them all in loosely first, taped them straight, and checked from the left and from the right. If one picture looks scrambled, two strips are swapped or one is turned around. The strips are a press fit, so glue is optional. I wanted mine to last, so I ran a little wood glue along the back of the board, all at once, instead of gluing strips one by one. Much easier.

Step back and walk past it

Then I stepped back. From the left, one picture. From the right, another. Straight on, a third between the strips. I was surprised how much I loved it, and it's a great piece for art teachers, STEAM classes, and library makerspaces, because the magic is easy to explain and fun to show off.

No laser at home? Your library makerspace probably has one. Find a makerspace near you, bring the three files, and make one. Then show me. Want a taste first? The paper agamograph is the same idea with two pictures, a printer and a pair of scissors.