EzCad3 & JCZ

Inside EzCad3's PARAM folder: where your machine's real settings live

Ever wondered where your EzCad3 machine stores its true calibration and operation settings? It's in the PARAM folder, home to files like Motors.ini and MarkParamlib.ini that make or break your cuts and engraves.

4 September 2026 · The HagoLaser team · 8 min read

The PARAM Folder: Your Machine's True Configuration

If you've ever felt like your EzCad3-driven fiber laser has a mind of its own, storing critical settings somewhere you can't easily find or change, you're not alone. The heart of your machine's calibration and operational parameters lives in a folder called PARAM, usually found within your EzCad3 installation directory. This isn't just a place for temporary files; it's where your machine's real identity is defined.

The PARAM folder contains several files crucial to how your machine operates. The most important ones you'll encounter are:

• Motors.ini: Defines your Z-axis motor and, crucially, your factory-calibrated focus height.
• MarkParamlib.ini: This is your "pen library" – where all the engraving and cutting parameters for different materials and effects are stored.
• The .cor file: Your galvo correction file, which ensures the laser spot lands exactly where it should across the entire marking field.
• LaserPW.ini: A table that defines your laser source's power curve.

These files are your machine's brain. Before you touch anything in this folder, make a complete backup. Copy the entire PARAM folder to a safe place. If something goes wrong, you can always revert to your machine's original, working state.

A note on safety: A fiber marking laser is a Class 4 device. The 1064 nm beam is invisible and causes instant, permanent eye damage. Always wear laser safety glasses rated for 1064 nm (with an OD suitable for your source power), and ensure anyone else in the room does too. Never leave a running job unattended, and always use proper fume extraction. Physical enclosures and interlocks are your primary safety. Software checks are a convenience, not protection.

Focus Height: The Number That Makes or Breaks Your Cuts

When we started cutting sterling silver on our machine, we struggled with cuts that should have been straightforward. It took us months to realize the single biggest culprit: an incorrect Z-axis reference. The factory-calibrated focus height for your machine is stored in Motors.ini as the parameter m_dFocusPos.

On our machine, this value is -59.6 mm. This number represents the Z-axis position where the surface of our laser platform is in perfect focus. However, when you cut material, you're not cutting the platform; you're cutting the material itself. The top surface of your material sits one thickness above the platform.

This means the formula for setting your Z-axis height for cutting sheet material is simple but critical:

Z = m_dFocusPos + material thickness

For example, to cut 1 mm sterling silver sheet on our machine, we set the Z-axis to -59.6 mm + 1 mm = -58.6 mm. We proved this the hard way: -58.5 mm would cut, but -56.5 mm (a 2 mm defocus) wouldn't cut at all. A small error of ±0.5 mm might be barely noticeable, but 2 mm kills the cut completely.

Our Z-axis moves 3200 steps/mm. Knowing this helps understand the precision needed. If your cuts suddenly get worse, and you haven't changed power or settings, check your focus before anything else. A slightly bent jig, a thicker batch of material, or even a platform that has shifted can all manifest as "the laser got weaker."

Here's how Z-height varies with material thickness on our machine:

Understanding Your Engraving Parameters in MarkParamlib.ini

The MarkParamlib.ini file stores all your named "pens" or parameter sets. These are the recipes you dial in for different materials and effects. Understanding what each setting does is key to getting consistent results. Here’s a breakdown of the parameters from one of our working silver engraving recipes, decoded:

• Speed: 700 mm/s. This is how fast the galvos move the laser spot across the material. Slower speeds deliver more energy per millimeter, leading to deeper and wider marks, but too slow, and you risk melting rather than ablating.
• Power (%): 95 %. This controls the average power output of the laser source. It's a critical setting, but not the whole story, especially with MOPA sources.
• Frequency (kHz): 40 kHz. This is the number of laser pulses per second. For a fixed average power, a higher frequency means weaker individual pulses, as the same energy is distributed among more shots.
• Pulse Width (ns): 200 ns. This setting is only available on MOPA fiber lasers. Longer pulses deliver more energy per individual shot, digging deeper into the material. Shorter pulses are gentler and are often used for applications like color marking on steel. To learn more, we have an article on Pulse Width in Nanoseconds: What It Does to Your Mark.
• Passes / Loops: 5 passes. This determines how many times the laser repeats the entire marking geometry. It's an honest way to achieve depth and consistency without pushing other parameters to extremes. For a deeper dive into engraving, see our article Deep Engraving Silver for Enamel: Our Workshop Recipe.
• Jump Speed: 2000 mm/s. This is how fast the galvos move when the laser is off, jumping between marking segments. Counter-intuitively, if this is too slow, you can see faint "stray lines" where the beam is supposed to be off, but the galvos are still dragging slowly.
• Laser Off TC: 100 µs. The "Timing Compensation" for the laser turning off. This is the delay after the last mark of a segment before the galvos start moving away. If too short, the laser might still be active while the head is jumping, leaving faint lines.
• Polygon TC: 100. A small delay for the galvos to settle at corners. This setting balances sharpness of corners against overall marking speed.
• Min/Max Jump TC: 10/85. Similar settling delays for the start and end of jumps.
• Contour Pass: Enabled. EzCad3 often enables this by default. It adds an extra outline pass around filled areas, which can make small text crisper and slightly thickens the overall mark.

The F-theta Lens and Field Size: Power Density Matters

Your F-theta lens determines the maximum working area, or "field size," the galvos can cover without moving your part. Our machine, for example, has a 110 x 110 mm field. This choice has significant implications for your laser's performance.

The trade-off is straightforward: a smaller field concentrates the laser's power into a smaller area, resulting in a tighter, more powerful spot. This means better cutting and finer engraving. Conversely, a larger field allows you to work on bigger pieces but spreads the same laser power over a larger area, making everything weaker and coarser.

For jewelry work, where pieces are typically small and precision and power density are paramount, a smaller field lens is generally the right choice. For marking large industrial plates, a larger field is often necessary, accepting slower and shallower results. It's always worth checking your own EzCad3 configuration to confirm the actual field size you have, rather than relying solely on marketing specifications.

Software Interlocks Are Not Safety Equipment

It's important to understand how your machine's safety features are implemented. On our machine, for instance, the door interlock check is enforced by EzCad3 in software, not by the DLC2 controller board itself. This means that with the machine's door open, EzCad3 simply refuses to send the job to the board. However, the board itself would still process commands and fire the laser if it received them.

The door state is readable from the board, so software can be configured to honor it. Our own software, HagoLaser, has an option to refuse to mark with the door open, though it's off by default because our machine's sensor isn't wired in the expected way. The crucial takeaway here is not that interlocks are optional, but rather the opposite: if your safety relies on a software checkbox, you do not have adequate safety. Physical enclosures, robust physical interlocks, and properly rated laser safety glasses are what truly protect you. Software can be reconfigured, replaced, or simply switched off.

Practical Takeaways: What to Do First

Navigating the PARAM folder doesn't have to be intimidating. Here's what we would do if we were starting again today:

1. Backup your PARAM folder immediately. This is your safety net. Copy the entire folder to an external drive or cloud storage.
2. Locate and verify your m_dFocusPos in Motors.ini. This is the single most important setting for cutting. Don't assume the factory setting is perfect for your specific material setup.
3. Calculate your Z-axis height for your most common materials. Using the formula Z = focus + material thickness, make a note of the correct Z-height for different sheet materials you cut.
4. Explore MarkParamlib.ini. Understand the existing "pens" or parameters. See what settings the machine shipped with and how they relate to the explanations above. Use this as a starting point for your own experiments.
5. Always test on scrap material. Any time you adjust a parameter, whether it's focus, speed, power, or pulse width, run tests on scrap. What works for our silver on our machine is a guide, not a universal rule.