EMC + laser engraving?

[dewme5]

I think I've decided to DIY for my laser engraver for several reasons. I already have a good portion of what I'll need, along with a design that fits what I need vs. preconceived ideals.

I vastly prefer linux over windows, but I have not used linux for cnc work up to this point. Is there a way to use EMC for engraving? I'm aware of ways to control X, Y, and Z. As well as controlling the output of the laser. My problem comes from the need of engraving photo realistic images. There will be lots of need for things I can easily generate in any cad program, but there will be more need for grayscale photos. In windows, there are several options depending on several things. If I need to involve widows at any point, I may as well use it from start to stop. I just would like to avoid that.

I would love if there were some "driver" that would allow printing directly from any program such as gimp or inkscape. Unfortunately about the only way I can see things working is a photo into a topographical map, and using height to control laser power instead of a z axis. Still, this adds ALOT of work between design, and final product.

If anybody knows of something, please let me know.

If it matters, I'm using a CNC4PC opti-isolated breakout board, Gecko 320's, and servo motors.