I don't think I explained myself clearly. There would not be stripes in the image. If the path ran on a 45 or 135 degree angle the step would effectively be reduced by a factor of 0.7071 due to the angle. Example below:
The reasoning for wanting to etch on an angle is it would allow for the laser to cross the grain of the wood no matter which direction the grain runs when the job is set up on the machine. In my experience the finished etchings on wood look better when etched across the grain. To get the path to cross the grain on a 45 degree angle, I now have to rotate the picture and let the machine run over the blank space.
Highlighted below:
Thanks for your response and consideration.