A laser intensity monitoring and control apparatus and method. One or more laser diodes emit laser light at an intensity depending upon a supplied drive current. A collimating lens collimates the emitted laser light. An aperture clips portions of the collimated laser light striking the aperture outside the predetermined beam contour and reflects part or all of the clipped portion of the collimated laser light to a focusing lens. A monitoring detector senses the focused laser light and generates an electrical signal depending on the intensity of the focused laser light, wherein a feedback circuit monitors the electrical signal and adjusts the drive current of the laser diode as necessary to maintain a predetermined laser light intensity. A ROS scanner optics system receives and images the beam contour.