Mono Chrome Design Elements

[Tom Knight]

I am experimenting with some Mono Chrome files and created these simple lay out elements.. flourishes etc...

The file is attached I will try to get some more togther but I think these can be usefull for layouts.

I am curious about how useful they might be and if there is anything I need to adjust in the grey scales here to make the elements more suitable to engraving mono chromes etc.

[Mike Christen]

Hi Tom

I will give it a try and see how it turns out. I would guess that a larger greyscale gradient would be better for a 3d effect.

Mike

[Steve Clarkson]

Tom,

They should engrave fine, but you can't vector cut them. If you remove the fill and try to set an outline, I get a box.

[Tom Knight]

Tom,

They should engrave fine, but you can't vector cut them. If you remove the fill and try to set an outline, I get a box.

Ah so these files would be better if they had the grey scale with a vector outine around them... Excellent information and just what I was looking for. I will get them converted for that with the next day..

I am thinking about putting together templates of design componenets you can mix and match etc.

[Scott Shepherd]

Tom, I engraved a bit of this. The problem I'm seeing is that the image is way too dark. On laser engravers, the solid black his hit with the most power, while white is the least, when doing 3D engraving like this. So with the general tone of that drawing being so heavy on the dark end of the scale, it basically just engraved that entire item at one level, so it's not any depth to it. I don't do much work like this, so maybe someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I think you need almost the opposite end of the scale. Much much more on the white end of things and save the solid black for only the very edges or places you want cut the deepest.

You don't want to go pure white, as they won't get engraved at all. So start your tone range (not the right term, I know, but I don't know any other way to say it), in the 10% or 20% gray area and stay closer to the mid level, and dip down into the 90% or 100% black only in a few places.

Does that make sense? I'd take a photo and show you, but all I have is my camera phone at the moment and it's not going to show you what I mean. If it doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll see if I can get some photos of it.

[Kevin L. Waldron]

To do 3d you will need Artcam or a program similiar that can create greyscale files from 3d objects.

In Artcam you pull up a 3d file and then save as a greyscale tiff. After you have the tiff file simply import into Corel and go from there. It is fairly simple and straight forward. Key is that you have to have the 3d art. Places like Vectorclip 3d, Vector Art are places to start.

I was going to including a file similiar to what you had that is 3d printable with the laser but the forum size restrictions will not allow it. Pm me offsite if you would like to try such a file.

Kevin Waldron

[Scott Shepherd]

Kevin, why do you say you need artcam for 3D images? Most lasers have the 3D drivers in them, they just need the right shades of gray.

Am I missing something?

[Kevin L. Waldron]

For a 3d file from my understanding of 3d we must start with a file that has a xy and z component. A normal grey scale photo doesn't have z depth. You can simulate depth with a photo but it want match a true 3d file that has been converted using a program such as Artcam.

When running the laser over a converted file often you will have to repeat the file 4-10 times to get the true depth of a file. The laser fires different powers at different grayscale settings. Typicaly 256 but this is not entire grayscale but the major shades.

If you want to try a file that has been converted using Artcam I will be glad to send you one off forum. You can be the judge as to whether a Grayscale photo is the same.

Kevin

[Dan Hintz]

Kevin,

"3D" art is nothing more than grayscale with the white level of each pixel determining its Z height. There is no requirement for other programs, though some may make it easier to create grayscale images. In fact, if I had the patience, I could create a 3D image file using nothing but Microsoft Paint (though I don't have that much patience).

[Tom Knight]

Looking at the files and will make some tweaks based on feed back here.. Just a little burried with work at the moment. Will repost the new files in this thread soon.

[Doug Griffith]

I agree with Kevin that a 3D file with z-height would give the best results. Each height level is converted to a corresponding shade of grey with white being highest and black being deepest. A typical greyscale photo does not have white as the highest and black as the deepest levels.

I also agree with Dan that it would be possible to do this from scratch with Photoshop or the like but it would be a total pain and probably not be as good.

A 3D driver essentially translates the shades of grey to laser power levels.

[Devon Jones]

ok so i just tried to make my first 3d text of the fight club logo...... it turned out semi good considering i just through it together in like 15 mins. but my question is after i convert an image to a monocrome can i then select the 3d option on my epilog dashboard and it will do the image in 3d? i know it cant be that easy but im crossing my fingers. my fight club sign turned out better then i expected