B/W Photo Help

[Daniel Muller]

I am trying to get these pics to etch onto anodized aluminum. I work for hours last night and couldn't get them right. Can someone help me with this. I tried photograv and not using phoyograv but to no avail.
Dan

[Dan Hintz]

The first pic needs some serious contrast enhancement, the second one would turn out better with a bit of contrast work, as well, but it's not nearly as bad. For the second one, I would consider trying to get a proper grayscale image to get rid of the Sepia tones first.

I don't know what the drivers are like for the Epilogs, but I've never purchased/used PhotoGrav for my ULS and I'm making pictures just fine. Aluminum is typically thought of as a single-level substrate... the dot is either on or off, which requires a dithering algorithm for gray levels (compared to marble which can handle multiple levels of power to get a true grayscale).

I personally would step back from PG and try it manually (of course, you'll want to follow your manual's procedure for tuning the system to a particular substrate... I did nothing all day yesterday but tuning for marble). Go grayscale, set the contrast, sharpen a few notches, set the dpi for what you intend to engrave at (aluminum can handle a fairly high resolution, 500-600dpi without issue), and resize your image. Send it to the laser with an appropriate dithering algorithm selected and see if that alone doesn't give you a decent pic.

[Mike Null]

I would repair the damage on the second one before I attempted any other adjustments.

[James Stokes]

One thing I have found with engaving photos on anodized aluminum you need to use a low power. If you use to strong on your power settings you will never get it right. On my 35 watt laser I use a power setting around 20. As for the Sepia toned photograph, I have never had much luck with them. I worked on one last thursday all day and could never get it right.

[Tim Bateson]

I agree with those above. These first need to be converted to true B&W photos, then adjusted for engraving.

[George Brown]

I am trying to get these pics to etch onto anodized aluminum. I work for hours last night and couldn't get them right. Can someone help me with this. I tried photograv and not using phoyograv but to no avail.
Dan

Try this. If anyone wants to correct me, feel free.

[Frank Corker]

I've sent you a pm regarding this.

[Daniel Muller]

george,
what did you do to this photo?
Dan

[George Brown]

george,
what did you do to this photo?
Dan
Converted to 8-bit gray scale
Reduced tonal range
Increased contrast
Burned in the tower

How did it engrave, if you tried it?