Royalty Free High Res Animal Photos

[Ron Thompson]

I've been plying around lasering the 12" Absolute Black Granite tiles from Home Depot (just under $5.00 each). I'm using animal photos that I found on Ebay. Laser Speed=100, Power=35, 300 DPI on my 45 watt Epilog. Then I color fill with white hobby paint and wipe clean. They really come out nice.

If your interested in Royalty Free Photos, this is a great selection. The cost $35 plus shipping but they are worth every cent. I prefer Lions, Grizzly Bears and Eagles and Zebra's.

Go to Ebay and find auction # 280591381782
Animals, Pets & Marine Life Royalty Free Stock Photos

3250+ Images, Most 300dpi & 350dpi, Samples Available


Ron Thompson

[Robert Walters]

Hi Ron,

Nice tip, will hit HD tomorrow and grab a couple.
Have any pics of your engravings to share by chance?

[Mike Null]

There is also a good selection of photos on your CorelDraw discs.

[Tim Neal]

Hi Ron,

I purchased one of those tiles a week ago to use as a platform for taking photos of my hand turned pens. Unfortunately, the tile look mottled grey instead of gloss black like I was hoping. A few days ago the idea came to me to try lasering it. I compared it to a sample of LaserSketch's black granite and noticed that the crystal structure was a lot finer on the LaserSketch's sample. I was wondering if the HD stuff would still engrave OK. Looks like you confirmed that. Thanks for posting. If you get a chance, post a photo of one of the completed tiles.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

If you are not putting your tile outside or on the floor, IMHO, Black marble is far better for photos. Granite has too much flake in it that can distort the photo because you can not maintain the detail as good as you can in marble. try lasering the same photo on both and you can compare for yourself.

Hope this helps and ...

[Todd MacKinnon]

If you go to their website via the link in the ebay auction, the cost is $30 plus shipping which is $6.50

[Robert Walters]

I hit HD today, they are on clearance for $4.63/ea ($20.94 for case of 5) and the guy said the price should even drop more over the next month or two.

Ron,
What are you using to engrave the photos?

[Ron Thompson]

Robert,

I use Corel X3 - X5 to prep the photo ( see these steps at http://www.engrave.ca/ , he has a tutorial on preping photos to laser on Black Granite).

I use a Epilog 45 watt set to Speed-90 Power=35, 300 DPI. Today I purchased 4 more 12" Absolute Black tiles at Lowe's and they cut them for me FREE. I asked them to cut a few 6 X 6 and also 12 X 6.

Ron

[Ron Chapellaz]

Hi Ron,

Unfortunately, the tile look mottled grey instead of gloss black like I was hoping. A few days ago the idea came to me to try lasering it. I compared it to a sample of LaserSketch's black granite and noticed that the crystal structure was a lot finer on the LaserSketch's sample. I was wondering if the HD stuff would still engrave OK.

Tim, I too had problems with a mottled grey look when I did a project that involved 3 tiles. One tile turned out speckled and the other 2 weren't. It is not easy to tell when a tile will laser nicely or not just by looking at it. What I found to be important is to look at the back side of the tiles. It seemed that the tiles that turn out speckled looking had a grey back whereas the ones that weren't speckled had a slight brownish tone to them. It is hard to tell the difference so when I buy tile I bring in a sample so I can compare and make sure I come home with the better ones. I did find that the two tones of granite are mixed in the packages themselves and that there are more grey backed ones compared to the brown. The last time I went and bought some, I dug through and pulled out only 6 tiles out of over 20, due to color and busted or scratched tiles.

[Robert Walters]

Has anyone come up with a way to mount these on the wall yet?
Or some other "finishing" method.

I'm sure if you actually tried using it as a floor tile, the foot traffic would wear away the engraving.

[Lee DeRaud]

Has anyone come up with a way to mount these on the wall yet?Well, there was http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?63890: not really something I'd want to do for "production" work or, for that matter, much larger than 2'x2', but it's still holding, 3+ years later.

[Robert Walters]

I use Corel X3 - X5 to prep the photo ( see these steps at http://www.engrave.ca/ , he has a tutorial on preping photos to laser on Black Granite).


Hey Ron,

Well, I tried following the eagle tutorial, but it didn't turn out too pretty.

Do you have the original photo and the image (screen cap?) just before you send it to the laser?
I'd like to compare the two to what I did.

[Tom Bull]

I mount granite using gorilla glue to bond a piece of plywood that is cut undersize to the back. I then use various methods including slot, wire hanger, and metal tab for hanging. Slot in the wood works best because it sits flat to wall.

[Bill Cunningham]

The HD Empador light marble (brown) lasers very nice.. Just go through the boxes and find the ones with the lowest amount of 'marbling'.. Remember, for marble use high power and slow speed. I've used 100% power, and 35% speed and got nice results, then went over it again(something you can't do with granite) and got even better results. You also do not have to prep your photo as much, you can go directly to the marble with a grayscale etching at 600 dpi and even do it twice.. Real marble is just about goof proof..

[Ron Thompson]

OK Here are two of the photos I used to laser on the 12" X 12" Lowes Absolute Black Granite.

Ron Thompson

[Robert Walters]

OK Here are two of the photos I used to laser on the 12" X 12" Lowes Absolute Black Granite.

Ron Thompson

Ron,

I HATE YOU!!! lol

Ok, you posted the original photo, and the engraved results.
Would you by chance have the prepped image *JUST* before you sent it to the laser?

I'd like to compare to what I had, or missed =)

Thanks, very nice work btw!

[Robert Rosensteel]

Hi Lasersketch had a kit you could buy that had a drill bit and screws with brass or chrome covers(snap on screw head). Used to hang tiles. Just drill two or four holes and put screws in and then cap the heads. I was going to order this, and I did the Home Depot thing You Know I can get that a lot cheaper but I never did look for it. Thanks Robert