Extruded vs cast acrylic

[Nick Benton]

I'm wondering if anyone out there has ever tried raster engraving an image on extruded acrylic and edge lighting the plate? Does the etch stand out when edge lit?

[Rodne Gold]

It does not frost well , sometimes just engraves clear or inconsistently "sort of frosty" , it works well if you arent engraving large areas of fill but just deep outlines.
One other problem is that extruded , when engraved is generally far more prone to stress cracking when exposed to solvents or cleaned with the wrong stuff.

[Robert Walters]

Yes I have, It looks like crap!

There is ZERO contrast, and the surface of extruded looks like you sorta softened the material and pressed in the image.
Like when you touch a piece of glass and leave a fingerprint; it's there sorta kinda, but it's not.
It's more of a ghost image than an engraving.

[Dee Gallo]

If you do a vector line engraving, it works, but is still not as nice by a long shot. Avoid edgelit extruded if you can!

[Bill Cunningham]

I find if I focus sharp, the striations increase, and give some contrast to the photo. It's not my first choice for photos, cast is much better, but it 'can' be made to work in a pinch.. Both of the ones below were reverse engraved. The picture on the left has had some black acrylic paint rubbed into the etched surface for contrast, and the other was left natural.

[Dan Hintz]

Bill,

Gonna need to see a larger pic of the first one... that looks very sharp.

[Bill Cunningham]

I'll see if I have a larger one of that engraving.. That's a sunrise shot taken from my favorite interior campsite in Algonquin Park, Ontario. Only accessible by Canoe..