PhotoGrav or One touch laser photo

[Bruce Dorworth]

Being a newbie, I was having trouble getting a photo to look decent on ANYTHING other than the computer screen. I downloaded the trial version of One Touch laser photo and was able to get a pretty decent picture on a piece of Alder and some black anodized aluminum.

So,then I figured the next step would be marble. I have always heard good things about pictures on marble, so I ordered two cases of 6x6 tiles from Laser Sketch. When they arrived I called and asked them what settings I should use with my 80 watt laser. The person that answered the phone suggested a speed of 75 and a power of 10. This didn't even scratch the surface. He said to raise the power 2% each test. I had to use 20% to get any results and they where not very good. I then proceeded to jump all over the place and totally ruin my 1st sacrificial piece of marble. I get a half way decent text engraving with the settings of 150 speed and a power of 22. Does anyone have a suggested setting for this material and a 80w laser?

Next question, is there that much difference between PhotoGrav and One touch laser photo? I am uploading a copy of the picture I am trying to engrave. I am looking for suggestion on the content(A memorial for a friends pet) and If someone with PhotoGrav would like to try and convert it I would like to try and cut it again. Ok, it seems the files is to large to upload.

Who has the best price on PhotoGrav?

Thanks,
Bruce

[Frank Corker]

Bruce as a newbie you should use the search facility at the top of the page to review past posts. This subject is covered extensively. Marble is a relatively soft substrate and a lot less than granite, I have a 45 watt laser and for marble the recommended settings are 30 speed to 100 power, I put this picture through the original Photograv 2.11 using a laser with an 80 watt, the recommended settings are 26% power and 100% speed. Make sure you have them in the right order. Run it through your laser and see if the problem is less than what you have been getting. If it is perfect when you run this picture, then your problems are you are not processing your image correctly. LOW POWER and FAST SPEED 300DPI. Just import the image as it is into Corel and run it, it is already processed and doesn't require any other input from you.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Frank, I have read a lot of the posts about marble, what I was looking for in this thread was peoples opinion about PhotoGrav and One touch laser photo. Is Photograv worth that much more? The other thing I was asking about was LASERSKETCH marble. I thought it was you, but maybe it was someone else who wrote that LaserSketches marble is not really marble but Granite that cuts something like Marble. They also posted some numbers for this type of Marble.

I appreciate the picture and your comments, But I am still looking for answers to these other questions. I would aslo like to find a photograph of a real person that someone has done with Photograv. Size about 3"x3" and 300 dpi I reckon.


Thanks,
Bruce

[Larry Bratton]

Frank, I have read a lot of the posts about marble, what I was looking for in this thread was peoples opinion about PhotoGrav and One touch laser photo. Is Photograv worth that much more? The other thing I was asking about was LASERSKETCH marble. I thought it was you, but maybe it was someone else who wrote that LaserSketches marble is not really marble but Granite that cuts something like Marble. They also posted some numbers for this type of Marble.

I appreciate the picture and your comments, But I am still looking for answers to these other questions. I would aslo like to find a photograph of a real person that someone has done with Photograv. Size about 3"x3" and 300 dpi I reckon.


Thanks,
Bruce
If it is the material that Lasersketch calls Absolute Black Marble...it ain't. Test it to be sure. Take some regular household vinegar and apply some of it to it, if the vinegar mars it, it is in fact marble. Otherwise it is some kind of granite. I have purchased that same product and I engrave it with settings for black granite. Nice material, it just isn't marble. 100% speed, 38 power. Don't use Photograv, I prep in Corel Photopaint all the way.

[Frank Corker]

The enclosed picture was of a real person, it is at 300 dpi - it's from the sample that comes supplied with Photograv and yes I do think it's worth the money.

[Mark Conde]

I bought the "black marble" from laser sketch as well and found it to be granite. Not real happy that LaserSketch markets granite as marble. I will no longer purchase anything from LaserSketch ever again.

I have had a tough time finding true black marble.

[Bill Cunningham]

Finding true black marble is tough.. Some tile suppliers can order it in for you.. I have used the brown marble from Home Depot, it works well enough.. The Lasersketch stone is very good quality, it's just not marble. Marble is fine for indoor use, but it will oxidize badly outside. The lasersketch stone on the other hand is excellent for outdoor use, and reproduces photographs very well.. Use the photograv generic granite setting after tweaking your photo.

[Mark Conde]

The GRANITE I bought from LaserSketch was good stuff. It lasered well. But when they market granite as marble, I have no use to do business with them. I wanted marble and got granite--not cool. It appears they have been doing this for quite some time. Not sure why people let them get away with this. As for me, I will never buy from them again.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Thanks guys for all the help. I would still like to hear what more people think of PhotoGrav and One Touch Laser.

Here is a copy of the image that I am trying to engrave, along with the file that came from One touch.

Ok, I just looked at the image that I made with OneTouch Laser Photo I made the image 300 dpi going into the software. Now I notice that the output image is 1000 dpi. Should/Can I just engrave this image at 300 dpi???

Thanks,
Bruce

203579203578

[Bruce Dorworth]

Meanwhile, three pieces of Marble later I got it to cut really nice picture of my cat. I ruined the first tile last night trying to cut the cat photo. Then tonight I burnt up one trying to cut Frank's photo of the guy reading the newspaper.

Then, On the third one I got a pretty good result on Frank's image. So I tried these numbers on the cat. Well it came out really pretty nice. I will send pictures tomorrow...

The numbers I came up with for my 80watt laser were 25% power with a speed of 190, BUT the thing I noticed when I was writing the numbers down, was my DPI/Scan gap was .025 I think that equates to 1000 DPI. It did take 23 minutes to engrave a 2"x3" picture at 190 speed. Did I mention that it looked really good??? Do you think this helped because as I posted earlier the image that I got from One touch Laser was 1000 DPI??? Do you think it would look the same if I engraver it at 300 DPI???

Thanks everybody for all the input, and I still want to hear what people think of PhotoGrav and One touch laser.

Thanks,
Bruce

[Mike Null]

Bruce

I would engrave at 300 dpi. I would also invert the photo unless I've misinterpreted the pictures.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

Bruce I have both 1 touch and PG3, if you look up my posts pics are there. I find one touch is much easier than pg3 but in 1 touch you have to do pre process in corel if any! In pg3 it takes a little longer to prep a photo! But I found 1 touch was always better and less fiddle with photo. As for the 1000 dpi thing, that's what uls recommends. It takes a lot longer but the picture has way better resolution then at 300 dpi. A 12" x 12" granite tile takes me around 90 min. You can't change the 1000 dpi file, but you can change your laser dpi lower, but like I said they say 1000 dpi is better.Hope this helps.

[Larry Bratton]

Bruce

I would engrave at 300 dpi. I would also invert the photo unless I've misinterpreted the pictures.

Mike makes a good point that no one has mentioned to you. If you are going to laser on a black material, you should make your background black, assuming you want your background to be the natural black of the granite or marble. Then as part of your final processing, invert the photo. Your background will then be white. This way, your laser will not fire on any pixels in the background. Remember, the laser is looking for pixels with shades of grey and fires when encountered, otherwise not.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

1 touch does this for you when you select the material your engraving on. Much the same as pg3

[Mike Null]

Andrew

A blanket statement the 1000 dpi is better doesn't apply to all substrates. In fact it applies to fewer rather than more. At least give 300 dpi a test with various substrates. A good example is wood where 1000 dpi causes you to lose definition rather than gain it.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

I did alder wood at 1000 dpi, and my results were detailed as crazy, it was a wedding photo.

[Mike Null]

If it works don't fix it.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

How is your trotec? Btw.

[Dan Hintz]

As for the 1000 dpi thing, that's what uls recommends. It takes a lot longer but the picture has way better resolution then at 300 dpi. A 12" x 12" granite tile takes me around 90 min. You can't change the 1000 dpi file, but you can change your laser dpi lower, but like I said they say 1000 dpi is better.
ULS is being generic in their recommendation. More resolution is always better from an image standpoint, as long as the substrate supports it. Marble (or granite) isn't one of those substrates. Neither is glass or wood. In fact, off of the top of my head, anodized aluminum is one of the few substrates that can support it. By lowering your resolution appropriately for the substrate at hand, you will actually end up with a much better image.

[Rodne Gold]

That scangap is crazy , you wont get much more detial than 0.05 or even 0.075
Be careful with scangap , it does NOT translate to 300 dpi if you use values like 0.1(its 254dpi), to get 300 dpi you need a scangap of 0.084666

[Andrew Mammoliti]

Well works for me on Alderwood and lasersketch granite.