Photo Filters & Photo Engraving

[Liesl Dexheimer]

I have a customer who brought in 2 photos that have had photo filters applied in Photoshop. I processed it through Photograv (the photos will be on black plated steel, black & gold) & the simulated version actually looks pretty decent but simulated versus actual is always a little iffy. Has anyone had experience engraving photos that have a filter applied to them? Do you think it will come out ok?

[Dan Hintz]

Depends upon the filter. Filtered or not, it's just an image... you either get what you want after processing or you don't, but only you (or the customer) can make that call.

[Dee Gallo]

I would do a test burn using black mat board. It's a fast and cheap substrate that will approximate the black steel and give you an idea of the final outcome.

I don't know what power your laser is, but on my 35w Epilog I found 100 sp/40p/300 dpi to work well. 100s/20p/300 will give you more contrast. These were PhotoShop greyscale photos. PhotoGrav gave me an image that was too strong in contrast, so it ended up looking blotchy.

Hope this helps, dee

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Thank you Dee, I had never thought of using mat board to do a test, that's a great idea! The customer did like the simulated version in Photograv so here's hoping that it comes out decent when I actually engrave it.

[Bruce Dorworth]

Dee, that sounds interesting! Is mat board the same as poster board? Is this something that can be gotten at a craft store like Michaels???

Thanks,
Bruce

[Liesl Dexheimer]

The photo came out fine with a photo filter applied. I engraved two different photos. Here's one of them. Customer was very happy! :)

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[Mike Null]

Very nice. What was your substrate?

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Thank you. :)

I used black brass plated steel on a black piano finish board. One was a 9 x 12 & the other a 10 1/2 x 13.


Very nice. What was your substrate?

[Dee Gallo]

Dee, that sounds interesting! Is mat board the same as poster board? Is this something that can be gotten at a craft store like Michaels???

Thanks,
Bruce

Bruce,

Matboard is NOT posterboard. Posterboard is thin cardboard with an outer paper layer on each side, usually shiny and about $1-3 a piece at Walmart or dollar stores. Matboard is thicker cardboard (usually white or black) with a higher quality paper on one side, which might be any color and can also have a texture. Matboard is used for framing pictures and is not flexible like posterboard is...also it is much more expensive. It's about $4 for a 24" x 40" piece, but I get scraps from the local framing people for free sometimes. Those scraps are from the insides of the frames, so they are usually good sized and the bevelled edges are of no concern for my use. Otherwise, you can buy matboard from art supply stores or places like Michaels.

cheers, dee

[Dee Gallo]

Liesl,

Your piece came out really well, nice detail and feel, almost like a pen & ink drawing. Congrats on a job well done!

~ dee

[Bruce Dorworth]

Thanks Dee, so the MatBoard is actually the stuff they use to make a mat for pictures in a frame? It comes in Black??

Bruce

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks Dee, so the MatBoard is actually the stuff they use to make a mat for pictures in a frame? It comes in Black??

Bruce

Yep, that's the stuff. Black with a white core is the most common mat board used. If you want to use it for lasering, make sure you get the white core... black core would show nothing.