Mayo Pardo
07-05-2015, 5:05 AM
I've been experimenting with rastering clear plastic plates. The plastic is #6 PS which I believe is polystyrene? Similar to clear CD cases, but thinner.
Having trouble getting a nice evenly frosted look - I seem to be getting something similar to a radial effect where there are areas appearing more frosted than others.
I'm getting this on thick text as well as bitmaps.
I thought it might have been variations in the plastic however the radial effect does not change when I rotate the plastic, or rotate the job.
Some observations so far -
More power takes the plastic from a frosted to a melted clear state again.
Faster speed may be responsible for the halo effect, from the laser not having enough time to power up fully when it needs to be (at the start and also at the end of the image).
Changing various dither patterns didn't eliminate the radial effect I was seeing.
Trotec users - what settings typically give you a frosted look on clear polystyrene plastics ?
I've done about 25 tests so far and still haven't got it dialed in...
I've used Standard setting with various speed and power settings, 333 dpi, 500 dpi
I've used Photo Optimized also with several speed and power settings, and each dither pattern.
So far I think my best result was using Standard mode with Ordered Dithering, although the pattern of the Ordered Dithering was more noticeable than I would like.
Is it possible to just get a smooth etched look?
I was not using any masking but I could try it if that would help.
Having trouble getting a nice evenly frosted look - I seem to be getting something similar to a radial effect where there are areas appearing more frosted than others.
I'm getting this on thick text as well as bitmaps.
I thought it might have been variations in the plastic however the radial effect does not change when I rotate the plastic, or rotate the job.
Some observations so far -
More power takes the plastic from a frosted to a melted clear state again.
Faster speed may be responsible for the halo effect, from the laser not having enough time to power up fully when it needs to be (at the start and also at the end of the image).
Changing various dither patterns didn't eliminate the radial effect I was seeing.
Trotec users - what settings typically give you a frosted look on clear polystyrene plastics ?
I've done about 25 tests so far and still haven't got it dialed in...
I've used Standard setting with various speed and power settings, 333 dpi, 500 dpi
I've used Photo Optimized also with several speed and power settings, and each dither pattern.
So far I think my best result was using Standard mode with Ordered Dithering, although the pattern of the Ordered Dithering was more noticeable than I would like.
Is it possible to just get a smooth etched look?
I was not using any masking but I could try it if that would help.