My Photo Attempts

[Travis Reese]

I've been experimenting with photo engraving. I'm still not quite sure I've got the process down. Some just haven't turned out well at all. I've almost determined that the source photo itself plays a large part in how well it will engrave. I tried ULS 1 touch and wasn't thrilled with the results. With the photo below I used the Gold Method that has been detailed and discussed here in many posts. What I'm still having a hard time with is the resolution. It seems like LaserCut simply expects the photo at 300 dpi. If I size a photo to 4x6 at 300 dpi and import it to LC then it imports as 4x6. If I size a photo to 4x6 at 600 dpi then it imports into LC at 8x12. I'm using Photoshop to do the sizing and I'm resampling so it should be correct. In any event, the photo below is done at 300 dpi and 4"x6". I did it on both marble and acrylic. Came out well on both I think.

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[Ross Moshinsky]

Those aren't bad looking at all. And yes the source file is a huge factor. The old saying still applies: Garbage In - Garbage Out.

DPI is a scaler when in digital form. Nothing less. Nothing More. A 5x10 100dpi image is exactly the same as a 2.5x5 200dpi image. It is also exactly the same as a 1x2 500dpi image. So to speak in practical terms, when you have that 600dpi image coming in at 8x12, simply grab it and make it a 4x6. Now it's magically a 4x6 600dpi image. The only time DPI actually exists is when you start printing. In the digital world, it is simply telling your computer how to scale an image so it looks right on your screen.

[Travis Reese]

Hmmm.... Is engraving it with the laser not akin to printing? So if I have a source image that is 16"x20" at 300 dpi and I want to engrave it at 4"x5" at 600 dpi, what should I do? I would think that I would go into photoshop and resize it to 4x5 at 600 dpi. But if I do that and bring it into LC it comes in as a 8x10.

[Ross Moshinsky]

First, engraving photos at high resolution is not necessarily the best idea. What creates the grayscale look is the space between dots. More resolution = less space between dots.

Second, if you have a 16"x20" photo that you want to engrave at 600 dpi, you should go into Photoshop and resize to 4x5 @ 600dpi. Import into LC. Take the image in LC and scale it by 50%. Now you have a 4x5 image @ 600dpi.

Last, lasering is printing. So when you run at 100, 300, 600, or 1000dpi and actually make an lasered image, then dpi exists. As long as you're in the digital world, DPI is just a scaler.

[Travis Reese]

Hmm... not sure I can wrap my head around that. I thought you were not supposed to resize at all after applying gold method effects. And that also seems to indicate that LC is indeed always expecting 300 dpi if I want what I bring in to be at the proper scale.

[Ross Moshinsky]

You're not resizing. You're correcting a fault in a poorly engineered piece of software.

[Dee Gallo]

I know nothing about LC or Rabbit, but those two examples look pretty darned good to me! And you managed to get the kid's face in the right spot to avoid the veins hitting him - good planning.

[Travis Reese]

You're not resizing. You're correcting a fault in a poorly engineered piece of software.
Now that I can wrap my head around.

[Travis Reese]

I know nothing about LC or Rabbit, but those two examples look pretty darned good to me! And you managed to get the kid's face in the right spot to avoid the veins hitting him - good planning.

More like luck than planning. :) But good to know that what I'm getting are pretty good results.