Proofs for laser engraving

[Bart Black]

What do you recommend for making proofs for laser engravings (on wood) ?
I have used vcarve before but it's not very good for detail as well as being cumbersome and slow.

sorry, duplicate post

[Ross Moshinsky]

I send email proofs for nearly every job we do. I print them as a PDF with the layout rasterized. 90% of my proofs are B&W. For more complicated projects or for customers that I question whether they'll "get it" I'll send something that looks more like a rendering.

Proofs are a life saver in this industry and any industry which is highly customized and personalized. It's so easy to make a mistake that getting extra eyes on the layout and making sure it meets the customer's expectation is paramount. It's well worth the extra bit of effort. It cuts waste and issues down big time.

[Bart Black]

I guess I should clarify some more. I could sent a black and white proof like what I use to send to the laser but that proof isn't like the product because it's isn't wood tone or wood grain.

With vcarve you can easily create proofs for carved signs, it pretty representative of the product and super easy to do. I know you can create a wood-grain engraved image from a lot of photo-edit s/w but it's pretty involved and not viable for production at least in the ways I know.

So do you wood engravers send wood-like proofs, just b/w or something else?

[Tim Bateson]

In the rare times I need something like what you are talking about, I'll get a picture of the item or similar one and overlay the engraving onto it.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

I use b/w proofs except for some rare, extra special, long-term customers when I will use a photo editor and a wood grain layer. Photograv can also create a simulation for you,

[Ross Moshinsky]

I guess I should clarify some more. I could sent a black and white proof like what I use to send to the laser but that proof isn't like the product because it's isn't wood tone or wood grain.

With vcarve you can easily create proofs for carved signs, it pretty representative of the product and super easy to do. I know you can create a wood-grain engraved image from a lot of photo-edit s/w but it's pretty involved and not viable for production at least in the ways I know.

So do you wood engravers send wood-like proofs, just b/w or something else?

If I were doing a 50 pc run on a moderately expensive item, I'd do a rendering to give a good idea what it would look like. I'd take the product image or a texture from Google image search and throw it in the background and adjust the engraving so be a close to accurate color and send them the same rasterized PDF.

If I'm doing 1 pc for a customer that saw the product in my shop, I'm sending them BW.

One thing to mention, the more elaborate the proof, the less the customer focuses on the details. They'll just look and say "oh wow, that looks nice". With a straight BW proof, there is less distraction so they are focused in on the actual engraving. Also, rendered proofs are just more work. You make it pretty for the picture and then have to undo half the work to make it BW. It's wasted time and generally I consider it more of a sales tool than anything.

[Kev Williams]

I only graphic proof wood jobs, and always with the same disclaimer: Laser engraving wood is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes dark, sometimes light, sometimes variegated, sometimes perfect.

I don't want to be held accountable when walnut that was expected to engrave darker, doesn't... :)

[Scott Shepherd]

Laser engraving wood is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes dark, sometimes light, sometimes variegated, sometimes perfect.

I don't want to be held accountable when walnut that was expected to engrave darker, doesn't... :)

Or when they tell you it's solid cherry and it's microlaminate cherry look-a-like on top of pressed sawdust from China :)

[John Lifer]

or when your customer says she bought 9 plaques and there are 5 different materials? From cheap lam, to good piano finish. And wants them to look the same.....