engraving photos on mirror back

[Dan Hill]

Hi,
I am trying to engrave photos on mirror backs and have not had good results. I am hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.
I am using a 50w ULS and have the latest version of Photograve, Corel X3, and PSP 9. I have been experimenting with various laser settings and have more or less decided that may pe the way I prep the photos prior to Corel that is giving me fits. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Dan Hill

[Shaddy Dedmore]

Can't really help without more info... What do you mean by not having good results?

Lasers aren't the best for photo's on glass. Too much power causes too much fracturing. Mirror backs as sometimes inconsistant with the thickness, so you have to use higher power to get through all the spots to compensate.

That leaves it hard to make photos turn out good. Maybe use mirrored acrylic?
http://titanmirror.com/

Shaddy

[Lorene Fangman]

Hi Dan,
I have done mirrors and they have turned out fine. You really need to play with the contrast and brightness. And what params you use for photograv matters also, I used the glass params, remember whites burn blacks do not when doing glass params. I have burned on the grey metal colored backs and the cheap red backs. Feel free to contact me at mwlaserimages@mcleodusa.net and I can forwards some pics for you. Good luck!! Lorene

[Jason Jenkins 2]

I use a versalaser 25 watt to engrave photos on the backs of mirrors. I start by erasing the background with photoshop, then run the picture through photograv using light cherry. I set my laser to 100% power and 40% speed and set ppi to 300. the results are really nice. paint the back with black paint for a nice contrast.228467

[Tim Bateson]

Buy 2. One for testing and one for the final product. The backing seems to be different - thicker or thinner on every brand of mirror. Here's one I did of my grandson. Looks washed out, but mirrors are hard to photograph.
228469