Photograv Dithers..then Epilog uses Standard in addition..wondering about effect ?

[Larry Bratton]

This may be a stupid question but I'll chance it.
When raster engraving with the Epilog driver, the default is Standard Dithering. If one has used a program such as Photograv to dither a photo or other prior to printing, would the additional dithering applied by the Epilog driver have an adverse effect on the engraving? Just seems redundant to me. Does Photograv compensate for this?

[Rodne Gold]

Photograv's output is 1 bit - IE black. Will your driver dither black?

[Frank Corker]

When you use Photograv you have to enter you machine details, Maybe it has already been factored in, Epilog newsleter are now recommmending Photlaser Engraveplus but I have never had the oppotunity to try it.

[Dan Hintz]

When raster engraving with the Epilog driver, the default is Standard Dithering. If one has used a program such as Photograv to dither a photo or other prior to printing, would the additional dithering applied by the Epilog driver have an adverse effect on the engraving? Just seems redundant to me. Does Photograv compensate for this?

Any extra dithering step after PG will effect the final image, though maybe not to a large enough degree to be noticeable. PG exports as a 1-bit dithered image already.

[Rodne Gold]

Dont engrave PGRAV output as a photo. it has no greyscale.

[Larry Bratton]

Dont engrave PGRAV output as a photo. it has no greyscale.

I'm not sure I understand this. Are you saying not to use any other dithering method in the driver other than standard? Their is not an option for No dithering, which seems to be in error. If it were an option, then one could use other methods and be assured that the output would not be affected.

[Larry Bratton]

When you use Photograv you have to enter you machine details, Maybe it has already been factored in, Epilog newsleter are now recommmending Photlaser Engraveplus but I have never had the oppotunity to try it.

I guess that's part of my question Frank, does Photograv compensate for that someway? Could this possibly be a reason for poor output from an Epilog using PG? (or at least a variable in some cases)
I too saw the announcement about the Engraveplus, and watched the propaganda video. I have not seen what the cost of this program is as of yet, but based on the supposed wonderful results they achieved, you can bet it won't be cheap.

[Larry Bratton]

Photograv's output is 1 bit - IE black. Will your driver dither black?

I have not a clue. I assume so.

[Darryl Hazen]

Has anyone seen this new software from Epilog? Just received the info this morning. Looks very promising. No price listed.

http://www.epiloglaser.com/photo_laser_plus.htm

[Scott Shepherd]

Has anyone seen this new software from Epilog? Just received the info this morning. Looks very promising. No price listed.

It's a product of Cadlink, their product line is "Engrave Lab" and this photo product is listed at $495.

[Larry Bratton]

It's a product of Cadlink, their product line is "Engrave Lab" and this photo product is listed at $495.

Choke!!!!!! Are you saying the new software is listed at $495. I looked on their website and saw the Photolaser Plus but didn't see a price. They sell through distributors too, so that may be where we have to find the real price.

[Dee Gallo]

Tempting, but high priced... I don't want to be the guinea pig, but would love to know just how much you have to prepare the photo to make it work well. Seems like they used high quality pics, without the usual washouts or funny stuff we have to remove before they can be used. And I don't see a background removal feature, so that would still have to be done in PhotoShop/ CorelPaint anyway. I'd like someone to take a crappy pic and run it through... THAT would sell me if it worked!

dee

[Larry Bratton]

Well, obviously we have gotten off of the original topic. If anyone would like to respond to that it would be good. Maybe we can start another thread on the software. Thanks

[Rodne Gold]

A photo will have shades of grey , the driver would interpret this as black dots with spaces - IE it would use a dither pattern to space these black dots in a certain way.
However Pgrav has already done this and is merely sending the black dots and spacings for engraving - your driver should see no shades of grey at all , merely solid black dots/areas and it would not need to dither at all. All you should do is engrave it as if it were a drawing that had black areas.

[Larry Bratton]

A photo will have shades of grey , the driver would interpret this as black dots with spaces - IE it would use a dither pattern to space these black dots in a certain way.
However Pgrav has already done this and is merely sending the black dots and spacings for engraving - your driver should see no shades of grey at all , merely solid black dots/areas and it would not need to dither at all. All you should do is engrave it as if it were a drawing that had black areas.

So, the bottom line is that the dither that Epilog calls Standard and is the default would have no adverse effect on a Photograv processed image?