Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Laser Engraving

[Christopher Pepin]

I use Adobe Illustrator CS2 with a pinnacle 40watt laser. I have been experimenting with black marble and I am having problems getting th eimage to come out properly. I used 100 speed, 35 power and the image itself comes out looking "wrong". I have used these same settings through Microsoft paintbrush and get much better results. Of course the problem with paintbrush is that it is difficult to size items. I have had very good luck with Illustrator for my other projects. Anyone have experience on using illustrator for engraving photos on marble?

[Rodne Gold]

Check out other threads here in respect of Photoengraving. The graphics package you use is not that relevant in terms of what you want to do , its how the GCC driver interprets the results. (look at the recent post on "Huge Files" for a lot more info http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=39439 )
If you could post a pic of the "wrong" engraving , it would help to diagnose exactly where the problem arises.
If you arent happy with how Illustrator CS2 handles the file , use Photoshop or download a freeware program like Irfanview
http://www.irfanview.com which is way more potent than paintbrush for raster based (bitmap files)

[Dave Jones]

If it's something black that is causing the problem, check the value. AI defaults to using CMYK color space and the default CMYK black in their palette is not a true rich black.