Converting programs for Engraving Manual Method and Adobe Photoshop

[Frank Corker]

Okay a lot of people have been saying the difficulties of using Photograv and have been shown the manual method using Adobe Photoshop.

Now Rodney Gold who is one of the moderators and guru from this site, conceived a method of using Photoshop and manual settings. The method gives a remarkably similar result and I quite often use it more than Photograv. Unfortunately either not many people wrote it down, don't know about it or have got confused trying to do it or they cannot be bothered because it is quite a long process. Rodney has already suggested in another post that we get together to try and make a fast method. I think I have created this solution. Read on.

Attached there is a zipped file. Extract it and inside you will find another file appropriately named The Gold Method.exe (that one's for you Rodney). Double click on it and please read the instructions, especially the beginning where it will extract the file to.

If you are using Adobe Photoshop CS3, it is a no brainer. If you are just using Adobe Photoshop then you will have to extract the contained file to this location:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop\Presets\Actions

This will be the location of your preset action folder, if you still get it wrong then manually copy them over.

Okay there is a feature in Adobe which is seldom used called 'ACTIONS'. By activating one of these actions it will automatically allow you to convert any picture, colour or otherwise into a suitable engraving ready image in seconds, using Rodney's tried and tested method, but without any input from you other than pressing a button. (Anybody have a problem pressing buttons??????)

I have made actions for the following processes;

300dpi positive
400dpi positive
600dpi positive

300dpi negative
400dpi negative
600dpi negative On the negative ones, I have flipped the image as I was thinking about reverse engraving when I created them. If you are not reverse engraving (i.e. a mirror) then just click flip horizontal. It must be done in Photoshop before you save it.

Here are a couple of things you need to do. SIZE YOUR IMAGE FIRST (8"x10" etc) and then save it. Then run The Gold Method.

The installation will only ever need to be done the once.

Please don't be a lurker, if you try it, post your thoughts or suggestions so that we can look at them again or if it works for you, let's hear that also. We try to help one another so please make the effort.

[martin g. boekers]

Frank,
I tried to download your zip file, but then it logged me off the forum?

Any idea what happened?

I tried this a couple times with the same result.

Thanks,

Marty

[Frank Corker]

It shouldn't have done that Martin. PM me your email address.

[Scott Shepherd]

Does it work with Photoshop Elements Frank? I don't see an "Action" folder in my Presets folder.

I'm guessing no?

[Mike Null]

Frank

Any chance you can set this up for Photopaint?

[Darren Null]

Heh. "The Gold Method". Sounds like a pyramid sales outfit.
=8-)

Thanks for making that action Frank. I was going to do it, but my roundtoit got delayed at customs.

[Doug Griffith]

Hi Frank,
Whats in the executable? I'd like to try this out but am a Mac user. Can you compress the actions/directions into a zip?

Also, there is an even less used feature in Photoshop (and Illustrator) where scripts can be ran. See http://www.adobe.com/devnet/photoshop/scripting This may be a better way to go than actions. Not sure.

I've got quite a bit of experience in this and can help if needed.

Cheers,
Doug

[matt heinzel]

Wow great! I ran the script with great results! I haven't engraved anything yet, but so far so good!

[Frank Corker]

Well things are looking pretty positive then. This is the original script that Rodney came up with. The actions are just a way of doing it automatically without having to give it much thought.

1) Convert to 8 bit greyscale (image/mode/greyscale)
2) Resize the image to the size its gonna get engraved using 150-300 ppi (150 for less detail)
(image/image size)
3) Bump up contrast and brightness about +25 in
both cases - you dont want the pic to be insipid areas of medium grey. (image/adjusyments/brightess-contrast)
4) Heres the VITAL part - use unsharp mask at 500% and a radius of 3-5 pixels - threshold 0 - this will exaggerate edges radically , but thats what you need. In fact you can do this and then STILL add another unsharp mask at 150 % , 1pixel and 0 threshold AFTER the 1st unsharp if you want even more edge detection
(filter/sharpuen/unsharp mask)
5) Convert to a bitmap using 125-150ppi and a diffusion pattern. (image/mode/bitmap)
5) laser.


That is basically all that is in the actions script, except that when you do it manually it takes a few minutes, using this it takes about 30 seconds. The way I have configured it even removes the requirement to choose the correct dpi settings and get the positive and negative issued dealt with.

I'm sorry for those of you who have Elements and Photopaint, I don't have them on my computer so not too aware of what's available. I'm sure that someone will be able to sort out something similar for other programs.

[Lee DeRaud]

Well things are looking pretty positive then. This is the original script that Rodney came up with. The actions are just a way of doing it automatically without having to give it much thought.

1) Convert to 8 bit greyscale (image/mode/greyscale)
2) Resize the image to the size its gonna get engraved using 150-300 ppi (150 for less detail)
(image/image size)
3) Bump up contrast and brightness about +25 in
both cases - you dont want the pic to be insipid areas of medium grey. (image/adjusyments/brightess-contrast)
4) Heres the VITAL part - use unsharp mask at 500% and a radius of 3-5 pixels - threshold 0 - this will exaggerate edges radically , but thats what you need. In fact you can do this and then STILL add another unsharp mask at 150 % , 1pixel and 0 threshold AFTER the 1st unsharp if you want even more edge detection
(filter/sharpuen/unsharp mask)
5) Convert to a bitmap using 125-150ppi and a diffusion pattern. (image/mode/bitmap)
5) laser.

If you're working with a "negative" medium (e.g. black granite), what's the optimal point in this sequence to do the invert?

I don't have any Photoshop (except maybe the freebie version that came with one of my cameras), but I'm going to take a look at the API for PhotoPaint and see if I can cobble up a VBA script for some or all of it.

[Darren Null]

Whats in the executable?

It's a self-extracting archive that (hopefully) puts the files in the right place automatically.

Attached is a zip with just the action file and instructions. So you have to put the files where they should be manually.

[Doug Griffith]

Thanks a bunch.

On a Mac the path is:
/Applications/Adobe Photoshop CS3/Presets/Actions/Commands.atn

[David Dustin]

Thank you soo much, I was ready to buy photgrav and was wondering why there wasn't a good equivilant in Photoshop.

Because of my other business (crash animations) we use photo shop as much as 3ds Max (the best animation software in the world, but I am biased).

On another note: has anyone ever tried using Normal maps for engraving?
Normal maps are used a lot in video games and 3d work to give fake displacement and to show texture.

Thanks,
David
EDIT: I just tested the action on PS CS and it worked perfect!

[Carrol Fleming]

I managed to get everything working and ran a trial. I had actually been fiddling with photos today so had another piece I had done with pictures I had worked on in CorelDraw.

The top two pictures are done in CorelDraw using the following method:
Effects - Adjust - Desaturate (converts to greyscale).
Effects - Adjust - Hue/Saturation/Lightnesses - set saturation to -100.

With the picture on the left I then adjusted the brightness of the picture.

Using the Gold Method, the bottom two pictures, I did not make any further adjustments to either of the pictures so the picture on the left is a bit dark. The wood used in the Gold method is also slightly darker.

Basically I would definitely try the Gold method first before going through the hassle of fiddling around. I had tried the step by step Gold method before but had shelved it for a "free time day" which finally arrived!!

Thanks Rodney and Frank
Carrol

[R. A. Mitchell]

Frank,

I don't know what I was doing wrong with the manual instructions before, but your actions piece seems to have straightened me out. This has been the most helpful piece of advice from this forum yet.

Thank you!

Rob