Project:Laser-engraved Photo for Members Wall: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 18:10, 27 September 2024

ProjectInfoBox Laser-engraved photo for members wall

Status:	done
Initiator:	Micha

Here's how I created a laser-engraved photo for the Members Wall. If you have any questions or are missing some information, feel free to reach out to me via the wiki: User:Micha

There's already some information on laser-engraving photos elsewhere in the wiki: Laser Engraving Photos. That information wasn't fully applicable to our current laser cutter and was missing some information I needed as a dithering noob, though. So here's what worked for me.

Note that all screenshots and pictures were taken from a privacy-enhanced version of my original project. I plan to enhance this project page with a couple more of them.

Step-by-step guide:

Follow guide on Members Wall page to create word document
Add black-and-white photo
Turn the Word file into a JPG (there is probably a better way to do this 🤓):
- remove table borders in Word (the following step will mess these up, somehow),
- select everything and copy-paste "as a picture" into PowerPoint (on an empty slide),
- in PowerPoint, you may want to add a new border,
- select everything, then right-click and "Save As Picture..."
Follow steps on Laser Engraving Photos, especially, use Gimp to:
- Use the Rectangle Select Tool (R) to select just the picture.
- Make it very bright, via the menu: Color->Brightness-Contrast. You may need to apply and re-open the tool multiple times:
- Go to Filter->Enhance->Sharpen (Unsharp Mask): increase the amount to get sharp lines but not black areas.
- Go to Colors->Dither: set R/G/B levels to 2; experiment with Dithering Method, Blending Mode (should be (almost) binary, basically just black and white pixels)
Save and drop resulting JPG onto laser file share, etc.
Experiment with laser cutter to engrave on Poplar Plywood. Test with a small section of the image, e.g. the eyes. If things are too dark, maybe brighten the image more.
These are the settings I used:
- Engrave, Speed = 500, Power = 100
- Cut, Speed = 15, Power = 100

Big thanks to Lukas for a looooot of help and getting me back on the right track.

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Here's how I created a laser-engraved photo for the [[Members Wall]]. If you have any questions or are missing some information, feel free to reach out to me via the wiki: [[User:Micha]]
-There's already some information on laser-engraving photos elsewhere in the wiki: [[Laser Engraving Photos]]
+There's already some information on laser-engraving photos elsewhere in the wiki: [[Laser Engraving Photos]]. That information wasn't fully applicable to our current laser cutter and was missing some information I needed as a dithering noob, though. So here's what worked for me.
-That information wasn't fully applicable to our current laser cutter and was missing some information I needed as a dithering noob, though. So here's what worked for me.
 Note that all screenshots and pictures were taken from a privacy-enhanced version of my original project.
@@ Line 21: / Line 20: @@
 Step-by-step guide:
-** Follow guide on [[Members Wall]] page to create word document
+* Follow guide on [[Members Wall]] page to create word document
-** Add black-and-white photo
+* Add black-and-white photo
-** Turn the Word file into a JPG (there is probably a better way to do this 🤓):
+* Turn the Word file into a JPG (there is probably a better way to do this 🤓):
-*** remove table borders in Word (the following step will mess these up, somehow),
+** remove table borders in Word (the following step will mess these up, somehow),
-*** select everything and copy-paste "as a picture" into PowerPoint (on an empty slide),
+** select everything and copy-paste "as a picture" into PowerPoint (on an empty slide),
-*** in PowerPoint, you may want to add a new border,
+** in PowerPoint, you may want to add a new border,
-*** select everything, then right-click and "Save As Picture..."
+** select everything, then right-click and "Save As Picture..."
-** Follow steps on [[Laser Engraving Photos]], especially, use Gimp to:
+* Follow steps on [[Laser Engraving Photos]], especially, use Gimp to:
-*** Use the ''Rectangle Select Tool (R)'' to select just the picture.
+** Use the ''Rectangle Select Tool (R)'' to select just the picture.
-*** Make it very bright, via the menu: ''Color->Brightness-Contrast''. You may need to apply and re-open the tool multiple times:
+** Make it very bright, via the menu: ''Color->Brightness-Contrast''. You may need to apply and re-open the tool multiple times:
-***: [[File:Increase Brightness in GIMP.png|frameless|500x500px]]
+**: [[File:Increase Brightness in GIMP.png|frameless|500x500px]]
-*** Go to ''Filter->Enhance->Sharpen (Unsharp Mask)'': increase the amount to get sharp lines but not black areas.
+** Go to ''Filter->Enhance->Sharpen (Unsharp Mask)'': increase the amount to get sharp lines but not black areas.
-*** Go to Colors->Dither: set R/G/B levels to 2; experiment with Dithering Method, Blending Mode (should be (almost) binary, basically just black and white pixels)
+** Go to Colors->Dither: set R/G/B levels to 2; experiment with Dithering Method, Blending Mode (should be (almost) binary, basically just black and white pixels)
-***: [[File:Dither.png|500x500px]]
+**: [[File:Dither.png|500x500px]]
-** Save and drop resulting JPG onto laser file share, etc.
+* Save and drop resulting JPG onto laser file share, etc.
-** Experiment with laser cutter to engrave on Poplar Plywood. Test with a small section of the image, e.g. the eyes. If things are too dark, maybe brighten the image more. <br> These are the settings I used:
+* Experiment with laser cutter to engrave on Poplar Plywood. Test with a small section of the image, e.g. the eyes. If things are too dark, maybe brighten the image more. <br> These are the settings I used:
-*** Engrave, Speed = 500, Power = 100
+** Engrave, Speed = 500, Power = 100
-*** Cut, Speed = 15, Power = 100
+** Cut, Speed = 15, Power = 100
 Big thanks to Lukas for a looooot of help and getting me back on the right track.