I’ve watched a bunch of videos, including one that guaranteed success. Just not getting the results that I expect.
Would someone be willing to teach me how to do so with a specific photo example, including using mask (I think is needed) to eliminate portions/as well as to test with small subsections?
Photo engraving is one of the toughest items to accomplish with a laser.
Sometimes it’s advantageous to use photo editing software to eliminate any of the areas you don’t need/want. I use Gimp, which is free. Of course that’s another package to learn 
I’d suggest you watch the Laser Everything video on photo engraving. It’s a great video, even though it’s done with a fiber, it gives you a procedure that works with any laser using any material.
Good luck
Oh my. Are you suggesting better results can be had from CNC? I have lots of CNC capacity. I have more equipment than anyone with my skills should legally be allowed. I will research your suggestions. Thanks!
All of these lasers and other computer controlled machines, along with our Subaru are cnc machines…
I’m not suggesting a mechanical bit type device if that’s the idea. Not at hobby prices if you want fine resolution. If you have previous machining with cnc, there isn’t much difference in basic operation.
However, creating photos with a lasers takes time and patience.
Did you watch the video…?
Hi Todd,
I don’t usually engrave much, but I can show/explain to you how my workflow will be when I make images.
The biggest problem, in my eyes, is the material we engrave on. Roughly speaking, the harder the material, the better the result. But, we have to take what we have and it is usually relatively soft birch plywood.
The image itself often needs to be adjusted and cropped a bit, raising the contrasts is the most used improvement we use, to make the finished product more crisp. I do this in LightBurn, right after the book, the same applies to cropping. Here I draw a shape that the image should have and use “apply mask to image” and then “flatten image mask”, if the result suits me.
Now I have to choose which image mode I want to use. If I don’t know it, I have to test it. For that, I use a small clip of the photo and test the different modes. I write the results on a piece of paper with the numbers I used during the test. When I have found the mode(s) that look best, I move on to the next step.
Now I try to change the resolution, speed and power until it looks good, everything has to be written down otherwise we can’t remember it in the end. Sometimes I print it together with the test on the material I use.
When it comes to the resolution, we have to be aware that our laser beam makes a point that is approx. 0.075 mm plus or minus. It causes problems to choose a resolution that is too high as the laser points just overlap each other and burn the material without improving the image quality.
Birch wood tends to give very light results, some pre-treat the wood with a soda solution or similar, others try with more power. In my test examples, the most dark areas are just embossed deeper into the wood, so this is not the path I want to go. I think the more experienced image laser engravers process their originals much more before they start playing with the laser settings.
My best recommendation would be to experiment as much as possible and gather experience, it is very interesting and gives the best results, because it is your own machine and your own material that you work with.
In the test image you can see tests with all image modes, then in the bottom 2 rows, there are “Javist” and “Stucki”, both with 250mm/s 11.5% max power and 8.75 min power and a line spacing of 0.067mm which corresponds to 379 DPI.
I hope this can help you get started with your image engraving, enjoy the tests.
(the settings in the last picture are not the settings from the finished picture itself, They are like I wrote a little earlier.)
If you think about your image as just a black and white photo, it mostly comes down to a balance of contrast and brightness.
But first all settings need to be dialed in such as line interval, dot width correction, image mode, speed, power all need to be dialed in to get a decent image.
And of course, the choice of materials will completely change all settings. Tile vs wood vs slate etc.
Master images and everything else is a piece of cake.
