Hello
I have a creality Falcon 2 22w and work with lightburn.
I would like to engrave something on slate.
Is it correct that I have to convert this into the negative (how do I set it up in lightburn?
Which setting should I use for lasering?
Speed: 6000mm/min
Power: 40%
There are a lot of variables. Even slate is slightly different from quarry to quarry.
Yes, It’s true!
Most laser art is a dark mark on lighter wood or paper. A laser will make a light-colored mark on dark stone. That’s why the Negative Image is essential.
You can flick a switch on the Image Layer and invert the output.
For this, you Import the Image into LightBurn and it will land on an Image layer (unless it’s a vector illustration or line drawing). Double-Click the Image Layer to open the Cut Settings Editor. Right under Image Settings, on the top right-hand side, you’ll see the switch for Negative Image.
In LightBurn, under Laser Tools, you’ll need to perform the Material test once or twice and then the Interval test. You use the Material test to get the nicest white outline (Line test) in slate which gives you a good solid lead on the finest ( smallest ) dot.
When I was testing slate I felt that there wasn’t much available in terms of Grayscale. Dithering is a process that replaces the image with scattered high-contrast dots (throughout the art) to give the impression of grayscale but it’s just Black dots, or in this case, with slate, White dots.
When you’re scattering high-contrast dots you want to get them as close together as possible (with zero overlap) to get maximum contrast.
If the dots on your slate are too far apart, the resulting image will be too dark.
If the dots overlap you get a Blizzard of white dots; or worse, an avalanche. It’s important to get your dot size right.
I’ve seen some folks crank up their Lines per inch or Dots per inch well past what the laser can do; sometimes double or triple. Don’t do it. It doesn’t help at all.
In the Cut Settings Editor, enter the Speed and Power Settings where your preferred results showed up in testing. Enter the percent power under Max power. GRBL controllers take control of dropping power in cornering but we shouldn’t see much cornering if you’re engraving an image.
Enter your Line Interval from the Interval test into the Image Settings. That will give you your DPI.
For your Image Settings, you should turn off ‘Passthrough’ and select something other than Grayscale. Stucki and Jarvis are probably pretty reasonable. There’s some clever math in these to obscure the pattern.
This video is highly recommended.
Have fun and be prepared to wreck materials on your way.
Duplicate post?
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