Hi all, I am a newbie but owned an epilog back in the the early 2000’s. Used it for about 5 years. I have ordered the nova 24 and am interested in 3d engraving but cannot seem to get a list software that works well and can be imported into lightburn. Way back I did grayscale photos on marble and wood. But it’s all changed and I need some input if you would. I think I used a software called PhotoGrav to create the 1 bit grayscale images. Although I am still interested in photo engravings, the 3d aspect really got my attention. … Thanks all
1-bit grayscale sounds like an oxymoron. Wouldn’t that just be on or off?
But bottom line, you can use any program that can generate files in the importable file formats. For 3d engraving I assume you’d want to generate a grayscale image. I know for sure 8-bit grayscale is supported. Not sure if higher bit-rates are supported or if that would even be of value.
Not sure if this suggestion will work for you or not but there’s a creator Schorchworks that has created several utilities for cnc routing, One of his utilities I used several years ago that did depth maps of grayscale images I used for lithophanes I believe. It’s created for mills or routers but you may be able to get it to work with laser idk. Or perhaps you could reach out to the creator and ask if he could modify it to fit your needs if not. He did do a lot of work with the K40 back then with K40 Whisperer.
Hey thanks for that! I did find out that there is a lot of software that can create the proper image i.e. photoshop, corel draw, blender. I am trying not to have to spend the big bucks. I would not think that the algorythim to create the grayscale only is with the expensive software. Just need to find one that will do the job. Hopefully after my nap I will be able to continue search LOL. Thanks again!
There’s a link in the 3D Sliced Engravings documentation for a free online app that converts STL to PNG heightmaps. I suspect this might also work for grayscale engravings.
The stl2png isn’t working for me. I select the stl file and nothing happens. Is it something in the model? It’s a very simple model of steel tread plate
It was a little finnicky for me when I tested this in the past. I’d suggest trying some other models or setting a different orientation before loading the file.
When it works it’s fairly obvious and quick. When it doesn’t work it’s somewhat cryptic and not obvious what’s happening.
You can try this sphere that I created and tested to work correctly.
