One of my favorite things to do with my laser engraver is to engrave photos! I've sold quite a few Engraved Wood Photos off Etsy and have received great feedback :) They make such great gifts!
One thing I have to be sure of is that the original photo is of good quality. It needs to be a high resolution digital image or a good quality print that I can scan at a high resolution. The better the photo, the better the engraving. I can play with settings in photo editing software, but the original photo is important.
While getting ready for the open house at the winery, I wanted to have a sample photo to set out. I scanned a favorite family photo and did my needed adjustments and lasered away. The results were less than stellar as you can see here:
When I scanned the photo, I didn't realize it had scanned as an 8.5x11 screen size making the actual photo a small size. You can see how the detail gets lost and the image is dark. After scanning it again to a true photo size and raising the resolution, the second results were much better :)
You can see much more detail. The engraving is beautiful! I got lots of complements on this photo at the open house and I'm so glad I tried again and fixed my mistake. But I'm glad to have the "mistake" photo to show people how important it is to have a good photo to start with.
What "mistakes" have you learned from lately?
When I scanned the photo, I didn't realize it had scanned as an 8.5x11 screen size making the actual photo a small size. You can see how the detail gets lost and the image is dark. After scanning it again to a true photo size and raising the resolution, the second results were much better :)
You can see much more detail. The engraving is beautiful! I got lots of complements on this photo at the open house and I'm so glad I tried again and fixed my mistake. But I'm glad to have the "mistake" photo to show people how important it is to have a good photo to start with.
What "mistakes" have you learned from lately?
Wow, that does make a huge difference, that second engraving looks fabulous! I seem to learn from my 'mistakes' all the time, but I never look at them that way! Instead I see them as guideposts, directing me as I go. :) Here's one I can't seem to grasp... I order way too many business cards at a time... I'm always creating new cards ~ love it, but I hate the waste! I really need to work on that! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a change! I'm glad you figured out your mistake because that 2nd one looks wonderful! My cousin is still amazed that you took Tink's photo and made such a lovely pendant for her but I told her you were just amazing and can do anything! :)
ReplyDeletevery good lesson for all of us! Mistakes? Me? {:-D
ReplyDeleteSo neat! I saw the first one and thought it looked fantastic. As I read on and realized that one was the reject and an even more awesome one was made, I was so surprised! What a cool product!
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea to have the 'mistake' with you since the client would be able to understand what is required of them to have satisfaction in the quality!
ReplyDeleteMy non-mistakes are not cheap, but in formulating my own designs, I often have prototypes and "rejects" that get piled up in the house. I realise that even though I don't like them, others who cannot afford the "perfect" version are happy to buy the "mistake" version at a cheaper price. Since then, I started offering them too.