Hey everybody, I’m back with another experiment in materials. Slate engraves really nicely, it’s the photo editing that has to be done that can be tricky. Starting with a good photo is key, and what makes for a good photo for laser engraving on slate is a clear photo with minimal shadowing. There are many photos, like the first one we use of my niece, that are gorgeous in real life, the subtle shadows actually compliment the composition of the photo. What we found though is that more extensive photo editing is necessary to get the best rendering which we did not, even with the second attempt, so not every photo is a great candidate for laser engraving on slate. I’m going to see if we can engrave the same photos on acrylic to see what we get. The second rendition of my niece’s photo is dramatically improved however, some spot editing where the shadows appear would be required to get the best result. Check it out and bear in mind that this is our first time working with slate ????.

As you can see, the photo of my mom had some shadowing on it so her facial features aren’t as well defined as we’d like, but we were experimenting-learning by doing. I will do more reading on this subject over the next few days to see if we can pick up a few more tips about photo editing that are specific to engraving slate. I hope to try these same photos on wood and acrylic. Cameron is creating a jig for my silicone iPhone 13 case and I’m going to design an SVG to engrave it with. I also intend to do a rubber stamp. I have been wanting to have a stamp that “brands” the cards I make. Wooo hooooooo!