9 Tips for Laser Engraving Photos

[@akiddoo8113]

Another one to watch multiple times. Too much to adsorb in one pass for me. You are the best!

[@asherdiy]

Thanks! And you might just be my top commenter, thanks for watching!

[@vsjpoorni]

Thank you for explaining this very clearly!

[@TrevorMatthews]

Thats a really great video, I picked up a couple tips, thankyou

[@dian3145]

Excellent presentation!

[@divalea]

I’m glad I discovered your channel! I assembled my laser (and enclosure and ventilation) just this week, and I’m learning not to make things beautiful instead of crispy. 😅

[@asherdiy]

Hey - thanks for watching my channel, and good luck with the new set-up!

[@makeorbreakshop]

Great stuff, ha literally in the middle of filming a video pretty similar, loved how you explained the DPI/line interval.

[@asherdiy]

Hey Brandon - thanks! I'm glad you liked my crayon explainer lol

[@daviddale4288]

I would live to hear your thoughts on grayscale

[@PerrynBecky]

Good explanation and tips. Just subbed.

[@joelrob8606]

Excellent Merci .

[@leadbelly101greengrass3]

Love your contend and clarity of explanation it fills me with confidence to turn on my S1 which is now a year old and genuinely never been used, in my defence l do have a couple of excuses but there are only excuses. My next problem is from what l can see Lightburn is your go to. Should l bite the bullet and start to use Lightburn or just use xtool software, or more simply put instead of that being a loaded question, what advantages does Lightburn in general. I hear personal choice etc and software cost, leaving these out I'm at a fork in the road from a learning process.

[@asherdiy]

hey - thanks for the kind words. Regarding XTools software vs. Lightburn, I’m definitely a fan of Lightburn, but I do think it depends on the situation because XTool’s software is also a solid option. My general take on which to learn depends on how far you plan to go with engraving. If you want to learn advanced techniques and eventually use multiple lasers (including at least one laser that is not XTool brand) then Lightburn is a better option in my opinion. on the other hand, if you just want to use your S1 for simple projects, then XTools software should be good for that. Hope that helps.

[@leadbelly101greengrass3]

@asherdiy thanks brother, appreciated.

[@williamfoster7920]

Not all laser spots are round. CO2 yes... Diode, No. Diode laser spots are slightly rectangular depending on the power and manufacturer will depend on size and shape of rectangle. Otherwise, Great vid thanks'

[@asherdiy]

Hey William - thanks for the correction. I just typed up a comment replying to another commenter about the beam shape. Long story short - I agree with you! I did a bit of extra research after seeing your comment and it looks like diode lasers are generally rectangular and co2s are generally round in beam shape, and I had assumed that they were both basically round/elliptical. The good news is, this (still interesting) piece of laser anatomy doesn’t actually affect the steps suggested in this video, because the results of each step/test should be consistent regardless of the shape the user “thinks” his/her laser has. Cheers.

[@AAguilar74]

Quick question I am getting the toolpaths engraved lightly on my projects using lightburn and a Foxalien 40watt laser , actually laser is only 10watts . But sold as 40. Anyways what causes the too paths to engrave on my projects?

[@asherdiy]

Hm - I'm not sure. I'm actually running a project right now with a tool path, and the tool path is NOT cutting/engraving for me. To be clear, when I say tool path, I'm talking about the T1 and T2 layers. Maybe double check that you don't have the layer doubled up with a non-T layer on top of the T layer. Hope that helps!

[@JCloudfather1]

Lasers are rectangle shaped.

[@asherdiy]

@@JCloudfather1 - thanks for commenting here. I didn’t know that! I just did some brief additional research on this, and from what I’ve found so far, it seems like the beam from diode lasers specifically are rectangle shaped (just like you said), but that co2 laser beams are circular. So the info in this video should still fully apply to co2 lasers. For diode lasers, you’re right and my explanation of the beam shape was not perfectly accurate. And off the top of my head, I think the only real difference this would make for my tips in this video is the Dot Width Correction one. But when I test for dot width correction, I usually test multiple options to see what looks best, and what has the best appearance using an “eye test” shouldn’t change at all with a corrected understanding of the beam shape (one test image will look the best regardless of what shape the user believes the beam to be). And overall, the steps in the process still work consistently for me (I’ve used it many times on different materials and gotten great photos), so although I described the shape of a diode laser beam incorrectly, I don’t think this flawed understanding/explanation has any impact on the actual steps described in the tips in this video. Thanks again for the comment, always more for me to learn!

[@jessetutterrow4320]

It may be my old eyes or poor glasses but to me the 5/500 (at 11 minutes into the video) is better. This brings up a pet peeve of mine - people who assume that it is "obvious" that something is the best. How about another video where you have 8 dog images, and you go over each one pointing out the criteria that you used to select the best one?

[@asherdiy]

The options on the adjust image settings are fairly subjective, so I'm not surprised to hear that you (or others) might like a different option better. That's where personal preference comes in, and you can choose whichever combination of settings work best for your project. From my perspective, I think the most important piece of the puzzle here is knowing WHAT to test in the first place, and then choosing the results of those tests are up to each person. Anyway, thanks for the comment, and thanks for watching.