Engrave the plaque after removing the paper mask and let it dry. To engrave an acrylic plaque, use very low power settings - just enough to frost the surface on clear acrylic or remove the paint on painted acrylic PhotoGrav automatically sets an appropriate power value when acrylic is the selected material. PhotoGrav automatically processes photos for 'back' engraving on acrylics unless you override the default. Engraving on the back of the plaque, with the photo flipped left-to-right, always looks better than engraving on the face of the plaque. Oak is light colored but the laser engraving is light also so your photo will not show up well at all. These characteristics result in a very inconsistent and uneven engraving.Īlso, if you try to increase contrast using the dye technique of tip 1, then the dye bleeds like crazy under the plaque surface.

Oak is very porous and has an uneven grain hardness. Also, it is not necessary to seal the engraving first with the neutral polish because the walnut wood grain is tighter than cherry or maple so the polish won't bleed into the grain.Įngraving photos on Oak wood plaques. Then, after engraving, use the dye procedure described in tip 1 above to attempt to get more contrast. If you do need to laser the photo into walnut, then use PhotoGrav settings for walnut that result in higher contrast and very little, or no, dot-dither shading so the processed image looks similar to a line drawing. Walnut is a traditional wood in the industry but it surely does not work well for photo laser engraving since it tends to be quite dark and therefore results in very little contrast. Rubbing alcohol will clean some stains, but use sparingly as it can attack some wood finishes. Shoe dye dries quickly and it is difficult or impossible to remove stains if you go too slowly and let it dry unevenly.

Care must be taken to prevent dye from bleeding under the plaque surface into the pores of the wood, permanently damaging the plaque. The tips are primarily 'finishing tips' that should enhance the appearance of the engraved photos.Īfter engraving, the use of liquid shoe polish will darken the engraved areas thus increasing the contrast. The tips are provided for a variety of the most common engraving materials that are suitable for engraving photographs.

This Appendix consists of Engraving 'tips' which should assist you when you are ready to actually engrave the photographs that you have processed in PhotoGrav.

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