Hi all,
I have never really tried to make an edge lit acrylic piece before, but I’ve had an idea I can’t shake so I guess I’ll be trying soon! This will be a type of lit sign. Normally I’d just start experimenting but getting materials is a bit tricky for me at the moment, so I’d like to make sure I’m not making a horrible mistake first.
What I would really like are glowing letters on a black background. To that end, could I spray the clear acrylic with black paint on one side before I engrave? Then the engrave would remove paint and engrave in the same step? Though it literally just occurred to me that if I’m edge lighting then could I paint afterwards right over the engrave? I’m not sure if there’s an advantage one way or the other.
Also, I have read about increasing the depth of the engrave the further away from the light source, which makes sense to me. I would guess I will need to apply a gradient to my design, then use an option in the settings that changes based on that. Does anyone have any guidance on which of the methods would work best? I’m guessing Vary Power but I’m open to suggestion!
Thank you!
edit: I should add that I’m assuming I’d be engraving the back side. I would really love to do the front as I think the black paint would hide anything unintentional, but I’m not sure if front engraved, side lit lettering looks as good. Any advice here would be great as well.