This is my first post . I just received my Glowforge Pro last week. I have never lasered anything until last week? I have spent many hours reading the posts in this community. How do I set the engraving to engrave lighter? Right side of the face is darker than the picture. I used medium draft board. Here are some screenshots .
Try washing the soot out of the engraving first, you might find that it lightens substantially after that.
You can adjust that pattern density setting though shown in your screenshot.
6 Likes
Try taking the masking off first and see what it looks like. The paper tends to pick up a good amount of char, but it should be lighter underneath.
If it’s still not light enough, you’ll either want to lighten the picture (or aim for a more balanced overall design) or alter the settings slightly.
2 Likes
Thank you very much!
I was so excited after it finished I forgot to remove the top paper. The picture is still dark. I will try adjusting the settings, Thank you for helping me,
3 Likes
Adjusting the setting for a little less power/more speed will help and you can also try lowering the LPI. If adjusting settings doesn’t give you the result your looking for consider adjusting your photo. You did a really nice job with it and I think you’re almost there. Keep in mind that when it’s optimized for the laser it will look washed out with too much contrast to be considered a well adjusted photo that’s pleasing to the eye. The left side looks really good on your engraving and if you photo program can do it, I’d suggest using a brush to selectively lighten and highlight parts of the right side of the photo to balance it out. It’s such an adorable photo!
8 Likes
Oh my goodness, thank you so very much for your help, I need to clarify something. I originally took the photo with my iPhone and I use the photo for my Facebook avatar. A friend from FB took the photo off the Internet and made all the adjustments through Photoshop. He E-mailed the photo file back to me and I uploaded the file to the GF app.
Thank you regarding the compliment for “my heart.” He is an 18 month old Westie (West Highland White Terrier)
3 Likes
One thing I would highly recommend is to use the image from your phone instead of the Facebook photo. Resolution definitely matters.
3 Likes
You can also give it a light wash with bleach and then a quick wash in water and dry.
4 Likes
Your friend did a good job then! So next time tell them the pic needs to be a bit brighter with more contrast for engraving and it might make getting the settings right a bit easier. (That’s simplified really, but that’ll get him/her started.) I made some quick adjustments just so you can see an example of what photo editing can do. (Image quality matters and this is a pretty low resolution , but hopefully you get the idea. ) One thing to note is I got rid of the bright white spot above his right eye so it wasn’t a big blank spot when it engraved. I also lightened and added highlights to the left side of the face so it would engrave more evenly. Good luck and let us know if you need more help. 
6 Likes
Thank you!!!
Wow, great tip!
OMG! He looks fantastic. Time is such a precious commodity and you took your time to help me, Thank you so very much— I really appreciate your time and effort,
9 Likes
Super job on that. Exactly the kind of before/after technique hints & results that matter. 
6 Likes
Hi @JimmyWayneWestie, what a cute pup! It looks like you received some wonderful advice already, thank you so much @kittski for helping with the design.
It may also help to read over our support page on using manual mode, you can find that here.
I am going to close this thread. If you have any other questions please feel free to start another thread or email us at support@glowforge.com. Happy Printing!