Absolutely!
1 Like
This is crazy good information! I’ve been really struggling with engraving trying to figure out if it’s my photo, my settings, my wood or what. This really helped narrow in on the photo side of things. Thank you for the info and well written instructions. I will be buying your action file as well.
3 Likes
OMG!! Thank you so much. I have PhotoShop and have never used. I downloaded your Action Script and it literally WAS as easy as hitting PLAY - BOOM, Easy Peasy! AMAZING and saved me so much TIME and CONFUSION… Thank You - Thank You … and THANK YOU!
3 Likes
Hi there. This process, as a new Glowforger, helped tremendously. Thank you. It is also my first attempt at using Photoshop, so forgive my ignorance. I used a phot of our own for this project, when saved as a PDF, it was twice the size allowed for GF and it could not be loaded into GF. How do I handle that? I see when I save it as a JPG/PNG it drops the size significantly but I cant help but wonder if it negates the work done following the above process.
Thank you for any help on this!
-Blair
1 Like
I use PDF because it respects the size of higher resolution/PPI images. For example, if you import a jpeg that you’ve saved at 300 PPI, the browser will display it at the native resolution of 96 pixels per inch, so it will be 3x too large. How big of an engrave is this and what resolution did you save at?
3 Likes
That shouldn’t exceed the 25mb limit.
1 Like
I am 75MB, So I am not sure what I a doing to add so much size to this file. I literally downloaded Photoshop two days ago…Im certain I am missing something.
1 Like
Thanks
for sharing all of this. I tried this out for a customer the other day and it turned out better than anything I’ve done in the past!
2 Likes
I bought your actions and they are amazing. Saved me hours of brooding over pictures for a friend’s Father who had died. Great results. Thank you!
2 Likes
I know its not good ettiquette to revive an old post, but I had to ask this before buying your Photoshop settings. Will the settings ask me which substrate I am using AND the size? I have successfully edited a photo to put on acrylic that is 8" x 10", but the acrylic that I want to put it on is 5x6 (going in an led base). When I just drag it down to size in the GFUI it condenses the dots soo much that the light does not penetrate through the picture. After doing some research I came across resampling, this seemed to be the answer. So I resampled the original down to the size that I needed it, that just came out pixelated. Did not look good at all. So if I run a pic through the setting, will I be able to say “I want it made for acrylic that is 5x6”?
1 Like
It won’t ask you the substrate. There are different actions built in though for materials that need inverting, such as acrylic, slate, etc.
It will ask you for the size once it’s completed editing the image. The sharpening and resolution required is specific to the final engrave size.
You do need to crop it to the final aspect ratio at some point though, which I would recommend doing before the photo is edited. 8x10 to 5x6 doesn’t work without cropping the image.
3 Likes
I downloaded your tool which is great, however I’m having difficulty with text that I need to have on the picture. The background of the picture is dark, so I’m trying to engrave around the text and leave the text area white. When I put white text in, glowforge is still trying to engrave them. Is there a way to merge the text with the image in photoshop?
1 Like
would this work for images created using AI? I am assuming so but just was asking before I purchase the actions. Thank you!
1 Like
yes, it should work with any photo.
keep in mind, there’s still a “garbage in, garbage out” part of this equation. if your AI image doesn’t have good contrast to work with, it still may not engrave well. JB’s actions are a really good help and starting point, but you’re still potentially limited by the image you start with.
4 Likes
AI generated images can definitely work. @shogun has done a lot with Midjourney and canvases.
Being smart about your prompting can really shortcut a lot of the preparation steps. Here he describes how he made a prompt to get a particular image:
And some others:
And of course you can always search the forum for “magic canvas” which is Glowforge AI image generator. Lots of people have been using that, @rb and of course you can always search the form for magic canvas which is Glowforge AI image generator. Lots of people have been using that. @rbtdanforth in particular has been doing a bunch with it.
5 Likes
If I had been waiting for the perfect result or even a result similar to the day before, it never would happen. I might need to go a thousand tries to get something I can fix but it is not like it is copying anybody, as I doubt there are folks drawing a horse with two heads and seven legs. But I can remove the extra bits and get a decent result. You ask it for a cowbird one day and get this…
And a thousand images resembling it and try that another day and get this…
and a thousand things like that but never both styles at the same run, even with the exact same wording in both cases.
I use Gimp a lot to clean up any images I get from Magic Canvas, but that said I find it very helpful when I can get it to work.
4 Likes
Thank you for the replies. I will check the links. This is one of the images in question. Please excuse the fact that it is on a pillow in the photo. I am in bed and just getting to email and don’t have the original image on my phone. I have a set of 3 I am wanting to do and all are similar as they are all different dogs on spacesuits I created.
6 Likes
that’s so cute! i have an Aussiedoodle so this resembles him (except different color).
5 Likes
Thank you. 
I had designed this with a friends dog in mind. I have done other’s with my dogs too (Boston Terriers).