So, searching around for something else, i found two references to a script and an action.
The first was “the gold method” (named for Rodney Gold). dates back to 2008.
in this thread, there’s an executable file to install and further down a zip file you can open the action and manually install (which i think is safer).
The second method is found on a facebook group called " That Dude With A Lazer. Private group, but answer a couple of very basic questions and you will be invited in. Inside this page there is a script for PaintShop Pro that will process images.
Both look interesting. Now, my GF is out of commission, so I can’t test on the GF. I will, however, be bringing some files to work tomorrow to try out on the universal.
Still, i thought i’d share even before I tried them out since the GF does photo engraving a little different than the Universal (altho the universal will do true 3D, just a little different process).
Anyway, so you can see what each does with an image, I will post an original and then one processed with the Gold method action and then one with that dude with a lazer scrip method. later this week i’ll post pics of my results. The gold method seems darker and edgier. It will be interesting to see how the two of them engrave differently.
one reason i wanted to post quickly, before i even have a test, is that through the end of the month (Thursday), you can get PaintShop Pro for $25 (instead of the retail $99 or normal sale at more like $69 or 79. so you can install the demo before that and test, then if you like the results $25 seems like a pretty cheap price to pay to get a good start (or maybe even just a good result w/o more editing) on creating a photo engrave.
so… w/o further blabbering, here are the three images. The prep images are converted to grayscale and then JPG, altho they save as TIF by default (they’re 8bit or bitmap).
Original
Gold Method (free action)
PSPro Script