Laser prep scripts/actions for photo engraves

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.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?91076-Converting-programs-for-Engraving-Manual-Method-and-Adobe-Photoshop&p=915595

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

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No mac version. so sad. :frowning: bright side saved myself $30. :slight_smile: I’m definitely going to check into the scripts though.

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Thanks for sharing. I’m not seeing PSP for $25… I see $55. Is there an additional code or a special link?

I added a link above. you may need this specific link.

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Thanks! That did the trick.

I am happy to report that the Gold Method DOES work on the mac with the latest version of PS. Thanks for the link.

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first couple of tests at the office on the universal:

Gold action >>>>>>>> PSP script

Pics to follow in a bit.

good news for all who use photoshop, since the action is free and you don’t need new software.

so… i think my initial results (with an image not above) showed a big difference with the Gold action being much better than the PSP scripts.

the second test over lunch, with the images above, showed a better result from the PSP. with one caveat. i had originally created that image from the full-sized photo of Moochie. which was a large image. when i made the 600dpi version of that, it created a huge TIF for the Gold version, which would not show up in the UCP program. i had scaled it down to 2.5" high (from something like 20" when dropped in and Illustrator interpreted it as 72dpi). i think that may have colored the results a bit. so i will recreate tonight at actual engrave size with both versions to see if that improves.

now, my first test was with my corporate head shot. that’s a much more contrasty image to begin with, so maybe i shouldn’t be surprised that it turned out better w/no extra tweaking.

all that said, here are photos of my results. moochie first (the less satisfying), and then my corporate head shot.

Initial test at default 3D settings. In the initial test, you can see how much the PSP version accentuated things like wrinkles (this would not go over well with a lot of our staff ;)).

Initial gold vs gold done with heavier settings (slower, higher ppi, more throughput). The gold with heavier settings really came out well. you can really see the detail and there’s a lot more 3D sculpting. for a final, i would probably back off of this a little. i went from a 4.5min engrave to a 16min engrave (these are 4" x 4"). on the GF, that’s probably 10 min vs 35+ min (universal seems about 2x the speed for engraving).

Two moochies. the PSP really shows the greyscale details much better. I want to see how much different this looks if i properly scale before processing instead of after. the gold version is muddy in comparison. but that may be from such severe scaling after processing.

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for reference, here are the three headshots. Original. Gold. PSP.

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Good comparisons!

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