Hi all,
I have asked the GF facebook group, so this might be a repeat, but I am asking.
I have a glowforge and looking to make something for my dad. Back in April my mother passed away after 52 years with my dad, and he’s struggling. I’d like to etch a mirror with my mother’s face and so when he looks in the mirror, he’ll see her face next to his. I am not using Corell, Inkscape, just the general GF software, as I am a newbie, and just learning ever so slowly. anyone able to help?
Etching glass doesn’t always give the greatest results. About all I know is you’ll want to use damp newspaper or a thin film of dish soap on the glass. Also, etching from the back is something to consider.
Your constraint of not using design software, in my opinion, will make this very, very difficult. The users with the best results doing engraving manipulate the image first (generally by increasing contrast) in Photoshop or gimp. They post beautiful things and don’t post the dozen(s) of learning attempts.
And finally, have you considered using a mirrored acrylic? I have not used that style of acrylic, but my poorly educated guess is you’ll have much better luck with it.
That’d be my recommendation as well. Far easier to get controlled results vs glass. I’d likely use convert to dots for the engrave as well to lighten it to a “ghost” image. A good b&w or grayscale pic (or color converted in the design s/w) should work well.
The thread below tells what I did to engrave on mirrors. I liked the results.