thats why I do my test grayscale engraves with a masked and unmasked section 
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Iām sorry I was right, but as you see, weāve been there.
Just random thoughts on masking - Iām starting to get a feel for different materials requirement for masking. Specifically, it seems things that produce āsticky smokeā need it.
For example, softer woods will have a horrible residue, especially with 3d engrave (but not always, like when just cutting)ā¦
Harder materials - harder wood, acrylic - seem to not only produce less sticky smoke, but itās less likely to stick, or can be easily removed.
Iāve been working with some canvas, which is pre-primed for painting. The primer is effectively chalk, and although it produces a ton of smoke residue, especially when doing a deep 3d engrave. When you pull the part out, however, you can literally just blow it away.
My biggest disappointment so far was committing a whole sheet of leather to a design I thought would be amazing, but I had not tested the engrave settings because I needed the whole sheet and didnāt have other pieces to test on. The (mask on) result was exactly what I had hoped for, but when the masking was removed, the lack of detail effectively meant Iād wasted the piece.
ā¦ how emotional we get over a few $$ of material. I think for me itās more the disappointment in myself for making such a stupid mistake.
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So take solace in the knowledge that the more mistakes you make, the more scraps you have to let you actually test first without being worried about wasting $0.50 on āvirginā material!
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Heh heh.
We need a āgroanā icon between the heart and the link.
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@ej.james I played around with your image a bit just to see what I could come up with. (Hope you donāt mind?) It took about 5-7 min of fiddling to get a different look than yours. (I actually like yours better, but it shows what just a little adjustment can do.) I removed that background then used a brush to selectively up the contrast then brighten and sharpen specific areas. I made a second version with less contrast and a bit lighter overall mainly becasue two of them fit the piece of scrap I had sitting around lol. I used vary power to get more of a 3D effect, but the photo/halftone setting would probably look better. No masking.
I have watched most of the videos in that list you posted at least two or three times each 
I found this one below especially helpful.
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That was very good, Thanks!
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and yet some materials donāt fit that description. the south american walnut I have engraved very dark and the masking was covered in sticky residue. And itās a fairly hard wood. you really need to test if you havenāt used it before (or donāt have good examples online to go from).
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I think a lot of this has to do with the resin content of the wood.
And one may have to test on repeated occasions. Different batches of wood can certainly have different resin contents. Even time of year that it was harvested can make a difference.
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yup. itās always best to do a little testing whenever possible.
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Sorry, it was a generalization, both āwillā and āitāsā should have probably been āsometimesā, my point being that you have to get a feel for what works with and without masking.
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completely agree. i always hate trying to cut or engrave the āonlyā piece of anything, especially if iāve never tried it before. you never know how a material might react.
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