07.03 Photo Etching for Printmaking at think[box]

Laser cutters can photo etch or raster engrave a bitmap or pixel based image. For use with printmaking the image should be inverted.

1. Refer to relief printing laser etching file prep to prepare your images.
2. Once your images are prepared, import the image into Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator.
3. Scale the image to the appropriate size as necessary.
4. Double check that your image is in grayscale and has appropirate contrast and inverted values.
5. Perform a small test etch on a piece of scrap material.
6. Make any adjustments based on the test.
7. Etch the whole image.
8. Don’t move the plate from the laser cutter until you are sure it is correct. Once it is moved, it cannot be re-etched with the same image.

Resources from the think[box]

• Laser Cutter Quick Reference Guide  
• Photo Etching with Corel Draw  
• Using the Laser Cutters  
• Speed and Power Settings (Epilog Fusion Pro)