Full Version: Granite Pet Memorial
Message 1609.7 was deleted
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#8]
15 Jul 2005
To: Bill (BILL_S) [#7] 15 Jul 2005
Would I get the 1.5" lens again, yes. I find it does make a difference. I know people will debate how significant the difference is, but unlike photo editing it does not add to my time.
I have PhotoGraV. When I engrave a photo in wood, I use it. I'm finding that I use PhotoGraV mostly for its dithering. On this memorial I felt any difference between PhotoGraV and the driver was not worth the added time/effort of using another program.
I expect exploring when/how to use PhotoGraV will continue to be an ongoing process for me. I use its pattern dithering, but I don't fully like how it's implemented. The dots get smaller as they should, but then they disappear in a pattern, as the image gets lighter. I find that pattern undesirable. Its Adjust Gray screen does not allow you to set the output range.
The time you spend learning the different programs really comes into play. In the past I probably would have been more pro-PhotoGraV, then I started learning PhotoShop; I might use PhotoGraV more in the future. The saying "there's more then one way to skin a cat" really applies.
When I spend this much time on an item its because I'm learning how to do it better/faster for the future.
For a material like granite the lighting and angle viewed really make a big difference.
Message 1609.9 was deleted
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#10]
15 Jul 2005
To: Bill (BILL_S) [#9] 15 Jul 2005
Bill,
Reading about your purchase of PhotoGraV, I could have written that. I wouldn't use it on anodized either. (May I ask what you're doing with the anodized, and how you market/price it.)
I use PhotoGraV when the effective resolution of the substrate is low: wood, absolute black granite, glass...
It would be great if ULS added 2 parameters to their halftone function.
1) Lines per inch. It is now a function of engraving resolution. - Sometimes I want a higher engraved LPI, lower halftone LPI combination, than the driver's defaults.
2) Maximum spot size. - This can be simulated by shifting the grayscale away from black, so it's just a convenience.
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#11]
15 Jul 2005
To: Bill (BILL_S) [#9] 16 Jul 2005
As I have said before, I am very inpressed with what the XP driver from Universal can produce. By spending 1/2 hour doing it by hand and converting it to B/W I can get it faintly better, but not much.
I began doing it manually before that USL driver upgrade, tried the upgrade when I went to WinXP, and never thought about going back.