They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so a photo engraved on stone must be worth even more! These tiles have been fun and gratifying to make for friends, family, and customers. Using a smart phone or digital image, it's pretty easy to transform a cherished photo into a memorable keepsake in just a few minutes! With the F1's portability, these tiles have been very popular at craft fairs and markets, too, ordering on the spot and shopping while the tiles process. Don't have an F1? No problem, the process is pretty much the same on the D1 Pro and the M1. Depending on your module, you may need to do some experimenting to find the perfect settings. There is no design file for this make, because you will use your own photo!
To prep your tile, you need to begin with a coat of white spray paint. I prefer the Rustoleum 2x flat white, but any white spray paint with a high titanium dioxide content should work. You may need to test and adjust your settings to achieve the results you want.
Lay out your tile or tiles in a flat area. Then apply an even coat of spray paint. The uncoated ceramic will quickly absorb the first coat. Try to apply it evenly. Once dry, go ahead an apply a second coat. Allow the paint to set and cure. I usually wait an hour or so at least before I run the painted tile through my laser.
There are lots of options for prepping your photo before engraving. This is a necessary process to ensure that you are able to achieve the best results. I often prep my images with either Imag-R or XCS. Feel free to use whichever program works best for you. For the sake ease and of this how-to, we will keep things pretty simple by staying in XCS.
It is important to start with a high quality photo. If your image is fuzzy, the end product will likely not meet your expectations! So avoid photos like the one in the step example.
I begin by cropping my image if it isn't already square. The tiles I use measure 4 x 4 inches (100 x 100mm), so while I am at it, I also resize my image to 100 x 100 mm. If I want the whole tile to be covered with no white boarder, I will size the image to 101 x 101 mm. The oversizing ensures that the entire tile is filled.
Using the sliders in the photo editor of XCS, I then manipulate the dark and light tones. As you can see from my adjustments, finding the right balance is a bit of an art! Adjusting from the left will darken your image, adjusting from the right will lighten. Using the two sliders togethers, you will be able to bring out different highlights in your image. I tend towards processing my images to be a bit darker at this stage. This is because the final engraved image tends to be lighter on the tile after cleaning in my experience. In the photos you can see the impact the slide adjustment has on the photo rendering.
Tip -
When working on portraits, one of the tips I recommend when trying to find the right balance is to focus on the eyes. If the eyes look right in your adjustments, theres a good chance they will engrave well on the tile.
Using the framing tool, ensure proper alignment of your photo to your tile. Once you're image is aligned, click start and send the job to the F1. I like to ensure that the photo covers the entire face of the tile. One way to make sure that happens, is to set the size of your image to 101 x101 mm. The tiles I use are 100 x 100 mm. The extra overhang ensures that I am not left with any white space around the edges.
I find it easiest to get my image placed in the workplane, then activate the framing tool. With the rectangular frame up, I position my tile.
My settings are used while on the go to allow for timely processing of the photo tiles. Adjusting the settings, especially dot duration or LPI will alter your expected print time and final photo quality.
When your tile is finished, it will need to be cleaned. There will be a layer of dust on the surface. The loose dust can be brushed away. I then use rubbing alcohol (90%) to remove extra debris and paint from the surface. The final image will be lighter than when it came out from your machine. This is normal in my experience.
If you have areas where your engraving was not as dark, you can try adjusting your power or dot duration. I have found that for my darkest blacks to come out true, the combination of 90 power and 450 dot duration fixes the image well. Try increasing dot duration if your images are coming out too washed out after cleaning.
As much fun as the photo tiles are, illustrated tiles can be equally fun! Using a simple photo filter you can achieve illustrated renderings of your favorite pictures, too! Two of my favorite illustrator filters are in Imag-R (with paid access) and through the app Insta Toon. Each program will take your existing photo and convert it to a black and white sketch illustration. These are especially useful if you want to play with tracing the image to create vector images.
In the included photos in this step, you can see the illustrated effect on buildings, animals, and even engravers!
It definitely creates a unique style that can be fun to offer along side realistic photo tiles.