I just ordered a versalaser VL300 50 watt laser. I live in the Philippines and Universal has a dealer here. I decided to explore the laser engraving/cutting business because there are virtually no laser engravers here, except for 1.
I am astonished by the endless possibilities that are available. The Philippines heavily exports stone craft furniture, shell furniture and guitars. I can see where laser cutting can be applied to shells for intricate designs (ie… capiz shells for example which would break with non laser means).
Also would consider photo engraving on tiles, cutting sheet metal for industrial designs, engraving on glass, mirror and acrylic.
With the unit I ordered, and with the above uses mentioned would corel draw 12 be sufficient? Or would I have to purchase some other software that would do the job better (ie… photograv ?) I have started playing around with coreldraw and it seems easy enough to learn.
What books would you recommend (laser engraving basics etc???) and where can I purchase it (website?). I have been surfing the net to no avail.
Can I cut on thin stone craft materials (maybe 1/4 or 1/8 inch thick).
Can I do a 3d engraving (different depths) on stone or marble? Thinner material maybe like foam or styro?
Thank you for your help.
I still have 1 month before the unit arrives so I can do some research. A total newbie here!
First off, as surprising as it seems given the vast number of books on vast numbers of topics - there aren’t ANY on laser engraving to my knowledge! I have not been able to find one either, and that *may* be due in part to that wide range of versatility you’ve noticed. Possibly there’s just too many variables to cover in print.
If you are new to the world of graphics in general, I would seriously think about adding Photograv as an adjunct to Corel. While Corel’s PhotoPaint or Adobe’s Photoshop can both turn out a file that’s perfectly laser engravable - and I’m referring here to the odd photograph that you may be asked to laser, rather than to a vector image of a shell or lettering or some such - Photograv’s whole purpose as a software package is that it’s designed to create the best combination of lights and darks that would engrave the best on the material you’re using, taking the guesswork away from you. You can achieve the same results in the other programs mentioned, but it can take considerable trial and error if you’re not very familiar with using graphics programs and time is money. Not to mention the cost of wasted material when you discover that what you thought would turn out great doesn’t quite look as good as you expected on a given surface. I don’t think there are that many people on this list who DO use Photograv, but I also don’t think I’m wrong in saying that those who do are pretty pleased with its output.
If you’re already fairly experienced in using levels and curve controls to adjust the various tones in an image, you probably won’t need to think about yet another software package.
Be sure to drill your salesperson on the capabilities of your machine. I’m not familiar with yours, so I can’t speak to what’s possible with yours - maybe someone else here who has a similar model can help out on the more “model-specific” questions on materials.
Be patient with yourself, and remember that you WILL screw up the occasional piece - it happens, and it’s okay. We’ve all done it … and will do it again, sooner or later!