Updated: 18 January 2015

Laser Engraving

Laser engraving is the process of using a focussed high power laser beam to vapourise the surface of the material that is being engraved. The design that is to be engraved can be in the form of text, a drawing or a photograph.

Raster Engraving

Raster engraving reproduces graphics or image files by moving back and forth over the material building up the image line by line.

By varying the speed, power and focus of the laser you can create deeper, or shallower impressions into the surface of the material. Graphics or images can be deeply engraved to a depth of a few millimetres or very lightly mark the surface, even on paper and some textiles.

Vector Engraving

Vector engraving follows the same principles used in laser cutting, but we program the power of the laser just to mark or score the surface of the material, instead of cutting all the way through. This method is an effective way of producing detailed line drawings onto the material or fold marks onto cardboard. Using a combination of all three of these methods can create some stunning results.

High Resolution Photo Engraving

Producing high resolution photo engraving uses the principle of raster engraving, with the scan lines set as fine as 0.01mm, depending upon the original image resolution, a photographic image is etched into the chosen material.

From a high quality greyscale photo (250dpi to 500dpi) the laser is able to recognise up to 256 different shades of grey from white through to black and it will engrave each shade to a different depth which can produce some superb effects.

As part of our laser engraving service, we are able to convert a suitable colour photograph to greyscale and prepare the image for laser engraving.

Engraving Metal

While it is not possible for us to engrave or etch directly into metal, we can permanently mark the surface of  metals using the raster engraving technique. This marking technique can also be used on ceramics and glass. For more information about working with metal, see Metal Marking here.

To see how we can help you to realise your ideas, please contact us here.