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Turning Images into laser cut designs is one of the most rewarding and fun aspects of laser cutting. Here you will learn how to take an image and turn it into a vector then set it up so it can be laser cut.
Image Tracing
- Add an image/photo (JPG or PNG) to your Adobe Illustrator artboard (Copyright Alert! Ask your educator if you don’t know how to check this. Also–keep it positive!):
- File > Place (find saved image on computer) OR
- Copy (from online) & Paste (in Illustrator)
- Select the image and on the top toolbar click Image Trace
- Select the Image Trace Panel button to the left side of Image Trace
- A pop up will appear, and in MODE, try Black and White (Note: there are MANY ways to prepare images for the laser cutter, this is just one way to start; you’ll notice that not every picture Image Traces well, so feel free to search for different images and iterate your design!)
- Under Advanced: select Ignore White
*Caveat* Black and White is the easiest and most basic way to laser cut through image tracing. Using Grayscale or multi color will work a lot better for more complex images, but your design to then what is cut is not going to be the same and will most likely require more testing to get a good result.
Adjustments
- You can adjust parameters to taste: Threshold is the main control but you can also go into the advanced settings Paths, Corners, and Noise
- Threshold deals with how much/little of the image shows up as black or white (this slider is sensitive, so try moving it small amounts)
- Paths makes the image more abstract or realistic
- Corners deals with how choppy or smooth the image is
- Noise deals with how many small details there are in the image
- When you are happy with your settings, click Expand at the top toolbar. Congratulations! You have successfully converted a picture of a graphic (JPG or PNG) into a Scalable Vector Graphic (which is a more dynamic and editable format)!
Creating the Image Cut
- To cut out your image, add a shape - probably a rectangle - to outline the image. Have their be no fill and a 1pt stroke with the color red to signify this is a cut line.
- Now you’re ready to send this to a laser cutter to create this!
Sending your job to the Glowforge
See a S-Team member if it’s your first time
Now you have your completed design ready for fabrication! Get an educator / S-team member to review your file with you. Save it as a .SVG file
BE SURE YOU HAVE EXPANDED ALL FONTS (*right click on font; CREATE OUTLINES)
File > Save As > Save on your computer > Name File: FirstName_Laser_YourClass
Save to Desktop and change Format from .AI to .SVG
A window will appear with your export settings. Make sure to set Font to Convert To Outlines and keep Responsive and Minify UNCHECKED.
NOTE: If your options look different, contact a STEAM member–updates in Illustrator may be the culprit! We will update the documentation accordingly!
At this point you’ve completed the design for laser cutting. For next steps to cut this design on the Glowforge laser cutter, you can start at Step 9 in this tutorial.