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Software Tutorial for Laser3Dee |
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 To
help get you started in understanding how Laser3Dee works, here is an example for our own laser.
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Using colors to burn a pseudo 3D image
On our laser, we cannot use software to assign power levels,
they are set manually at the control panel on the actual laser so 3D engraving has not been a real option for us.
We can however, assign line colors for speed. By manipulating the colors in the image, we can get different burn
depths by controlling the speed.
If we take an image and break it down into just the colors our laser can use for speeds, we can create a 3D effect
on materials like wood or MDF etc. Laser3Dee will prepare an image and assign those colors to the image. we then
set our laser line colors to range from full burn (black) to no burn (white)
Our laser has following colors and we set the speeds (CM/Sec) for the colors as shown...
| Black |
30 |
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| Red |
35 |
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| Green |
40 |
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| Yellow |
45 |
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| Blue |
50 |
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| Aqua |
55 |
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| Fuchsia |
60 |
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| White |
0 |
No speed setting is required here as white is not burned. |
After generating the image as outlined in this tutorial, a sample was burned and we adjusted the speeds for colors
to get better contours on the 3D output. Just using an arbitrary step of 5 between colors does not always give
even burn depth increments. It is quite common to have larger gaps between the colors as they approach black for
full burn. |
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Step 1
For this tutorial we will be using Dee's Bird file. Run Laser3Dee and click the "Open" button. Navigate
to where Dee_Bird.bmp
is located (usually Laser3Dee install folder) and double-click the filename to load it
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Step 2
Click the "Laser
Colors Set-up" tab and make sure you have "8 Colors" selected in the
"Colors for Laser Power/Speed Settings" box. If you changed the setting to make it "8
Colors" then click the "Save
Changes" button.
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Step 3
Click the "Picture
Conversion Page" tab and then click the "Banded Colors" button and
Laser3Dee will create the banded color picture.
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Step 4
Notice there is very little to no white colors. That means the
entire image will be burned by the laser. A better idea would be to have the next closest color to white also made
white, so click the Laser Colors Set-up" tab again. You can see that the next closest color to white is the panel above white,
fuchsia, so click the button (with green triangle) to the right of that fuchsia panel.
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Step 5
A window will open up with radio buttons for all of the color
names so click the radio button for "white." Click the "Save
Color" button to close that window.
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Step 6
Click the "Save
Changes" button.
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Step 7
Click the "Picture
Conversion Page" tab and then click the "Banded Colors" button and
Laser3Dee will
create the banded color picture. This time notice that what was fuchsia is now white. That makes a good bit of
area that will not need to be lasered.
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Step 8
Notice there are quite sharp transitions from one color to the
next. That is as a result of the averaging algorithm we use to convert the original image. You can soften the edges
or transitions a little by applying various Effects to the image. For this tutorial, we will just apply one and
that will be "Mosaic."
This makes little colored squares with surrounding pixels and breaks up the edges. Click the little down-facing
triangle to the right of the "Image Effects" button and click "Mosaic." Click the "Save" button and you will then have an image to send to your laser.
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Step 9
Adjust the power and/or speed settings for the appropriate colors
and do a test burn. |
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