Fireworks MX 2004

[toxo]

Here's a photo of the nearest I've ever come to a soul mate. She understood everything I said and when I came home she would run off to find my slippers and bring them to me. She died due to the complacency of the vet and I will forever feel guilty because it wasn't her time. She was like an 11yr old puppy. Anyway. I'm using Fireworks MX 2004 and have almost finished erasing the background. I want to turn it into a sketch/line art so I can put it onto leather. I haven't used F/Ws in anger for a long long time but I seem to remember you could do it by taking away more and more colours but I can't do it. Can anyone help?

Edited September 25, 2019 by toxo
forgot pic

[mikesc]

Photo did not upload..
Re FW..search "fireworks MX photo to line drawing" and "fireworks MX how to photo to line drawing"

Paul..if this is for the laser..? use the "discreet" setting..it will take longer..but it will keep the detail..make test burns on carton* ( paper will burn right through on almost all settings , even white paper ) which is about as "dark" as your leather to get the settings..The paler the thing that you are burning into, the higher your "power setting" has to be..leave depth at 10..

Btw..I ( with the aid of the people who I bought my laser from ) have solved the "text" issue in that software..I'll work up a "how to make and burn text" that matches the version 2.1 software ..pm me here with your outside email, when I have it ready with "step by step"..I'll send it to you...Busy ATM, so It may be a couple of weeks..

* This is why they ship the machines with what they call "craft paper", which in their case, is actually about 200gsm mid brown card stock.

Edited September 25, 2019 by mikesc

[toxo]

I've got it this far. Mike I'll look at yours presently.

 

[toxo]

10 minutes ago, mikesc said:

Photo did not upload..
Re FW..search "fireworks MX photo to line drawing" and "fireworks MX how to photo to line drawing"

Paul..if this is for the laser..? use the "discreet" setting..it will take longer..but it will keep the detail..make test burns on carton* ( paper will burn right through on almost all settings , even white paper ) which is about as "dark" as your leather to get the settings..The paler the thing that you are burning into, the higher your "power setting" has to be..leave depth at 10..

Btw..I ( with the aid of the people who I bought my laser from ) have solved the "text" issue in that software..I'll work up a "how to make and burn text" that matches the version 2.1 software ..pm me here with your outside email, when I have it ready with "step by step"..I'll send it to you...Busy ATM, so It may be a couple of weeks..

* This is why they ship the machines with what they call "craft paper", which in their case, is actually about 200gsm mid brown card stock.

Thanks Mike. Message sent. The sellers (laser) manufacturer wants a vid of the non input once you wipe the either of the size boxes. I'd like to be able to carve the pic one day but laser for sure if it'll look good. Which pic would you use for laser the photo or the grey?

[mikesc]

I'd go with the second one ..you could use the first but you'd have to convert to greyscale , or BW half tone and then either "dither" it or run a "half tone" screen..
Got the pm..
I'll copy both pics and sew what I can do with them after eating or tomorrow..If I can get either of them to "burnable", I'll test here on the machine first..What size ( in mm x mm ) Width x Height , do you need as the maximum burn image dimensions ?.. Do you want Misty's name including as an inscription ?

She was a Westie ? or a Cairn ?..( they look similar when they are very young ) My wife had a Yorkie when we met ( one of the big ones )..I have an airbrush illustration I did of him when he was a pup somewhere.

I read Greyfriar's Bobby when I was about 5..stayed with me..went to see the statue when I was about 17..and again a few times later..great wee dogs..friendly, playful, fierce to defend their family, faithful to the end..and beyond..

Edited September 25, 2019 by mikesc

[toxo]

You're as soppy as I am. She was a Westie.

Maybe around 40mm width for my wallet constrain proportions. If you've cracked the text thing a name would be nice.

When you say carton do you mean cardboard as in box?

[mikesc]

OK..began playing with this before I saw your reply..so..I'll get to the name and the exact size later..this size would burn at about 75 mm high x 50 mm wide ..actual lines would be a bit inside that size..I can shrink the "final" image ( with name ) to fit at 40 mm no problem..this is two quick versions..

One "line art", would burn as "black and white"  ( basic, I can make it better ) .., The second is basic greyscale pencil type sketch..would burn as "discreet" ( basic, I can make it better, the background is grey Ican shift it to white, so it burns "transparent"  )..can add name to either or  both.. Going to eat..( finished cooking dinner, wife is giving me the sort of looks your dogs do back later or tomorrow..You can load ( copy and paste ) this type ( .bmp ) into the USB key ( pictures folder ) and then go to the "pictures" folder in there via the touch screen, they'll be at the bottom of the list when you use the buttons to scroll down..

Mistydoglineartsmall - upscale 1000px - line basic 1.bmp

Mistydoglineartsmall - upscale 1000px - pencil sketch 1.bmp

Edited September 25, 2019 by mikesc

[mikesc]

So that anyone looking in can see the images in a size that the browser will show..I resized them down, to under 1.4mb total for direct display..The ones in the previous post are "burn ready" at 500DPI. and are much larger in data size, so the board here transforms them into "attachments" ( better for board bandwidth) that you can download if you really want to..But they are these images, but higher DPI and larger size.The machine that they are sized for is the one discussed in the thread here here started by toxo.

Edited September 25, 2019 by mikesc
typo, clarity

[mikesc]

First version with Name added..Burn version is in link.bmp about 2.2mb , ( click to see it, right click and "save image" to download it ) the image fits in 40mm wide with a few mm to spare either side is 994px x 787px..

Image on this page was re-sized to be around 600px x 475px to display here in browsers.You could use it to burn, but it would be smaller.

Burn setting "Discrete" if using computer..power around 20-25 depth 10.

Burn setting "Greyscale" if using USB key power around 5-10 ( might be less, like power 1 or 2 ) depth 10.

Test first by burning onto card ( as cereal packet "cornflakes box", use the inside surface , not corrugated card ) or brownish, card like the piece supplied with the laser, if the leather is darker, you need less power..if it is lighter, you might need a bit more..only increase or decrease power by 2 steps..like 20 to 22, not 20 to 30..Blow the burn clean with your dust blower on the compressor rather than try to brush or wipe any charring dust off when finished. I hope the type style is OK, tried to keep it "light".

I have not "test burned" either ..it is 04.00am here..( I'll test later Thursday afternoon ) But they should be OK on the settings I suggest above.

 

Mistydoglineartsmall - upscale 1000px - line basic 1 + NAME BURN 40mm WIDTH.bmp

Edited September 26, 2019 by mikesc
Corrected file type error

[toxo]

Mike, you are one clever man. God knows how long this would've taken me. Burning as I speak. almost there on card. Extremely anxious about ruining a really nice wallet though. 

[mikesc]

Get some scrap leather of a similar type* ( colour / weight ) to the wallet..Test on that..keep testing until you have the exact setting that you need..no rush.

*Make sure that if the wallet is veg tan that you get veg tan, ( veg tan wallets are usually cow or calf ) or if it is chrome tan that you get chrome tan..if it is chrome tan , it will probably be calf ( usually smooth finish ), or goat ( usually sort of "pebbly" looking ) ..might even have a label in it that tells you what it is...or be "stamped" somewhere..."Genuine something".

Btw..If you eventually want to do "carving",  a very light burn is an easy way to get very accurate drawings onto leather to give you fine lines that you can then work on with your tools..a laser line of only a few px wide serves as a good guide for a swivel knife, or for cut outs with a scalpel blade..You can "burn" out a design completely with just the laser, but you may get charred edges that you don't want, depends on what the final colour will be.

If the lines on that artwork are to close ( I still have not had time to test burn it here ) I can "open" the design up a bit..leave more "white space".

If you have a graphics tablet, you could work on a copy ( always make a copy and work on that ) yourself..Don't need a Wacom, there are some very very good  graphics tablets coming out of China now for far less that are "plug and play" on windows...large surfaces, with all the "bells and whistles"..right up to Cintiq equivalents ..for far less money..

Edited September 26, 2019 by mikesc

[mikesc]

Paul..go to that other thread that you started about the laser..read my last post

Sorry mate..steered you wrong earlier in that thread..Follow that last post I just made in that thread.. to "untick" that box in windows ..and you'll be able to see your.exe files..

.and maybe your size boxes might work ..or not..that might not be related..

[toxo]

5 minutes ago, mikesc said:

Paul..go to that other thread that you started about the laser..read my last post

Sorry mate..steered you wrong earlier in that thread..Follow that last post I just made in that thread.. to "untick" that box in windows ..and you'll be able to see your.exe files..

.and maybe your size boxes might work ..or not..that might not be related..

Will do mate. Will have to eat humble pie re the size boxes. Turns out the num pad isn't working on the laptop and can't get it to work. Can input using the top numbers. 

[mikesc]

red faces all round eh :)..

You can get separate number pads for laptops ( they don't all have numbers at the side, some, with small keyboards, only have numbers along the row below the "F" buttons row )  ,that connect via a USB..here they cost around €10.oo retail...and I pay about €3.oo wholesale..They are "plug and play" on win.

That will get you around that problem..

[toxo]

8 hours ago, toxo said:

Mike, you are one clever man. God knows how long this would've taken me. Burning as I speak. almost there on card. Extremely anxious about ruining a really nice wallet though. 

Not had  time to look at software yet.

[mikesc]

Glad the burn worked :)

[RockyAussie]

that is a very fine result @mikesc and @toxo. I hope to see more in the future.

[toxo]

3 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

that is a very fine result @mikesc and @toxo. I hope to see more in the future.

How lucky was I to find someone like Mike who is as helpful as anyone could ask for AND has the same machine?

Still fine tuning.  There is a learning curve and if you change the height you have to remember to re-focus the laser. It's fairly slow but you can do a few lines and pause it to see if it's right then change the settings and carry on. I'm not artistic so stuff like this is a way i can customise my projects.

[RockyAussie]

26 minutes ago, toxo said:

There is a learning curve and if you change the height you have to remember to re-focus the laser.

Getting that focus spot on is a real surprise deal at times. I found that I can get that dot as small as can be and it still can be out from the best. I make up a wedge shape box /\ in thin cardboard and set it to do some lines up it. Where it cuts through I find the middle and then adjust for that height. If you have a check on the dimensions of the laser housing it may be 33mm square the same as mine. To enable it to run for a lot longer I made up a housing to take a bigger fan and also give me a manual Z lift at the same time for easier focusing. One turn = 1mm. Here's a picture that'll give you the idea. The temp gauge helps me to check that she's not getting over hot occasionally. The funnel is to give further air assistance if required and is held in place by magnets for easy removal. This one is for my 2.5 and as well 5.5 watt lasers. Let us know if you are ready or want any more info on it.

Brian

[toxo]

My God, I'm surrounded by genius! You're an absolute wizard with that 3D printer Brian. That sloping card trick is a cracker. I find it quite hard to judge the focus point especially with my eyes being old. I'll certainly be trying that. How do you cater for a radiused profile?

I'll look into another fan. At the moment I've had it running for 20/30 mins with a pedestal fan running with no problem. Don't know how long it would take to do the full size but I'm thinking significantly more than that.

[RockyAussie]

15 hours ago, toxo said:

How do you cater for a radiused profile?

I am not knowing what you mean by this question ???

Temperatures here can reach pretty regular about 40 degree C so for me keeping the temp down may be more relevant than in the UK. I like the laser to be able to run for at least an hour or more if I want and as mine is in an enclosure for better fume removal AND eye protection I need a more direct cooling method than the standard set up. The pedestal fan or an air conditioner works pretty well in an open arrangement but not so if you want to extract the fumes. This pic shows my somewhat modified laser as at the moment. The rails,acrylic panels and extraction fan and all of those extra bits set me back probably about $500 and for my eyes and lung health and other around me, that sounded alright to me. Set of glasses cost nearly that.

[mikesc]

Your installation looks like a Bang & Olufsen machine . :)

I think Paul is talking about burning curved objects..with a radius , like aluminium cans..pens etc ?
They normally require a system to make them revolve about their own axis, so as to keep the laser focus the same.
Some machines have such systems built in..or you could build your own, syncing with the laser is the hard part.

Slight curvature can be done without that..To test how well a design will burn onto a slightly curved surface, like say a spectacles case, wrap the surface with thin card, like the Chinese call the "kraft paper", that these small machines come with..Then run a lower power burn on the wrapped case..The flatter the surface the better, but the kind of curvature that is on the back of the non glass backed mobile phones, is not normally a problem.

Writing a name around a tin of beer would be a problem without a syncro system..but writing it along the tin..doable..just not with letters bigger than say 36pt.

Better to burn a flat piece of leather wrap that around, and make a koozie eh Brian :)

How does Croc burn ?

[RockyAussie]

58 minutes ago, mikesc said:

Your installation looks like a Bang & Olufsen machine .

The machine was originally an Elksmaker A3 purchased through Banggood and I gave it a few mods to do poster size stuff.

I have not had any call to do any curved or radius stuff so until then...... Yeah the beer coozie on the flat is the way to go and easy. Believe or not I have not yet tried to burn in Croc, in the laser anyway. I will give a try sometime. I think I may have posted this pic of a stubby cooler before before but ....

 

[toxo]

Brian. I love the way you spend money to get the absolute tool for the job. Loving the box. I have to check where the dogs are every time I switch it on. What's the criteria for eye protection re: the panels? is it just the colour? Density?

Mike. Re: the profile, of course you're right. Just started to learn to crawl, not about to start running. I'll put up some pics of the wallet that I want to print on. From what you've said I'll not need worry but but i might reduce the size and print on an inside leaf first just to be sure. I just wanted to show it from a design point of view. My wallet was about done and I was looking for a pattern. Then, whilst looking for something else I came across this wallet which I'd bought some years ago in a wholesalers. For me the thing is perfect. if you look closely it even had clear plastic pockets which I tore off. Clearly it's a commercial thing and an obvious spoof on Levi's but how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?

 

 

 

[mikesc]

You want to try to burn the image on that area in the wallet where the Visa card is ? What are the measurements of that space..( in mm ) without going over any stitching lines.? I can shrink the image to fit .

How do they get smooth edges..
"how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?"
Ask Brian ( or Danne ) they are the perfect edge people around here..actually their edges are better than the ones on that wallet..