Lighting techniques for Litho

[JDPratt]

I have posted this photo before and first let me say thanks to all those that helped dress up the photo. I am about to finally do the litho of this. Do I have to make any other modification to the pic before I carve it? Someone mentioned making everything black and white.. Sorry I don't know if this is necessary and I have no idea how to do it if it is necessary (as stated before, I am technologically stupid).

The real question for this post:

What are the different lighting techinques you guys are using for these lithos?

I an idea I was throwing around was to build a shodow box, and fill the void behind the litho with rope lighting. I thought maybe this would generate evenly distributed light and I would not have to worry about overheating from some halogens or other bulbs (that and it seems like rope lights last forever).

Thoughts?

John

[jpaluck]

John,

Here is your photo in black and white. When you bring this into designer to carve invert it..meaning it should look backwards of the way its suppose to carve...meaning the eyes for example should bug out the nose recessed...all your dark areas should be foreward and your light areas deeper.

As far as lighting I tried the rope light it didnt throw enough light for my taste...I have used the mini florecents at home Depot..the work great..no heat and throw alot of light.

This photo looks like it will make a great Litho

Hope this helps

[cnsranch]

Some convert the pic to grey scale, others don't.

Some convert the pic to a negative after grey scale, others don't.

Some invert the pic after importing into Designer, others don't. Just make sure that the white of his t-shirt is carved deeper than the darker areas - the deeper, the more light comes thru.

Some convert the jpeg to a png before importing, others don't. I'm told that a png is the best to import, but if it's originally a jpeg, that jpeg can't be improved by converting to png. Just make sure the jpeg is the highest res you can make it - lower res, and it won't carve well.

I've tried rope lights, found a 2 foot strand at Lowe's. Problem is the danger of coiling the strand too tightly - directions warn against that. I, along with others have used a compact florescent puck light you can find at Lowe's for under $10. About 3" in diameter, less than 1" thick, puts out 9 watts. I've also helped diffuse the light by buying an opaque 2'x4' florescent light lens, and cutting it to the size of my shadow box, and then placing as many pieces in the box between the carve, and the light to give you the light you like.

Search all you can about lithos before going at it. Lots of advice about height and depth - it's hard to see what the thing will actually look like when carved - it's nothing like looking at a typical project in Designer, and eliminating the flaws before carving. I've found that when setting height and depth, you're best served when the deepest part of the carve leaves about .12-.13" of material left.

Good luck, make sure to post pics.

[JDPratt]

Okay, so Rope lights are basically out. I will check on the compact Flourescents and light difusers.

As previously stated I am basically an idiot when it comes to Tech (I can tell the difference between white oak and red oak blindfolded by smell, but I couldn't tell the difference between a motherboard and a video card if you labeled them for me). Changing the height and depth is not something I am confident doing (don't know how and don't have the external software). Here is the plan; take the original dressed up pic which is 2.25mb, bring it into designer, invert it, size it and carve it into a 11"x14" piece of .25" bone corian with a carve depth of .12 and a height of 999. sound feasible? If I am going to turn out an inferior product using this plan, I may just table it for now. I appreciate the conversion to B&W Jpaluk, but by what everyone is saying, doesn't it have to by high res to work. I guess I could scan the low res to high res then import.

[mtylerfl]

Okay, so Rope lights are basically out. I will check on the compact Flourescents and light difusers.

As previously stated I am basically an idiot when it comes to Tech (I can tell the difference between white oak and red oak blindfolded by smell, but I couldn't tell the difference between a motherboard and a video card if you labeled them for me). Changing the height and depth is not something I am confident doing (don't know how and don't have the external software). Here is the plan; take the original dressed up pic which is 2.25mb, bring it into designer, invert it, size it and carve it into a 11"x14" piece of .25" bone corian with a carve depth of .12 and a height of 999. sound feasible? If I am going to turn out an inferior product using this plan, I may just table it for now. I appreciate the conversion to B&W Jpaluk, but by what everyone is saying, doesn't it have to by high res to work. I guess I could scan the low res to high res then import.

Hello,
Tips & Tricks ISSUE 16 January 2009 – Lithopane (Lithophane) Carving 101 (http://www.carvewright.com/downloads/tips/CarveWrightTips&Tricks_Jan09.pdf) might be helpful for you.

[atauer]

I've seen different things as far as lighting a litho. The best I have seen so far that is both affordable and simple to use are the puck lights that were previously mentioned. There are a few things that I want to try, but I'm not sure how they would come out.

I have access to a bunch of LED's and was thinking of making some type of high-intensity light panel to put behind one, but haven't attempted it yet, as I'm not sure if the LED's will put out the amount of light that I want. I also have to factor in the heat factor and the energy consumption. Trying to get something that both supplies ample light, without having to consume high amounts of power.

[cnsranch]

I think you'll be fine

Go .15 deep, anything over 400 height's not gonna help, so 999 is ok.

Set Bit Optimization to Best, consider 1/8" feather, carve no less res than Best - I'd use Optimum, but it will increase your carve drastically (did one this weekend on Best - 9.5 hours. Optimum was 25 hours).

The project in Designer will look even better than the one I attached - I just imported what you attached - the 2.5 mb jpeg you've got will be better res.

[JDPratt]

I have read the tips and tricks by LRW several times and looking back I see my height and depth are a little off of his suggestions, but my biggest worry is the fact that the pic is very busy with the different shades and may be undiscernable after carving. I am a trial and error kid of guy (more like trial and error, error, error...) but I hate to waste the corian (not cheap) I did try this in pine but you really cant get a good idea of what it should look like in corian.

Ranch - how are you getting the white corian look to the project in designer? I have the different wood types but cant find the white.

Since the project is so large (11x14) I guess I could rescan and try to get a higher res before importing into designer. I have to see if LOML can get the scanner fired up.

question about the lighting is just trying to think of a different way besides the pucks. LED light board sounds interesting. Just thinking that one puck will not be enough light for such a big litho. How many pucks do you guys use for large ones?

[cnsranch]

Here's a pic of an 8.5"x11" with the puck behind it - more than enough light (sorry, pic's not the best - ambient lighting made it look really brighter at the source than it is).

Re board colors - look here:

http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=4422&highlight=board+Color

[want2b]

I've made various sizes, most of them have been smaller, 5.5 X 6 as folks like them to set on small tables. Largest was a 12.5 X 22 of the last supper for our church. The 'hockey puck' flourescents from Lowes can be bought singly or in a pack of three. The 3 pack comes with short cables that allows you to connect them in a chain. For my large one I found a small flourescnt under the cabinet about 15" long and it worked well. Have used either 2 or 3 pucks on ones about the size you mentioned, depended on how much was actually picture that needed lighting. Trial and error is still my best.
Luck,
Rick H.

[peter_l]

Hi All,

Just did 2 different lithos and found a new way to light them.

The first ones I did, I used the puck flourescent lights from lowes.

Here is what I did this time (I will post pictures later)

I bought a basic light socket that has a small angle plate at the bottom. I attach this to a small block of wood that is attached to the bottom of the litho box. I used a 20W flourescent light bulb and attach some lamp wire to the socket.

Works great, and costs about $5.00

Pete

[JDPratt]

Would love to see the pics of this method. Please post when you get a chance.

[twiceretired]

By scanning to get a better resolution, you may add noise, which will compound the issue.

[peter_l]

Here are some pictures of what I was talking about.

Pete

[mtylerfl]

By scanning to get a better resolution, you may add noise, which will compound the issue.

Right - scanning a low res photo at a higher resolution just gives you a bigger low-res photo.;)

[Mikewiz]

Hey,

Here's what I did for a lith I made. I used two puck lights from lowes or homedepot. I had to play with the dept of the box to get the light backlight the litho uniformly. Hope this helps.

Mikewiz

[JDPratt]

I like the use of foil to add more reflective light.

What is the depth of the box for that litho with two light pucks?

[robbrigg2]

Mike that is awesome, nice job.

[brdad]

I posted some info on using the foil in a puck light arrangement in a thread titled My first attempt at lithophane boxes (http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?t=9558&highlight=attempt). I'm still thinking of a better looking design, but light-wise it came out great.

[Mikewiz]

Hey,

the picture size was carve 8" x 12". The lights are set back 5" from the

picture. The first box I made was shallower and you could see the lights behind the pic. I made this for a customer and she loves it.

Mikewiz

[robbrigg2]

Would anyone be willing to share a box design? I did a litho but have been having a hard time making the box to house it (I am not a good desinger).

Also, which side of the litho should be facing out? This might sound dumb, but when I put a light source behind the panel the side with the actual carving on it shows more detail when it is facing outward. Is this right or did I do something wrong?

[brdad]

I think it looks much better with the carved surface facing the person viewing it and the light shining against the uncarved side.

[robbrigg2]

I think it looks much better with the carved surface facing the person viewing it and the light shining against the uncarved side.

Thanks.. I do too, I thought I had done soemthing wrong.

[cnsranch]

Would anyone be willing to share a box design? I did a litho but have been having a hard time making the box to house it (I am not a good desinger).

Also, which side of the litho should be facing out? This might sound dumb, but when I put a light source behind the panel the side with the actual carving on it shows more detail when it is facing outward. Is this right or did I do something wrong?

FWIW, here's a couple pics of boxes I did.

Really simple, really (assuming you have a table saw w/a dado set, and/or router table).

First of all, my corian is 1/2" thick. The top, bottom and sides of the box are joined with simple 45 degree corners.

There is a 1/4" wide by 1/2" deep rabbet joint cut around the front to hold the corian. I keep the wood pieces long, cut the rabbets, then fit the wood to the corian (set the corian against the wood, in the rabbet, and manually mark where you want your 45's.) Once you've got the pieces cut to size, glue them up WITH THE CORIAN IN ITS RABBET. Do not glue the corian - if you clamp up the pieces, the corian will hold tight, and help keep the pieces perfectly square to each other.

Once the glue is dry, remove the clamps, tap the corian out from behind, finish to your liking, and then try to figure out how to get the corian back in place:rolleyes:

Assuming that the rabbet is perfectly square, and so is the corian, it is impossible to get the corian back in place (trust me, I worked with it for way too long). Here's the trick -

Take the corian back to the table was, and cut a SMALL bevel on the backside edges of the corian - just a tad off of the back edges - just enough to allow you to set it in the rabbet. It's a simple matter, then, of tapping it back in place - no glue, no fasteners, just pressure.

Great way of preserving either the box if you ever want to put another litho in it, or take the litho out and place it in another box.

Hope this helps.

[robbrigg2]

Thanks I will give it a try... the only thing I don't have it the dado but I think I can make it work....

[cnsranch]

rob

Re the dado - that's ok, set your blade to 1/4" high, run all four pieces thru the saw1/2" back from the front edge (or 1/4" back if you're using 1/4" corian), re-set the blade to 1/2" high, and run the four thru on end 1/4" back from the front edge - same thing, just more steps. Always run all four pieces at the same time, getting the blade set exactly the same more than once is tough (I'm math challenged:mrgreen:). Always test your cuts on a piece of scrap that's the same thickness of the pieces you're using.

You probably know all this, but it's a slow day at the office:rolleyes: