What 'tools' do you most use for Lithos?

[Jeff_Birt]

I've been thinking a lot lately about lithos. I've yet to attempt one but have enjoyed seeing all the great ones folks have shown on the forum. From what I gather there is a bit of trial and error getting a hang of setting the depth/height of your imported image properly. It also seems that folks who have the pattern editor are able to make use of tools like 'De-noise' to remove some of the sharp peaks/valleys present in jpgs.

What other tools do you use in preparing your litho to carve? Do you use and blurring, do you typically scale it to just fit the piece of stock? What other tools could make the job easier?

[cnsranch]

Jeff -

As you know, there are a ton of threads re lithos, and each one has good info.

That said, I really garnered the most info from going through the learning curve amanda0101 went through. Her recco's re depth and height made the most sense to me.

Sandbouy also helped with using 1/2" corian vs the standard 1/4". 1/2" being the most available as scrap (I happen to have a line on that size here), I was really interested in figuring that out. As it turned out, it was purely common sense to set the depth .25 lower than you would if you were using 1/4" (duh).

I've only done the one litho, but when I look close at the actual finished project, there are literally hundreds of peaks, edges, jagged ridges, etc. that wouldn't be acceptable in wood (tear-out, etc) but the Corian holds perfectly. That said, I don't think that blurring or de-noising is the right thing to do with a litho - the lighted project would end up looking like a pic whose lens wasn't focused when the pic was taken. You really need that type of definition, I think.

The real problem for a newbie litho maker is the fact that what you see in Designer is exactly what is carved (as it should be), and we learn to zoom in on our projects to see potential problems, etc., but you end up throwing that out the window designing a litho, 'cause it doesn't help you envision what the thing will look like with light behind it. My sense is that you simply have to trust the machine to do it's thing, and wait 'till it's carved. That's where the trial and error comes in, no one can "see" the finished project in Designer. BTW, I did go to the Corian website and copied their "Arctic White" sample, placed it in Designer so that I could use it for the board color - that does help somewhat - easier to "see" the project than a wood finish, or toggling the wood finish off in Designer.

I'll attach my litho project for you to see - you look at it and think there's no way that's gonna look like anything but a big mess. But you carve it, and it truly looks like magic.

If there were anything Designer could do to help us with lithos, it would be to somehow light the project, or make the board setting "transparent", bottom line, let us see what the finished, lighted project would look like. That's the only way I can see to help us pro-actively define depth and height. Otherwise, the only answer is to get a guy like you to develop a list of guidelines/settings (whoul'da thought), but there just might be an infinite number of possibilities to account for.

I had a professor once tell me that "brevity is a virtue" - I never learned that :-D


Side note - my mpc is over 3mb - how can I attach that?

[Audie]

I've been thinking a lot lately about lithos. I've yet to attempt one but have enjoyed seeing all the great ones folks have shown on the forum. From what I gather there is a bit of trial and error getting a hang of setting the depth/height of your imported image properly. It also seems that folks who have the pattern editor are able to make use of tools like 'De-noise' to remove some of the sharp peaks/valleys present in jpgs.

What other tools do you use in preparing your litho to carve? Do you use and blurring, do you typically scale it to just fit the piece of stock? What other tools could make the job easier?

Jeff,

The search feature is an invaluable tool......hahahaha....just kidding!

I am also wanting to gain as much information on lithos and am feeling confident enough with the CW to try one!

Audie

[roughcut]

I've been thinking a lot lately about lithos. I've yet to attempt one but have enjoyed seeing all the great ones folks have shown on the forum. From what I gather there is a bit of trial and error getting a hang of setting the depth/height of your imported image properly. It also seems that folks who have the pattern editor are able to make use of tools like 'De-noise' to remove some of the sharp peaks/valleys present in jpgs.

What other tools do you use in preparing your litho to carve? Do you use and blurring, do you typically scale it to just fit the piece of stock? What other tools could make the job easier?


I bet as good as you are with working with photos any thing you carve will be a master piece Hope you show us your results..

[LittleRedWoodshop]

I think the overuse of software is a mistake. I do not blur my images. I think the best results come from leaving the image pretty much alone. If you start messing with it to much you loose the detail and part of the magic of the Litho is the detail. Anyone want a secret to litho carving.....

[eromran]

I think the lithos are way more forgiving than doing the projects in wood. As already stated the problem is you just have to do it knowing it is going to probally turn out good cause you don't know till it's done but the aw you get from people when they see the light through it is a great reaction. You can get by with doing very little to your project. Below (the Jesus one) got image off web all i did was adjust height and depth and cut. The second was a very old picture of my grandma same story height and depth and cut. Ive always kept my depth between .120 -.150 depending on how bright you want it.

[cnsranch]

Audie -

I've read a lot of funny posts, but you definitely get the award - as Jerrbit would say

ROFLMAO

[Jeff_Birt]

Jeff,

The search feature is an invaluable tool......hahahaha....just kidding!

ROFL! I'm not really interested in making lithos at this point myself. I'm just curious what 'tools' in Designer might make the job easier. Cnsranch mentioned that it would be nice to be able to visualize the end product better in Designer. I was hoping to solicit thought on the matter, not really start another thread on how to create lithos but a thread on what tools are useful are might be useful.

For instance: It's been mentioned by LRS that a lot of filtering should not be done. Do folks use other tools in Designer or PE that they find very useful, are there tools that would make the job easier.

[Digitalwoodshop]

I can't resist.... "If you use the Search tool......"

Sorry.... You NEVER post a question..... This was too hard to resist...

He He He.....

As for the answer.... I don't have a clue... Never made a litho.....

Snicker....

AL

[brdad]

I just picked up my cast acrylic. They had two whites, one solid, one opaque - wasn't sure what to use so I bought both. Ended up costing as much ordering from the local glass shop as it would have had I ordered online. Now I have to decide what to carve and how big and make something up for a sled. I take a lot of nature pics, that could be interesting, perhaps? Maybe by the end of the weekend I'll have something to show.

[Dan-Woodman]

Does anyone use the lighting direction feature in "view"? Seams like this would be useful for litho's if there was a back light . All the lights now are from the front, sides corners etc.
later Daniel

[Amonaug]

Does anyone use the lighting direction feature in "view"? Seams like this would be useful for litho's if there was a back light . All the lights now are from the front, sides corners etc.
later Daniel

You would also need a translucent texture for the board, right now it's a solid material. Adding translucency rendering will require a LOT more computations as well as adding more for what's called subsurface scattering otherwise known as light bouncing around inside the material.

It can be done although usually only some expensive rendering programs can do it such as Vue6 which runs around $700.00