A Lithophane Birth Certificate...

My daugher was born last week, and our midwife gave us a fairly pretty unofficial birth certificate, with our daughter's picture, feet prints, and some info on it. I decided it would make a great litho, and set about recreating it in designer. I had to scan in and lift the feet prints from the one she gave us, and I used the original photo that she had copied onto the certificate, but for all the text I used designer. I removed the border entirely, I figure I will incorporate that into a frame.

I have a few questions.

First; since I upgraded to the CT chuck, I've only had the carving and cutting bits I ordered at that same time with the proper shank size/collars. I do have the full set of 11 decorative bits, including a 60 and 90 degree vbit - but with the quick change adapter. I also have a collar which theoretically will work on those bits. But I haven't used any of them in that collar yet. Would it be safe for me to use the V-bit for the centerline text, in corian, with a removable collar? I had tried raster text and it just looked horrible...

Second; just aesthetically - I tried to stick to the same layout she used, and it is pretty good. But I am not 100% sure I *love* it. Any comments or ideas on laying it out a bit differently, repositioning elements, resizing text, etc.?

And Third; technically - do you see anything I have set up that won't carve right, or wouldn't work well in a litho? I haven't carved a litho in years, and have probably forgotten the right settings to use.

I can hardly see the text at all in lithophane viewer.

I don't have the newer software, so don't have the lithophane viewer. :/

Any suggestions on fixing that?

(and might that be because I set the board size to 0.5", because of my version of designer requiring that minimum thickness? I am actually going to be using 0.25" corian.)

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Originally Posted by karossii

I don't have the newer software, so don't have the lithophane viewer. :/

Any suggestions on fixing that?

(and might that be because I set the board size to 0.5", because of my version of designer requiring that minimum thickness? I am actually going to be using 0.25" corian.)

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You should set the board thickness to .25 since that is the thickness you are actually using. It doesn't matter what version software the limit is .5 thickness on all of them so when the program complains just tell it to proceed any way. You do realize that you will need to use a carry board to carve on the 1/4" board don't you? Also, V carves do not work well on litho's because they do not go deep enough to show up. You will have to try another option for your lettering.

I do; I still have the sled I used a few years ago; it is 16" x 12" and 0.5" thick, with an 8" x 10" area routed down to 0.25" thick to hold the corian.

Ken,

My suggestions... On your text set the spacing (in the text input box) to around 15. For me when I set the spacing the text did seem to show up a bit better. Also maybe a different font might show up a little better..

Wow, that preview of her face is so amazing! I know what lithos look like after carving, but always hated the guessing game while designing. Can't wait until I can afford the upgrade!

Well what did you expect, she is a great subject matter you know!! ;)

Nice idea !!

I noted that your Centerline text carving is set to use the 90 degree bit. You might try setting it to the 60 degree V Bit to carve a bit deeper and let more light come through.

Very nice work on the Litho.

60 degree bit as the Capt. stated will give you more light on the lettering.

Great Job.