Laser Engraving
How large can the engraved pieces be?
We can handle individual pieces up to 32” across by 18” deep and up to 6” thick.
How detailed can the engraving be?
If you can draw it we can engrave it! We can engrave bitmap or vector files, text, graphics or photographs. We typically engrave at 500 dpi (almost the same resolution as a laser printer) and can engrave at up to 1,000 dpi.
How clear all this detail is will depend heavily on the material itself.
What do you need as artwork?
Please refer to the artwork specification sheet on the Knowledgebase.
Can each engraving be different?
Yes. Laser engraving is extremely flexible and allows us to handle name changes easily. If there are long lists of names, or changes to each product then simply send the basic artwork to us and supply the changes for each product as a text file. We will handle all the changes from there.
What materials can be engraved?
We’ve had a go at most things (including cheese!) Below is a list of the most commonly engraved materials. Of course, it’s not exhaustive and we are always happy to test your products free of charge.
Hardwoods All hardwoods engrave excellently. Engraving is usually darker. We can engrave raw and finished timbers.
MDF Engraves very well with even texture and some darkening. Best results with veneered MDF.
Plywood Engraves very well with a dark brown/black engraving. Difficult to engrave deeply due to glue lines.
Acrylic (Perspex, plexiglass) Cast acrylic engraves excellently with a white engraving. Extruded is better for cutting. Difficult to engrave more than 1mm deep.
Leather Engraves well, dark/black against the background
Glass Results are variable. It is a surface mark with little penetration.
Anodised aluminium Surface marks excellently. Engraving always looks white against the background.
Poly resins Excellent engraving but no colour change.
Softwoods Excellent engraving with good penetration. Depth will vary with grain. Some darkening.
How much will it cost?
The engraving cost is area dependant, not detail dependant. The larger the area the more it costs. To give you an accurate price we will need the following information:
- The size and nature of the product
- The artwork area
- The quantity involved
- Is it common artwork throughout or will there be changes?
I’ve heard that the products have to be flat?
Yes, technically we can only engrave onto a flat surface. So long as there is a flat face for us to engrave onto, we can create jigs to hold the piece so we can engrave it.
In reality we can cope with curved surfaces that have about 3mm of variation from top to bottom. Beyond this we get great variations in engraving depth and image distortion.