A short walkthrough of the steps for preparing a photo for glass engraving in Photoshop, based on Epilog Laser’s Laser Master Class: Glass Engraving Techniques, Ideas, and Inspiration video.
Glass Engraving Steps
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In the Channels tab, select only the Green channel.
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Go to Image > Calculations.
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Set the Blending to Overlay, adjust the opacity to approximately 80%, and set the Result to New Document.
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Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale.
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With the photo selected, click Remove Background.
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Right-click on the mask and select Apply Layer Mask.
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Duplicate the layer.
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Change the blending mode from “Normal” to Screen for the new layer.
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Go to the Channels tab and Ctrl + Click on the Gray channel.
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Go to Select > Inverse.
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In the Layers tab, click the Mask button.
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Double-click the copy layer to open the Layer Style menu.
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Hold down Alt and click on the white arrow under Current Layer. Drag it all the way to the left and click OK.
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Click the Expand Menu button, then select Merge Visible.
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Right-click on the merged layer and choose Duplicate Layer.
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Go to Image > Adjust > Invert.
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Change the blending mode from “Normal” to Vivid Light.
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Go to Filter > Blur > Surface Blur.
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Set the Radius to ~15 and the Threshold to ~200.
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Hold down Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E to duplicate the visible layers into a new merged layer.
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Change the blending mode of the new layer from “Normal” to Overlay.
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Right-click on the Vivid Light layer (the middle layer) and select Delete Layer.
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Click the Expand Menu button and choose Merge Visible.
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Go to Image > Adjustments > Levels.
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Move the left and right sliders inward to adjust the image contrast and brightness as needed.
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Go to Image > Adjustments > Invert.
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Resize the image and print it to the laser Dashboard.
