Img2gco
Problem Statement
I got a 2W blue laser and I zip tied it to my 3D printer to cut simple shapes out of paper and cardstock. I attempted to find rasterization programs for image etching but I could not find anything worth using. I decided to write my own program because it seemed somewhat trivial yet also, well, lasers!
Link
The script can be acessed at the following link: http://www.nebarnix.com/img2gco/ Jpeg, gif or PNG images can be used and they do not require conversion to grayscale (that happens inside with the magic and stuff). I am not quite sure what happens if you feed it grayscale images. Also, depending on your machine's axes the image may or may not need flipped or rotated. At some point I will implement this but for now you should make a small 10mm test and see for yourself.
Solidoodle 3 2W Blue Laser Results
Etching paper has proved pointless, as the difference between a mark and a full through burn is incredibly small. However, balsa wood has proven to work extremely well and the results have been most satisfying!
