About the engraving
This was a surprise present for the birthday of my friend Malte279. It was finished on time and is now in his possession. I am uploading it over 3 Months after his actual birthday.
About the engraving method
This was done 2 weeks bevor I started with the 50 pixels per cm dot engraving. This is a grayscale engraving. Earth-Pony, for example, uses the same technique. But when you compare us you will see that there is a big gap in quality between us. That is because the laser system I use is not meant to do this kind of engravings (The power of the laser system is not linear). I had to test for 4h to get to at least these parameters. I did it by distorting the picture with functions such as the laser output gets somewhat linearized.
Future of this method
I will probably stay with the dot engraving technique since it produces much better results. But I probably revisit this method sometime again since it can produce in theory better/different pictures. Also there are similarities to grayscale 3D engraving which I also need to revisit sometime.
Sources
Statue: Leafhelm salute by Malte279
Background: Ponies at Dawn Anthology Poster designed by Shamanguli