There are no available registration dates at this time.

Note: This class will be held in a live, online format using the Zoom Platform. 
Class meets Mondays 1-4pm ET for three sessions.
Students must have Adobe Photoshop & Adobe Illustrator installed on their home computers

Join Sarah Pike of FreeFall Laser as she takes you through the process of designing laser engraved book cloth using photographic images. We will begin by gaining an understanding how the laser cutter translates grayscale images and why the process isn’t straight forward. Next we’ll head into Photoshop to learn what types of color photographs are optimal for laser engraving and how to format them for success. Once the photographs are formatted we’ll bring them into Illustrator to design your book cover and create a laser-ready file.

Before Sarah engraves your book cloth at her studio, she will test a portion of your file to see how well it engraves and we’ll discuss how to adjust the file to improve the results. Your book cloth will be engraved the week after the last class and shipped to arrive on or around April 26th(USA). Cloth can be purchased through Maine Media Book Arts Studio (email Richard Reitz Smith  [email protected]), instructor or ordered by student and sent to Free-Fall Laser. Cloth needs to be Iris book cloth in a dark color. Please check with instructor before purchase.

In this workshop you will:

  • Design laser engraved book cloth
  • Understand why laser engraving photographs is tricky and how the laser cutter translates grayscale images
  • Learn how to format photographs for laser engraving
  • Learn how to prepare laser-ready files in Illustrator

Prerequisite:beginner to intermediate knowledge of Photoshop. Basic knowledge of Illustrator is helpful but not necessary. Instruction in Photoshop will include how to format photographs for laser engraving but not photo editing. Students are encouraged to begin with color photographs. Those choosing to work with grayscale images need to know how to use Curves.

Technology Requirements: Students must have Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, + Zoom (free download)

Material and engraving costs: As students will be designing their own projects the cost will vary depending on the scope and edition size. A variety of darker Iris book cloths are available in 17” x 32” lengths at a separate cost. Engraving costs will be calculated based on size and scope of project. Students will receive a quote once their files are finalized and pay Sarah directly for the cost of the engraving before engraved book cloth is shipped.

Estimated engraving costs (based on engraving area):

6.5” x 9” = $24

9” x 13” = $38

13” x 18” = $60

18” x 24” = $90

18” x 32”  = $105

Students will bind their own books after the workshop; this is not included in the workshop, but you should consider your binding when designing your cloth.

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Instructor: Sarah Pike

Sarah Pike is an artist and owner of FreeFall Laser, a laser-cutting studio specializing in collaborating with artists and artisans to create custom work that combines technical expertise with artistic vision. She received her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Prior to opening FreeFall Laser, Sarah taught studio arts at the Community College of Vermont and printmaking at Bennington College, where she was the technical instructor of printmaking. She has been an artist in residence at the Frans Masereel Center in Belgium, Steindruck München in Munich, and carpe plumbum in Leipzig. Her work has been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in North America and Europe. Sarah has presented her laser cutting research at the American Institute for Conservation Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas, USA, SNAP Symposium in Rheine, Germany, and Southern Graphics International Conferences in Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas, USA.

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