One Year of Laser Engraved Canvases
How a Facebook post turned into 26,000 views and a whole new creative rabbit hole
About a year ago, I posted my first laser engraved canvas on Facebook.
It still makes me smile because it was not even my idea. It was my wife’s.
She saw one of my early tests and had that look people get when something clicks in their brain and turns into pure possibility. The laser had recreated an image on a painted canvas in a way that felt almost unreal. The texture of the canvas stayed, the contrast popped, and the whole thing looked like some strange blend of printing, burn art, and magic trick.
She said, basically, “People are going to love this.”
I was skeptical. I also knew she was probably right. So I posted the first one. I shared the photos fresh out of the laser, and I shared my settings. The image itself was one I made with ChatGPT, which feels extra fitting now because here we are.
This was the first picture I uploaded of my canvas engravings
What happened next surprised me.
The comments were wildly encouraging, and the questions came in fast. What settings did you use. What kind of canvas is that. Can you use any spray paint. Can my 10W laser do this. How do you prep it. How do you avoid scorching. Why does mine look washed out. Why does mine look like a burnt waffle.
I answered everything. I explained the process in detail. And then I posted another canvas a few days later and the cycle repeated. Same love. Same questions. Same repeat questions. I spent a ton of time typing the same answers again and again because I genuinely wanted people to get good results.
Then my wife suggested I make a YouTube video.
Her logic was perfect. Document it once. Answer the common questions in one place. Help more people, faster. I loved the idea and also had the normal human fear of putting my face on the internet forever. I worried I would look awkward, sound awkward, and get exactly three views from two bots and one confused relative.
I filmed it anyway and uploaded it with the energy of “who is going to watch this.”
My first video on Canvas Engraving.
Today that first video has over 26,000 views.
So this blog post is a celebration, a thank you, and a practical guide rolled into one. It is also my way of taking everything I have learned through all the experimenting, the mistakes, the upgrades, the questions, the repeat questions, and the deep nerdy testing into one helpful place you can come back to whenever you are about to engrave a canvas.
And yes, I am sharing the original file from that first post too. Just go back to the home page and scroll down a bit to sign up for my newsletter and the file is yours :)
What I am sharing today
To celebrate one year of canvas engravings, I am sharing the original file I used back then, the one created with ChatGPT.
It is a little time capsule. It is also genuinely fun to run because you can compare your result to mine and see how your machine, paint, and settings translate the same source image.
Also, if you go back and watch that first video, you will probably get a laugh. I was still figuring things out at multiple levels, including the confidence level of someone who fully expects to be ignored by the internet.
The internet did not ignore it.
Thank you!
- Your Severna Builds
