It’s using a powerful laser to burn images into something. The laser acts like an ink-jet printer, except that it uses tightly focused light instead of ink. The class 4 CO2 laser is powerful enough to vaporize plastics and coated metals at its focal point, but cannot penetrate or cause harm to your electronic gear.
We can etch any image that we can get into a format that can be read by our drawing software. Vector images like .eps, or .png are best. We have subscriptions to several online clipart suppliers like ClipArt.com and iStockPhoto.
We also have a scanner and digital camera here, so you can bring in photographs or hand-drawn art.
One comment we hear a lot is, “I want to get my laptop etched, but I don’t know what to put on it.” It’s okay to make an appointment just to see what’s available. You can also search services like ClipArt.com and iStockPhoto. You don’t need to join either service in order to search for images, though you can if you want to. We’ll download a copy of the image directly when you come in for your tech-tattoo.
If you find and image you like, send us an email with the file/item number, and the kind of object onto which you want the image etched, and we can let you know if that image will reproduce well and about what it would cost to have it etched.
Remember: whatever image you chose the laser cannot print colors. We can fill the etched-out depressions with paints, which is fun and durable, but inexact. So when trying to decide on an image, think black and white laser printer. Not full-color laser printer.
No. We only etch devices that are brought into our store. Why? We wouldn’t want to do without our stuff while it was shipped to and fro, and we wouldn’t want to take the risk that it would be damaged in shipping, so we don’t feel our customers should have to deal with those concerns either.
If you are really pressed for time you can drop off your device and pick it up when it’s been etched, which is just one more way in which we differ from traditional tattoo parlors. ;)
Laser etching is a surface treatment only. Because it doesn’t penetrate the case of the device, it doesn’t harm the electronics. We believe that most manufactures will treat etched imagery as they would surface scratches, and will honor their warranties accordingly, but you may want to check with your device’s manufacturer if you are concerned.