PHOTO PREPARATION GUIDE · RASTERGO
Preparing a photo for leather engraving
Updated October 2026 · Free browser tool · photos stay on your device
Leather darkens with heat and its surface texture breaks up fine detail, so prepare the photo with clean mid-tones and plan for masking. Ventilation and material safety are your responsibility; the tool only prepares pixels.
What leather does to a photo
Heat darkens the surface and the grain adds noise. Fine hair detail and subtle gradients are the first things to disappear. Preparing the image with slightly compressed shadows keeps the result readable.
Preparation steps
- Set millimetres and DPI before editing tones.
- Crop so the subject is large; leather grain eats small detail.
- Avoid large flat dark areas, which tend to over-darken.
- Mask the area to reduce smoke staining, and clean the surface afterwards as the material allows.
Safety notes we will not skip
Engraving leather produces odour and fumes. Use extraction appropriate to your workspace and check what your material actually is — coated or synthetic materials can release harmful fumes. These are machine-side decisions, not file preparation.
RasterGo prepares image files in your browser. Material previews are labelled digital simulations, not photographs of engraved pieces, and no power, speed or physical result is promised.