The software, LaserImage 3.0, that came with works, Trophy Specialists & Engraving, Lelee brand laser doesn't do nice proofs. So I'm making a virtual stage in Blender (this software is free :). This post is just to show my progress so far. To render a point cloud I'm using particles and setting the type to hair. By making the hair short I can give the effect of points in a crystal. Another way to do this might be to use dupliverts. The blender file I've uploaded doesn't have hair, this is to keep the filesize down.

At work, we've now got a new laser. It creates 3d images in crystal by, rapidly, firing a single laser. The crystal shatters at the focal point to create a permanent white dot. The laser has a working Z focal range of about 80mm. Because some crystals are of awkward dimensions the laser has an adjustable table. When the table is adjusted, I have to manually adjust the Z centre of engraving. This calculation has to take into account the refractive index of air. Sometimes I also want a greater margin below the image, so that it looks 'right'.

Formula = Height of crystal / 2 - H * 1.52

Cloning nodes saves time! I've had 177 product nodes to create and was able to shorten the task by cloning. Cloning works by copying an existing node and presenting you with an edit node where you can change the relevant details. In this case each node had common attributes such as 'Base colour' and 'Engraveable material'. Instead of manually entering these and their photos I only had to change the title of the node and upload the relevant product picture.

To do this I used two Drupal modules:-

Here's a form from an exercise in Chapter 2 of PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites. Once you click the submit button the data you enter will be displayed on the screen. Later on I'll learn how save it to a database and have a copy emailed to an address.