Portfolio Lab – Laser Engraving Pens using the Trotec Laser

Hi friends!

Today in our Portfolio Production Lab, we got to laser engrave some leatherette pens! We just threw a quick design together to see how the laser works, and it was so fun to see it work in real time! 

Here was our process:

  1. We put together a quick design in Adobe Illustrator to put on each pen. 
  2. We downloaded the template from JDS Industries Co’s website to position the design onto the pen in the correct orientation. 
  3. We created a plate for all the pens to rest on in the Trotec laser and a template in Adobe Illustrator that matched the pens’ placement in the laser, so we could engrave all of our pens at the same time. 
  4. Our instructor lined up all the designs with the pens in the Illustrator file, we then opened it in Ruby (Trotec laser’s software). 
  5. We queued up the job and sent it to the laser. 
  6. Voila! An engraved pen now sits in my pencil bag!