{"id":71998,"date":"2021-06-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heyletsmakestuff.com\/?p=71998"},"modified":"2024-08-23T12:49:11","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T19:49:11","slug":"engrave-childs-handwriting-glowforge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heyletsmakestuff.com\/engrave-childs-handwriting-glowforge\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Engrave a Child’s Handwriting using a Glowforge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preserve your child’s sweet handwriting in wood or metal! Learn how to digitize and engrave a child’s handwriting using a Glowforge to make keychains, plaques, jewelry and more!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of my favorite thing about my boys at this age (they just turned six), is watching them learn to write. They carefully write out each letter, training their brains to make the strokes with the pencil. I just love everything they write!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this year for Father’s Day, I decided to immortalize their handwriting on wood keychains for my husband using my Glowforge<\/a>! Want to learn more about the Glowforge? Check out my post Glowforge Overview: What to Know Before You Buy<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This tutorial will show you how to use Adobe Illustrator<\/a> to clean up a photo of the handwriting and create the keychain shape. I prefer Illustrator because it makes cleaning up files like this so easy. You can use a similar process in Silhouette Studio or Inkscape using the trace feature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also have the Glowforge<\/a> “trace” the actual handwriting (not a photograph of it), and then use the rectangle tool to make a keychain shape. Still, I prefer an outside program because it’s so much easier to make granular edits, like deleting random spots, and, if I’m being honest, I’m just so much faster in Illustrator!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have your handwriting file cleaned up, you can engrave it on wood, draftboard, acrylic, or metal (note that you can only engrave metal with a Glowforge, not cut). I used proofgrade walnut for my project, and I love how these turned out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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