This is one you might not think you can do. A drink can is anodized aluminum, so you can engrave your own photos and designs straight onto it with the xTool F2 and give it as a gift or sell it.
In the video I filled one can with an old school wrestling theme. Below is the whole process, my settings, and one mistake I made on camera that you can learn from.
Jump to: The can · Placement · Focus · Material · Your image · Settings · The mistake to avoid · Frame and engrave · More images
1. The can
I used a can of Pepsi Max. I like these because they're black, and the engraving comes out really nice and bright against it.
Mine was full. You can empty it if you're worried, but I've done this loads of times and it has never come close to going through.
Cans usually have smudges on them, so give yours a spray of 99.9% isopropyl alcohol and a wipe first. You want a nice clean surface before you engrave.
2. Placement
If you just rest a can on its side, it will roll. You can balance it on the cutting plate, and I have done that, but it's harder to get it exactly where you want it.
I used my Self-Centering Jig, which fits the xTool F1, F2 and F1 Lite. It sits where the base plate would normally go.
- Open the jig up and lay the can in it.
- Lock it in place.
- Rotate the can so you have a nice big area to engrave on. You can adjust it precisely and come back to it later to straighten it up.
3. Focus
When the red and blue dots aren't overlapping, you're not in focus. Use the knob on the side of the laser head: clockwise raises the head, counterclockwise lowers it. Mine needed to go up, so I turned it clockwise until the two dots joined.
Then in xTool Studio, click New project in the top right. You'll hear a beep when the machine connects and it takes a picture of the bed. You can also click the auto measure button (the A with the ruler next to it). The lights go off, the laser moves up and down, and you get a measurement. Mine read 81.6 mm.
4. Pick a material first
The can is black anodized aluminum. I always pick xTool's 1/64" (0.2 mm) Black Metal Business Card material for this. It's not for the settings. It tells Studio what kind of surface you're on, so Auto adjust can prepare your images properly.
Changing material can change the focus distance, so run the auto measure again afterwards to be sure.
5. Add your image
- Click Import and pick your image.
- Remove the background if it has one. I use the free Adobe Express background remover. Upload your photo, wait for it to remove the background, then download it.
- Size it. A can is a cylinder, so if your design is too wide, the beam hits the curved surface at an angle and won't engrave evenly. I'd guess somewhere around 25 to 30 mm wide is a safe maximum. I pushed my first one to 35 mm and it still came out well, but it's a risk.
- Select the image, click Adjust in the top toolbar, then Auto adjust on the left. Because you picked a black metal material, it inverts the image and sets the contrast. On a dark surface you need the colors flipped, otherwise it looks like a photo negative.
6. Settings
I swapped the material over to my own black anodized aluminum preset. It's the same one I use for single portraits on business cards, with one change: I drop the DPI to 350 on cans. It worked really well.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Laser type | Infrared light |
| Dot duration | 82 µs |
| Power | 95% |
| DPI | 350 |
| Passes | 1 |
| Bitmap mode | Jarvis |
| Engraving mode | Bi-directional |
You'll find my other tested values in the free Laser Settings Library and on the xTool F2 settings page.
7. The mistake to avoid
On my second image I had my own custom material selected when I clicked Auto adjust. Studio didn't know my custom material was black anodized, so it didn't invert the image. It just made it black and white, and it would have engraved like a negative.
The fix is quick:
- Switch the material back to Black Metal Business Card.
- A message pops up saying the material has changed. Click Reapply Auto-Adjustment and it corrects the image.
- Switch back to your own settings and set the DPI to 350 again.
If you set your custom material up properly as a black metal, you won't have to do this every time.
8. Frame and engrave
- Click the three dots next to the framing button in the bottom right and choose Outline, so the frame shows the actual shape of your image.
- Set the light power to 10. On a dark material the brighter the better.
- Click Framing and check the position on the can.
- If you move the design, click the camera icon on the right to refresh the photo, then frame again.
- Click Process. My first image took 19 seconds. Click Start.
Keep the lid down unless you're wearing laser safety glasses. Extraction matters here too, because it throws out lots of fine bits of aluminum.
9. Adding more images
Once the first one is done, you can fill the rest of the can.
- Drag the finished design off the workspace. Studio ignores anything off the workspace, so it won't engrave it again.
- Import the next image, Auto adjust it (check the material first), and apply your settings.
- Click the camera icon to refresh the photo. You'll see what you've already engraved, so you can fit the next one into a free space.
- Straighten the can in the jig if it's wonky, frame it, then engrave.
For the logo at the top I did the adjustments by hand instead: Invert, then the Grayscale button, and a little more sharpness.
It's super easy once you've done one. This is just a standard can, and those settings should work for any photo on pretty much any black can.
Your turn
These make great gifts, or something to sell. Show me what you make, or ask me anything, in the comments on the video.
