But sometimes we have people walking into the office that are looking to get other types or products/laptops laser etched. And today Nikhil walked in looking to get an etching done for the girlfriend. The laptop was an Asus U45J. The laptop is silver so we thought it would look pretty cool. Usually the resulting color for silver materials is either black or white, depending on the type of plastic/faux metal they are made of.

Once we setup the design for Nikhil, we first ran a little test on one corner just to see the resulting color and if we would be able to use gradients and shades of grey on the artwork. Once the test was done and we saw the etched surface turned white we were all happy! Indeed looks very cool. Here are some pic of the final laser etched Asus laptop.

Today we laser etched our first iPhone4! We were a bit nervous about etching this all glass phone. We started off slowly by running the laser at very low power just to see how this type of glass would react, and then ran it again at slightly higher power, but still below the normal glass setting that we use.

Here are the results (the pictures didn’t turn out that great! We even took them before cleaning the device).

With this idea in mind, we are about to launch our own laser etched wooden skins with your custom artwork etched on. The result is truly amazing and we are sure yo will love it! We will be releasing more details on the products so keep an eye here to see how you can customize your Macbook, Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone 4 with laser etched wooden skins and your own custom artwork on it.

But now with the release of the iPad, we had no excuses to not redo the templates and finally release them. So, if you are looking to get any of the Apple devices laser etched with your custom artwork, these will come in handy.

The templates are EPS files created with CS4 and have the instructions on how to setup your artwork. We hope this helps in creating your masterpiece to get laser etched. The templates currently available are for the following devices:

• 13″ MacBook Pro
• 15″ Macbook Pro
• 17″ MacBook Pro
• MacBook Air
• iPad
• iPhone 3G/3GS
• iPod Touch
• iPod Classic
• iPod Nano

There you go! You have all you need to get your MacBook, iPhone, iPad, iPhone or iPod laser etched with your custom artwork and layout.

As we expected, the results were great, as the iPad has exactly the same type of backing as the original iPhone, so the laser etching of the iPad was perfect. Have a look at the pictures below to see the etching process.

Remember, we still have 2 free iPad etchings to give away. Get yours now.

The pictures…

The iPad has finally been released. Although it hasn’t yet been released here in Canada, I went for a little drive into the US this weekend and stopped at the Apple store at Walden Galleria.

I must say: the iPad is a great looking device. It feels great in your hand and the display is absolutely amazing. As soon as I picked it up, I looked at the back and you have this large empty space, waiting to get customized. The backing is made of the same material as the original iPhone, anodized aluminum, which etches just amazingly well.

So, for the first 3 customers that come to our Toronto location to get theirs done, they can get it free.

We will publish the photos of the etched units so you know when we have done the 3 units. After that, the etching cost for the iPad will be $55.

So if you have an iPad, come get it laser etched for free and show your friends not only the new toy but how cool it looks with your very own artwork laser etched on it.

So if you own an iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry Storm or an Android handset, not only we can laser etch your device with your custom design but you can also get to our site from your device and book an appointment or contact us from any outdoor patio, subway, bus or really anywhere you may be. Very cool, no?

Hope to see you soon at the studio to get your device laser etched and remember, Make a statement. Get etched!

The vent marked the launch of The Vue, Event Venue, overlooking the greens of Royal Woodbine Golf Club. We were etching custom VIP cards for the guests, including their picture on one side and the VIP invitation on the other. The cards are made of black aluminum and include all the information that a regular card would. We had a team taking photos of the guests as they arrived and these were then transferred to the 2 workstations and lasers that were setup to laser etch the cards. The side of the card with the invitation was pre-etched at the studio and at the event we were only etching the guests picture and a small ‘sponsored by’ message on the reverse side.

The guest then picked up the cards after or during the party. It worked really well and all the guest were quite interested and impressed with the service provided.

Here are some pictures of the event with more coming soon.

This just to show you that really anything can be laser etched, not just your super cool Macbooks, iPhones and Blackberry

1. It all starts at the shop of Atlantic Metal Spinning where they cut the stainless steel pieces. These are cut into 14.5″ in diameter discs.
   
2. We then get the discs and prepare them for the laser etching process. Because these are stainless steel, we have to apply a solution to have the etching come out black.
   
3. Once we apply the solution and it dries we get them into the laser and let it run. It takes about 10 minutes to laser etch one disc.
   
4. After the etching, we wipe off the solution and the beautiful etching remains all nice and clean.
   
5. Tony from Atlantic Metal Spinning picks up the discs and molds/spins them into the final product, the apple pie pan.
   

And here is where the final product goes to – checkout the official home of the Marty’s World Famous Big Ass Apple Pie here.

Several customers (college students mainly) came over to the studio in the last 6 months to laser etch their Pina Zangaro Machina aluminum portfolios with their own custom designs but we always had problems with the etching and actually had to turn away a few people.

The problem? Well, I guess the manufacturer wants to keep the portfolios look scratch-free for as long as possible, and to accomplish this they apply some type of polishing layer to the metal which prevented the laser from properly adhering to it. So when Seeba came by last week we had to tell her the same thing: we have tried it but the results were less than perfect. We suggested that if she wanted to sand down the cover with a fine grit sandpaper it should take care of the problems. She really wanted to get her portfolio done with a custom piece of artwork from her portfolio so she did sand it down and return to the studio today to get the etching done.

As you can see, the results are great! We decided to make the etching in black to stand out more and after the sand job, it actually looked really cool by getting a more industrial feel to it than the initial polished finish. Have a look at the finished product.