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Secret Trick: How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings

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I get reader emails and comments all the time asking for tips about how to take better pictures of etchings on glass in products you’ve made with your Silhouette or Cricut.

How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings

My super secret trick is to add more lighting to your setup. You can use either a flashlight or a small lamp. For the sample below, I used a battery lantern from our hurricane supply container, because I didn’t have enough hands to hold the camera and a flashlight at the same time.

First picture. No additional lighting. Unfortunately, you have to look really hard to see the text in the etching: Secret Trick: How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings in Your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker Small Business - by cuttingforbusiness.com

Second picture. Added more lighting with a lantern. You can light it from above or the side – you’ll just want to experiment with your particular setup. You’ll see that you can now read the etching clearly:

Secret Trick: How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings in Your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker Small Business - by cuttingforbusiness.com

(In case you are wondering, my camera settings were identical in both pictures and were taken with my iPhone 6. The photos were taken 11 seconds apart.)

Here’s my setup in my Shotbox:

Secret Trick: How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings in Your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker Small Business - by cuttingforbusiness.com

In addition to adding more light, I have better luck taking glass etchings photos on a solid background. In the sample above, no fancy background – just a piece of craft felt.

This same trick works for holographic and specialty materials, too. Read more about this here.

The ‘You & Me’ design is perfect for weddings, anniversaries, and more. Download it free in this post on the blog.

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Secret Trick: How to Take Better Pictures of Glass Etchings in Your Silhouette Cameo or Cricut Explore or Maker Small Business - by cuttingforbusiness.com

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Jodi

Wednesday 11th of October 2017

HI Christine, what will work for metallic vinyl? I am putting a rose gold metallic vinyl on a yeti and it picks up my reflection on the vinyl. Any suggestions? I do not have the "photography box" set up. Would that help?

Christine

Wednesday 11th of October 2017

Hello! Shining a light on the metallic will only make it more reflective. I'd try a light box of some sort to control the surroundings.