Been looking for ways to optimize images for lasers...

Sadly, one thing I have found that's painfully obvious... Less is VERY MUCH more... For instance, let's say you have this complex image... (sorry for utilizing two different graphic formats, but you'll see why in a minute)...

Click image for larger version. 

Name:	BoarRobot.png 
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This is the thing you're wanting to convert... See all those lines? Details? Yeah, buddy, you're gonna end up with well over 2000 points... IF you're lucky... And LaserBoy might be able to fix up some of those points for you... But what if we can reduce some of the, what I call, useless lines and details? This is where a good program like CorelDraw and an eraser tool comes in handy...

So take a look at the wheels, I mean does it really need to have all that detail? Maybe we can chop some of the lines out and still have the three bars on it's back... And around the head? Plus, the nose area, those little lines are nice, but too much detail!!! We're trying to get as much detail as we can without sacrificing the basic "idea" of this robotic boar... Once you look to see where you can sacrifice some finer details, this is pretty much what you're left with...

Click image for larger version. 

Name:	BoarRobot.bmp 
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You see the difference? JUST using the BMP2ILD program, I was able (with a pixel to point ratio of 7) get this image down to 1167 points!! And this is UN-OPTIMIZED, so running it through LaserBoy theoretically could, maybe reduce it another couple of hundred points...

So we're left with this...

BoarRobot.ild

Now there's still more that can be done to the image... Maybe even remove the three bars on it's back? The bottom of the tusks, they don't have to have that ring around it... Maybe remove that circle sitting on the frame that holds the tusks... Less is more... You want decent scanned images, take out lots of the fine detail... Most might not even notice it... And of course with the BMP2ILD program, you can color as many different areas as you want; it's the POINT COUNT that seems to make the images more susceptible to flicker... Although, I wouldn't try and use EVERY single color in the palette, especially if your projectors can display more than 7 or 8 colors! (BMP2ILD will only work with a basic 7 anyway)...