- Laser malfunction. Grrr!
- Notice the lovely bleed!
My MacBook Etching
Sadly somewhat marred by a malfunction of the laser cutter, but still quite pretty I think. We decided to take a gamble on allowing the design to bleed over the curved edges and I think it paid off nicely. I love the way the Apple logo looks like a harvest moon above the vegetation. Perhaps I can just tell people that the faded part is San Francisco fog.
Comments and faves
somebear, ☃, Beep., osakasteve, and 253 other people added this photo to their favorites.
somebear (67 months ago | reply)
Very pretty. Too bad about the laser malfunction. I guess there's no way of correcting it?
carpeaqua (67 months ago | reply)
Wow, I really wanna do something like this to my laptop.
Jon Hicks (67 months ago | reply)
Soooo niiice!±
☃ (67 months ago | reply)
Cool idea – almost a bit Sigur Rós-ish. The bleeding is great.
merlinmann (67 months ago | reply)
Lovely -- and I kinda like the "error."
Slightly OT: does etching make the treated area any easier to grip? Seems like this could also have the functional effect of making the case less slippery, which I would love.
Courtney S (67 months ago | reply)
i really like the messed up part too. call it a "happy accident." or just tell people it's a statement about the intersection of nature and technology.
Tommy-toe (67 months ago | reply)
Ooh, that looks awesome! Did you design it yourself?
sandirab [deleted] (67 months ago | reply)
this is AMAZING! i'm in love with it.
anilucia (67 months ago | reply)
Buzz, I like the malfunction as well. It almost looks like your laptop is speeding somewhere...
ldandersen (67 months ago | reply)
@somebear: We considered trying to correct it by overprinting the lower portion of the image, but based on a few small tests we did I was afraid it would just end up looking like a patch job.
@carpeaqua: Yeah, it's pretty a pretty awesome but surprisingly labor intensive process. I was really surprised that it's still such an inexact science.
@Jon Hicks: Thanks! Did you see how well the Firefox logo turned out on Leah's machine? It almost made me want to just print that large on mine.
@Sven: Thanks!
@merlinmann: Not really--the surface still feels exactly the same on the etched area.
@loopkid: I agree--I was going for subtle :-).
@Courtney S: I really appreciate you saying that--makes me feel a lot better :-)!
@Tommy-toe: The idea was mine but I can't claim credit for making the art--it's a piece of vector clip art from iStockPhoto :-P.
@Joeishi: Awesome--thanks :-)!
@anilucia: Once again, that's a relief to hear. I'll give that explanation :-).
Jon Hicks (67 months ago | reply)
I did Buzz, and I want mine done too! (Not with the Firefox logo though!)
sarahhatter (67 months ago | reply)
What image/photo did you use to generate the silhouette?? It's beautiful!
Anthony Baker (67 months ago | reply)
OMG! This looks brilliant. Must find a place to get this done for my machine... Have to say, I've been one to hold off spoiling my PB using any kind of stickers or whatnot, but this type of effect is classy as all hell.
ldandersen (67 months ago | reply)
@sarahhatter: It's a stock piece of clip art from iStockPhoto. I *knew* you'd like it :-).
@Anthony Baker: Yeah, I was definitely going for subtle and classy. Thanks!
bitpuddle (67 months ago | reply)
Cool! I want one.
leight_k (67 months ago | reply)
Wow, you actually had the guts to do that to your MacBook Pro! Amazing :) The 'screw-up' isn't too bad, imagine it without it though :)! Love the new look of the MBP!
Nice work! Jealous...
caffeineandpixels (67 months ago | reply)
If anyone's interested, there's TONS of beautiful vector art like this on istockphoto.com (And it's really cheap!)
jayasolo (67 months ago | reply)
Great idea, I love it! (and the error area looks really cool)
∆ k e l l y k a i s e r ∆ (67 months ago | reply)
wow!!!!! I need too!
(jennY) (67 months ago | reply)
Its beautiful!
joelsuplido (67 months ago | reply)
Great job! At first I thought it was a shadow!
roseofwinter (67 months ago | reply)
Wow - I'd love something like this on my Macbook!
Georgie Sharp (67 months ago | reply)
Very Cool Bright, found on EXPLORE.
neatlysliced (67 months ago | reply)
Pretty cool. A rather gorgeous design.
..=D (67 months ago | reply)
It looks very nice...
i liked the idea...
www.johnowenphotography.co.uk (67 months ago | reply)
Loving that, I love something like it on mine
Robert Kranzke (67 months ago | reply)
gotta add my vote for: looks great and so does the "malfunction". You couldn't have planned that much better. I think it adds "grunge", in a good way. Also reminds me of the scrapes on the underside of a skateboard, which is hella rad.
ldandersen (67 months ago | reply)
Yeah, I have to say, it's growing on me as kind of a grunge thing. Adds character--it's not too "perfect."
Kaitlin M (67 months ago | reply)
That's really awesome... too bad about the laser malfunction.
Pictures of Clouds (67 months ago | reply)
Very cool. I want to see the real thing!
kondrath82 (67 months ago | reply)
very cool!
Jevaun (67 months ago | reply)
AWESOME. That's simmply brilliant. I've toyed with the idea of doing th esame thing, but never figured out a good design to put on mine. Shame about the malfuction tho.
Audrey Hall Photography (67 months ago | reply)
Totally cool. And brave!
tsevis (66 months ago | reply)
Great design! Congrats!
Hashem. (65 months ago | reply)
This looks great. Adds personality and personalization. How can I get it done? Is there a place in SF? I heard you can get a replacement lid too, that you can replace...
mylatteisu (64 months ago | reply)
how did u do that?
teach me
i_Z_Z_y (64 months ago | reply)
awesome !!!
Jestu what?! (63 months ago | reply)
even the 'oops' is beautiful and helping me to thaw out.....
mooshuspice (63 months ago | reply)
Once I get my Mac, I know what I'm doing to it.
!efatima (62 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Emirates Mac, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
lungstruck (62 months ago | reply)
After looking at this in high-res, I hafta say that malfunction actually looks pretty cool! And the bleed over is very nice. In any case, it's at least 10x sexier than your run-of-the-mill stickerbook.
Nizur (61 months ago | reply)
Wow. Really cool etching. Something to think about doing when I eventually get a Macbook of my own.
Carlos Pardo Photography (61 months ago | reply)
Great work !
Jack Pearce (61 months ago | reply)
You made it to digg. Looks like it was posted to someone's blog.
digg.com/apple/Beautiful_Macbook_Pro_Laser_Et ching
unloud (61 months ago | reply)
The laser malfunction looks like it was on purpose, like nature tearing itself away :-) Awesome job.
eugenio gp [deleted] (61 months ago | reply)
this is beautiful!! i would love to have something like this done to my mac...
geniusNOTatWORK (61 months ago | reply)
that is a BEAUTIFUL design! And don't fret about the "malfunction," it looks amazing!
Geek Woo (61 months ago | reply)
Oh cool! Hmm, I'll look into doing something similar with vinyl stickers on my Macbook. Eh, it's not laser etching, but it'll do :)
vasta (61 months ago | reply)
Absolutely gorgeous. I need to find me an etching laser in Toronto.