In this STEAM classroom project, students create a laser-processed self-portrait by combining hand drawing, image scanning, contour tracing, engraving, line tracing, and cutting in LaserMaker. The lesson connects visual art, digital design, personal expression, and laser processing through a practical creative activity.

1. Lesson Overview

1.1 Project Goal

Students will create a self-portrait design by drawing a simple portrait by hand, scanning or importing it into LaserMaker, extracting the contour, setting processing layers, and producing a finished engraved or traced portrait piece.

1.2 Recommended Classroom Use

2. Learning Objectives

2.1 What Students Will Learn

2.2 STEAM Skills Developed

2.3 Responsible Making

Portrait-based projects should be handled respectfully. Students should not use someone else’s portrait as a joke or prank, and they should ask for permission before publishing, sharing, or displaying a portrait of another person.

3. Real-World Context: What Is a Self-Portrait?

A self-portrait is an artwork an artist creates to represent themselves. It can show appearance, style, personality, mood, or a particular moment in the artist’s life. In this lesson, students use a simplified self-portrait as the starting point for a laser design project.

Self-portraits are also a useful way to explore identity and visual expression. By translating a drawing into a laser-processed object, students can see how a personal artwork changes when it moves from paper to digital design and then to a physical material.

4. Design and Engineering Considerations

Before working in LaserMaker, students should think about the portrait as both an artwork and a physical object. The final result may be used as a keychain, sign, tag, display piece, or branded design sample.

5. Lesson Procedure

5.1 Research, Measure, and Sketch

Start by deciding the purpose and size of the self-portrait piece. Students should calculate the length and width based on how the finished work will be used, then record the measurements in millimeters.

Students should draw a simple self-portrait that reflects their own features or style. A bold marker drawing works well because clear lines make scanning and contour tracing easier.

5.2 Draw and Scan the Self-Portrait

Ask students to draw their self-portrait on paper with a marker. After the drawing is complete, scan the image and save it to the computer. The source lesson recommends black-and-white scanning because it can create a clearer outline for the next step.

5.3 Import the Image and Extract the Contour

In LaserMaker, click Open on the toolbar and select the scanned self-portrait file. After the image is imported into the drawing area, use the Contour Tracing tool to extract the outline of the portrait.

Keep the extracted outline and delete the original bitmap image when it is no longer needed. This leaves a cleaner line-based portrait design that can be assigned to different processing layers.

5.4 Set Processing Layers and Parameters

Select the facial expression objects and assign them to the yellow shallow engraving layer. In the source workflow, the material is set to acrylic plate, the process is set to shallow engraving, and the processing thickness is set to 0.1 mm.

Select the internal portrait outline and assign it to the red tracing layer. Then select the external contour and assign it to the black cutting layer. In the source workflow, the external contour uses acrylic plate, cutting, and a processing thickness of 3 mm.

Finally, arrange the process sequence as shallow engraving → tracing → cutting. This order helps process the surface details first, then completes the outline and final cut.

5.5 Test, Debug, and Improve

Before making the final self-portrait, students should test the processing effect on the selected material. The source lesson suggests testing shallow engraving with a speed value of 400 and a power value of 30, then observing the result and adjusting the parameters as needed.

6. Finished Project

After the final settings are confirmed, students can complete the engraving, tracing, and cutting process. The finished work should preserve the character of the hand-drawn portrait while showing a clean laser-processed effect.

7. Extension Challenge

After learning contour extraction with a self-portrait, students can draw another simple image by hand and repeat the same workflow. For example, they can create an elephant, another animal, or a symbolic classroom icon.

Encourage students to compare different drawing styles and think about which types of lines produce the clearest contour tracing and engraving effect.

8. Inspiration Gallery

The following examples can be used for classroom discussion, design inspiration, and student reflection. Encourage students to compare the drawing style, contour clarity, material effect, and final laser-processed appearance.