Give a simple notebook
a personal touch

Decorative Notebook

With a laser and some creativity, you can transform an ordinary notebook into a personalized gift or keepsake. We used a Speedy 400 to decorate two notebooks. We enhanced the emerald sketchbook with a contrasting laser engraving, and we laser cut the flexible cover on the smaller notebook to reveal a colored second layer.

Gather materials and get ready

Material required :

Hard cover sketchbook (we used an emerald Leuchtturm1917® Sketchbook Master - A4+)
Soft cover notebook (we used a Leuchtturm1917® Jottbook Medium (A5) - navy)
Spray glue
Piece of paper - the more contrasting, the better

Trotec Laser Used:

Speedy 400
80 watts
2-inch lens

Step by Step

Step 1: Laser engrave sketchbook cover

Using our design, you can laser engrave a design on the sketchbook cover and personalize it with a name. If you wish to uise our design, you can open the PDF design and enter the name. You can also create your own unique design.

Parameters used:

The following parameters produce a brown engraving on the emerald sketchbook:
Engraving: Power: 20% - Speed: 30% - Frequency: 500 ppi - Air Assist: ON - Z-Offset: -1 mm

Note:

Other colors may react differently.

Step 2: Laser cut the notebook

Flexible covers (like the cover on the Jottbook we used) can easily be cut with a laser. Our decorative design is a tree with precise details. To give the fine details more stability, we glued a piece of paper on the inside of the cover after we laser processed the notebook.

1: table
Use the Aluminum Cutting Grid Table and cover the surface around the workpiece to focus the vacuum suction.

2: air flow shutter
If you elect to use an air flow shutter, please close it to achieve optimal suction on the table and not on the exhaust slots.

3: laser process
Open the design and send it to the laser.

Parameters used:

Cutting: Power: 20% - Speed: 0.5% - Frequency: 1000 Hz - Air Assist: OFF -
Z-Offset: -1 mm

Step 3: Finishing

To give your laser cut cover more stability, glue a piece of paper on the inside of the cover of the notebook. Try finding a piece of paper that coordinates with your design. You can use a glue stick or spray glue, but spray glue seems to provide the most stability. More laser cutting tips.