P3D lenticular

[John Toeppen <toeppen@xxxxxxxx>]

Kerry Gray asked aobut this:

So, I wondered if there was some kind soul out there who could enlighten
me
re any of the following:
1.  How are lenticular prints produced? (Or where do I read about it?)
2. What are the alternative materials available and what are their
corresponding properties/advantages/costs.Are there also different
processes?
3. What manufacturers/printers produce what products and what should I
be
looking for for my purposes (post card print to match Toppans's
quality)?
4. What camera(s) should I consider using to achieve this quality (for a
scenery pix. e.g.)?
5. Is it possible to manipulate images on a computer before printing
(eg.
add a foreground (layer?) of foliage or whatever? Using a photo editing
programme such as Photo Shop?

Edmund Scientific sells lenticular sheets made by Fresnel Technologies
in Texas.
I have often thought about making my lenticulars using my Epson and
Realist shots.
I would attempt this in the following way:

I would need to vertically interlace my images using a program like Vrex
DDS. 
 Not horizontally, vertically.  The RL line pair width would need to be
identical
to the cylindrical lens spacing.  So after interlacing you would need to
resize 
in Photoshop or whatever.  Then the lenslet sheet must be registered to
achieve
the effect and alignment should be easy.

This should work because I remember having a set of bubble gum cards
that worked in
just this way.  Many cards, one lenslet sheet. The principle of
operation is 
really simple if you think about it.

If you have sheet of cylindrical lenses on top of a piece of paper and
take it out 
into sunlight a line of light will be focused behind each lens.  As you
tilt the
array the line will move from left to right underneath each lens. If the
paper were replaced with film. 
the line would be recorded where it falls. Light falling from the right
side makes a 
line on the left and light from the left makes a line on the right.

So a strip image under the left side of the lenses is visible from the
right,
and the image under the right side is visible from the left.  The Nimslo
prints do this for you and is probably likely to provide better results
at
a lesser cost.  But this should work too. Not trivial, but doable.

You could use a camera on a slide bar to take multiple shots.

John Toeppen


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