There are many ways to etch plexiglass. You can use a chemical (usually acid of some sort), you can also use a roto tool to engrave into the plexiglass (I feel this gives an uneven finish, unless that’s the look you want on your design), and then there is the forced method... using air pressure to force grit medium to sand or etch the exposed surface.

This is just one of many ways to achieve an even etched finish on a sheet of Plexiglass.

What you will need to do for an etching (Lokie’s sandblasting method):

Preparation

When you have your image, which you wish to apply to a window for etching or paint. You need to lay out your window. The fans, if there are any, drill first. Why? You don’t want to do hours worth of work to finally drill for the fan and have it crack on you. Yes, I talk from experience.

The drawing I have chosen for this tutorial is for a fellow member of PimpRig.com. After I had his approval to use the image I then reversed and resized the image (ms paint can do this simple little task) to fit the window. When etching a window you want the image to be on the inside. It needs to be protected from greasy fingers. What’s the first thing people want to do when they see your pimp’n work….touch it. This is why the image needs to be reversed.

After you have lined up your image and have it in place, use your tape to hold the corners down. Just do the top 2 corners first. When you are sure that this is where you want the image slide the carbon paper under the image. Then tape the other bottom 2 corners. Remember to keep the paper tight and flat as possible.

Next, you want to use your fine tip pencil or pen and start tracing your design with the carbon paper underneath the image. Your image is now being copied to your window. When you are done, gently lift up the 2 corners so you can look at the image. Is it all there? No? Gently put it back down and trace the spots you missed. Yes? Good for you.