It's time to bring your vision to life.

Create your own image or find an existing pattern. There are thousands of gorgeous vector files that are ready-to-cut on Etsy for just a dollar or two. Search for "Laser STL" plus your subject matter (I searched for "Octopus" and found mine pretty quickly here). Add search terms with your matrix's ratio -- many are a 1x2 ratio, and size doesn't matter as much since vector files can be scaled to any size with no loss of quality.

Be sure that the finished piece will hold together without any disconnected pieces in the middle. It can also help to put a frame around your design, if it doesn't have one to begin with.

The disconnected designs may come out with a lot of pieces to manage, which is going to make your life more difficult, so try to find a design where everything will come out in one piece.

I cut mine out of 1/4" plywood, but MDF or any other opaque material you have on hand will work. The thickness is not as important as the opacity, but a thicker material will appear to create more "motion" in your finished piece due to the movement of the LED shadows around your resist layer, and a thicker layer will also allow for more diffusion. Even 1/4" of space between the LEDs and your diffusion layer will increase the perceived diffusion by a whole lot.

Learn more about diffusion in our Diffusion Tips & Tricks Guide.

Cut your design to the exact same size as your matrix. I attached mine to the front using Scotch Glue Dots. These are transparent and have a firm hold, but can be pulled off pretty easily. It's fun to cut two or three different laser resist layers so you can swap out your design -- perfect for easy Holiday decorating. 

Finish by adding your black LED acrylic panel to the front with more glue dots. This material is designed to diffuse LEDs beautifully, and it does a wonderful job of it.

If you need a bigger panel than Adafruit sells, check the Tap Plastics online store - they can cut it to size for you and ship it within a couple days. They have a few different colors and varieties of diffusion acrylic so experiment to get the look you want.