3D Engraving as Proofgrade Prints get Prettier: 10/23/17 Latest Improvements

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41

Me, too.

I’ll have to check out your thread. Haven’t tested myself yet.

42

I had to log out and then log back in…when I imported a jpeg I then saw the new 3d engrave choice on the menu. Not tested yet but maybe today…

43

There was an issue but they fixed it pretty quickly. Haven’t tested with the updated Proofgrade setting but I’m about to give it a try.

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44

Excited to see your result! :slight_smile:

45

Well, I threw some PG maple ply in… and the 3d engrave option isn’t there. Trying with some thick draftboard.

46

If might depend on what you have loaded for a file as well. Photo only shows up when a photo is present so…

47

Exact same file as before. I switched to thick draftboard with the same setup and it worked. Just kicked off a 1:41-long deep 3d engrave, we’ll see how it goes.

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48

Yup, you are right.

49

I recall @dan saying it would only work on certain materials, he mentioned hardwood and maybe acrylics?

I’m guessing plywood wasn’t included because it would not really end up looking right/good once you cut past the first ply layer.

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50

Dan said in an earlier post that the 3D Engrave option is there for specific materials. I recall he said mostly hardwoods (all?) and possibly some acrylic. So it sounds like that’s by design as it may work best on only those materials.

Edit: Found… 3D Engraving as Proofgrade Prints get Prettier: 10/23/17 Latest Improvements - #37 by dan

51

Am I correct in thinking that 3D engraving has gone from being another option in the engraving settings like convert to dots and vary power and morphed into a Proofgrade preset that simply selects “Vary Power” as the engraving mode.

I.e. it has gone from being a mode to a configuration of existing modes.

52

I don’t recall there being a “3d engrave” mode before in the manual settings for engraving. Just convert to dots, convert to pattern, and vary power. You still have all the same options in manual settings for engraving as before this update (as far as I can tell). Perhaps some older version of the software (before I got my machine) had it as a mode option??

These presets work like all the other presets in that they are just configuring things for your based on their testing with each material, and 3d engrave does use the vary power mode. They have some different values for the other settings depending on the material.

53

I think there used to be a greyed out 3D engraving mode which I expected to do this:

  1. 3D high-res engraving
    Engrave complex, three dimensional curves with 1,000 DPI resolution. To get perfect detail and sculpt with real depth, Glowforge can carve away material with multiple passes, each one focusing more deeply than the last.
54

If you choose thick draftboard it as a Deep 3D Engrave choice which does 2 passes.

So, you expected 3D engraving to do something other than vary the laser power and do multiple passes for deeper engraves when the material is thick enough?

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55

Probably. After choosing 3D engrave, when you switch to manual it is “vary power”. So I think 3D engrave is a preset for engrave using vary power rather than half toning. I was surprised that they didn’t have a preset that used that before TBH.

56

Yes I expected it to do “multiple passes, each one focusing more deeply than the last.” I presume if you do select more than pass it simply repeats the same. I expected it to only do the deeper parts on subsequent passes and change the focus. I.e. effectively slice the model into layers.

Please can somebody confirm there was a greyed out 3D engraving mode that has disappeared.

57

Yes, my interface used to have a greyed out 3D engrave which I figured was a preset for “vary power” but couldn’t test because it was always greyed out.

58

I doubt one menu option would be a preset for another. The presets are in the PG settings.

59

You’re misunderstanding.

Just like “Dark” engrave used to have amongst its other parameters it was setting the half-toning option, the 3D engrave has (amongst others) the parameter automatically set for vary power and passes=2.

It’s not that 3D engrave is substituting (or was substituting) for “Dark” engrave.

60

To me, they’re all presets except “manual”.

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