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Glowforge has an excellent guide for what the settings do:
If you’re working with acrylic and the craft series model (Aura or Spark), definitely check out this article:
Now that you know what it all means, it’s fast and easy to test your material for cut settings. Here’s my method:
As for engraving settings, there is often no one “right” answer. There are several variables when it comes to engraving[1], what will look good to you is up to personal preference, and that may even change depending on your artwork and material choices. For example, some people may prefer a dark deep engrave and others may prefer shallower and lighter.
After a few engraves you’ll have a sense of what settings work for you.
If you want to test engraving settings, several grid templates have been posted. Here is a search link to get you started:
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=Engraving%20test%20template%20in%3Afirst
Additionally, the community has gathered lists of materials and suggested settings – but keep in mind that these settings are just estimates. Testing is much more accurate in the long run.
Suggested settings lists for the Basic/Plus/Pro::
Suggested settings for the Aura/Spark :
There’s also this third party aura settings list:
These settings are unofficial but may be helpful.
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These variables include
Speed
Power
Lines per inch
Number of passes
Focus height
Convert to dots/convert to pattern & pattern density [for raster engraves only]
vary power & minimum power [for raster engraves only] ↩︎