Can I upload more than one SVG file to my print bed so I can have multiple designs/projects print in one job ?
I’m try to print awards and all the designs are the same, just the names are different. Printing one at a time…when I have to print 200 awards to print is ridiculous. Anyone have any suggestions!?
Yes you can. Just open the ui and drag your SVGs to the window one at a time.
That being said, if it were me I would arrange all my stuff inside my vector editor (inkscape) and get everything aligned and color coded in one single svg, then upload it in one shot.
Really?! Just drag multiple SVG files into the the print area?
I have tried to set up my files so they will all be in one SVG file but there were too man alignment issues. I would prefer all the files be separate so I can adjust/tweek each file after each print to ensure accurate alignment.
If it’s a really weird shape I’ll take a photo of the material, then import the photo to inkscape, take a careful measurement of the material and then scale the photo. Then I can use the image as my alignment shape.
Tricks like that are also good for reproducing a shape. I recently had to make a gasket and only had the old gasket as a reference… so I just took a photo, then traced it in inkscape and scaled the resulting svg.
It’s sort of brute force, but sometimes a hammer is the best tool
I do the same thing…only in Illustrator.
The issues I get with printing multiple designs on material and having the correct alignment is;
-material directly under the camera, graphic aligns perfectly (What You See Is What You Get)
-material to the far left or right of the camera, you have to offset the graphic inward to the center by an 1/8" for it to align to the material correctly.
It’s not a big deal but a pain in the a#$ when you have to do a couple hundred awards. Just wish there was a more accurate camera to take a snap shop of the print bed. The GF printers almost need a multi-camera set-up to get a more accurate image of the print bed, just so there is no off setting of the graphics as they go farther away from the center of the camera.
They do have a multi camera setup and you can take advantage of it with the calibration routine and the set focus command. It’ll get your placement a lot better.
But for me, if alignment is critical (like it needs to be within 0.01”) I always reach for a jig. My general method is to use corner or edge jigs, they’re fast, simple, take little material, and above all else, absolutely dead accurate. You sound like you have a pretty good handle on jigs but we all have slightly different workflows… here’s a quick example of mine:
Yeah jigs take away a lot of the headaches!!
I’m using a jig that can accommodate #5, 6" hexagon medals. 3 in one row across and two under the top row.
It’s just the top row that has the three jigs that gives me the alignment issues. Those two medals I alway have to adjust.
Drag and drop has never worked for me. Even if I have two different screens open for the dashboard. I’ve never been able to figure it out. I always have to use the “import artwork” to get any other files added in.