Hello I have a black and white image (Bitmap), when I laser etch the design there is random spots that the laser is etching around fonts and curves… Please help I have a order that is due within the week…
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Sometimes spots like that in engravings are due to jpeg artifacts. Can you re-create the graphic in PNG format? It’s lossless and not prone to those artifacts. Note that I’m not sure re-saving jpeg as png will fix the artifacts that are already there. Best to recreate from scratch.
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Might need to increase the LPI on that if you want less stair-stepping on the curves. (And reduce the power a little so you don’t burn too deeply.)
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JPEG artifacts basically represent themselves as very slight changes in value, so just saving as a PNG won’t get rid of what’s already there.
Your source image also needs to be a sufficient resolution if wanting to use bitmap and not vector. I recommend it being twice the PPI of the LPI setting you’re wanting to use.
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My experience is in line with everyone else – every time I get weird artifacts or random lines I don’t expect, it’s always something in the actual file. Sometimes it’s really hard to see. But if it’s in the file, it will be in the engrave.
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I have done the same process for all my previous work with no issue until yesterday. I’m created this on Corel and change the design to bit map in order to get the curves etched… I changed it with a transparent background… should those artifacts shouldn’t come out…
If you would upload your file here I’m sure one of us would be happy to take a look at it for you.
If your png or jpg file is nice and clean black and white, you can use https://www.pngtosvg.com to convert it to a nice svg file. That tool has helped me a lot.
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My process has been the same with no problem… until yesterday… the image was change to bitmap with transparent background. The file doesnt have any spots… I specifically removed all color except black so no sporting should appear.
Here is the file…
Your embedded image didn’t come through in that. Make sure that the image is embedded and it will help to zip the file before you upload it (since Discourse likes to strip out code from SVG files).
Yeah, the file is there (but very tiny), but when I opened it there appear to be issues. All I get is a black filled oval with a clipping mask that goes all the way up to the top left corner. If you zip the file we will be able to see it as you intend.
Also please note that the Glowforge interface does not handle clipping masks (or has that changed since I last heard this?) so it’s best to remove those.
The GF UI is another issue. The file is actually a bitmap inside a drawn circle that I made then bitmap all together. Other laser machines you dont habe to worry about that. The UI see colors as assign numbers and no matter what it see it as transparent with colors on top… i just got the hang of using the GF but hate that the UI… I think I habe to rework my file to the png convert way… even with that there clean up you habe to do.
Thanks for the tips everyone!
@charliewong719 were you able to resolve your issue with the guidance here?
If you’re still having trouble, let us know!
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.