loren
February 18, 2018, 4:01pm
1
Hi all, I’m new to the Glowforge - is there a basic manual available somewhere?
I’m looking for simple definitions for things like the difference between cut/score/engrave, how the software interprets colors, technical data on the laser output, etc.
At the moment, I just see some tutorials on the support page, along with a FAQ. Rather than having to reverse-engineer the thing by looking at tutorials, is there a single place (like a proper manual) where I can just look things up?
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Jules
February 18, 2018, 4:28pm
2
Not yet. I’d recommend starting with the tutorials below in that order:
The Dashboard: Sign in to app.glowforge.com
[dashboard]
Keyboard Shortcuts and Maneuvering in the Interface:
Copy (Select item)… CTRL/CMD + C
Paste (Select item)… CTRL/CMD + V
Undo … CTRL/CMD + Z
Delete (Select item) … Press the Delete key on the keyboard.
Update on Delete: _After the Autosave Settings Saver migration on 01/08/2018, if you delete a part or item from your file it will stay gone when you close it.
The next time you open the file, it will not be there.
If yo…
I’m going to demo an alignment process below using my (ancient) version of Adobe Illustrator, but the process is the same for Inkscape or CorelDraw or Affinity Designer. Whichever one you like to use, you’ll do the same things, with the tools in that program. (I’m also going to give you the thought process that goes into creating a design with 2D Design software, to keep from having to write another one up, so if you can slog through it, you’ll pick up some stuff you need to know to make thing…
It’s soooooo easy to create files easily in programs like Illustrator, Inkscape, CorelDraw and Affinity Designer if you understand what the Glowforge interface sees when it looks at your file.
(Think of this as a last batch of Tips and Tricks, then I’ll quit bugging you.)
For All Programs:
If you want to engrave a bitmap (raster) style image and include it inside a vector SVG file, you need to Embed the image in the file if you want it to stay aligned inside the SVG file. Otherwise you will need to re-load the raster file and use the camera to align it visually.
(That’s fine, but you will completely lose the benefit of more accurate alignment that you get from the design software.)
There are instructions for how to Embed raster images for some of the main 2D…
14 Likes
dannyc
February 22, 2018, 1:15am
3
Thanks for the answer @Jules , well said. I’m going to close this thread - if you have another question, go ahead and post a new topic.