Blurry Camera / Can't Scan PG Barcode

Problems and Support
#1

Hi!

New to GF (just unboxed tonight!) and I’ve noticed that my camera is very blurry. I’ve done a few test cuts and keep getting a message that the machine can’t detect the material that I’m using.

I’ve only run it for about 10 minutes and this has been happening from the first piece — so I haven’t tried removing the lens and cleaning, etc. Should I?

Screenshot attached of what I’m seeing. I’ve been manually selecting the PG material, so I can get it to work and the alignment seems ok - just really blurry.

Thanks in advance!

56%20PM
Screen Shot 2018-11-13 at 9.53.56 PM.jpg3564×2010 891 KB

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#2

Don’t worry about not being able to read the bar code. You can manually select your material in the menu. I do that all the time for non-proofgrade material. You will find that the proofgrade settings work on lots of stuff. :grinning:

2 Likes
#3

That’s what I’ve been doing — I’m too impatient to wait otherwise. I probably won’t use the trace much anyway, but thought it was odd that it was so blurry.

Already having so much fun with it! :smile:

3 Likes
#4

Do not try to move the lens. It is glued in place. It will affect accuracy of the calibration data that was collected at the factory.

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#5

Hi Kelli, welcome to the forum and congrats on the GF! The camera is a “fish-eye” camera so the corners are always going to be more blurry than the center. Have you tried placing a smaller piece of PF (proofgrade) in the center under the bed to see if it’ll read the code any better? Something else that can effect reading the code is glare from overhead lights etc. Some people have found dimming the room lights helped. (I don’t think this is your issues, but it’s worth a mention just in case.) I’m sure GF support will chime in before to long and check on it for you. Glad you’ve figured out a work-around until then and can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

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#6

Thanks - and good to know! Removing was probably the wrong word to use there. I meant go through the cleaning process that’s in the manual.

#7

Thanks for the help in this thread, everyone! It’s possible for the QR code to look a little blurry and still be recognized by our software. To investigate closer, I took at look at some recent images taken by the lid camera of your Glowforge, and it looks like Proofgrade was recognized in a few cases. As @kittski mentioned, adjusting lighting may help with material recognition. If this happens again, you can always select your material – here’s how:

  1. Click “Unknown” on the left hand side of the Workspace
  2. Type the name of the Proofgrade material in the search bar
  3. Select the correct Proofgrade material

If you run into any other trouble, please start a new thread. If you prefer, you could email us at support@glowforge.com instead. Happy printing!

#8