Camera alignment off...dont know why

I’ve notice my camera alignment goes off sometimes, but not everytime. I’ve tried to find the pattern like is it the placement on the tray, is it one material over another ect. and I don’t see the pattern. Anyway, here is the latest alignment issue

After this happened, I made the line on the cardboard which made the unit realign the camera and it still came out like this. The first pic is the interpretation of what the camera sees and the second pic is what’s actually on the tray.

Are you using “Set Focus” before placing artwork?

What is the height of the material?

A good way to check alignment before committing to a print is to put a piece of tape/masking over it and start the print at a setting that only marks the masking. If the alignment is correct, remove the tape and run at the desired power.

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Focus can be tricky for the camera on dark colored or shiny objects. Put a piece of white masking tape on the object, make sure that you use Set Focus, and for something small like the lighter, you need to make sure that the alignment laser (red dot) lands on the lighter and not off to the side.

Any of those things will cause the alignment to be off.

For a single object like that I open the front door and look straight down over the lid camera. Then move the object until it is directly under the camera. When you’re happy, close it all up and now when you place your graphic it will be exactly where you want it. Also like others said, make sure the set focus laser shines right on the object to be engraved.
Another way is to create a rectangle exactly the size of your lighter (in this case) and align your graphic perfectly inside that rectangle in whatever software you are using. Then when you bring the artwork into the GF turn off the graphic and score the rectangle. Park your lighter inside the scored rectangle, turn it off and turn on engrave for your graphic. Again though, use set focus and make sure it lands on the lighter.

I’m sorry you ran into trouble with the alignment on your print. Did the advice that @jules provided help you to get the results you were looking for?

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.