Camera And Print Alignment Offset and Calibration issues

[lazer]

Hello,

I seem to have an alignment issue with my GF. My prints happen ~ 1/4 inch from where i place them in the GFUI. This is causing lots of material to be wasted and makes it difficult to line up engraves.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[marmak3261]

Hi @lazer. Welcome to forum. You might want to review your shipping emails and the agreement as to Glowforge present capabilities. 1/4" difference between preview image and cut is within parameters.

However, post print image can be off from the original print image.

There are many, many forum posts that discuss this issue in great detail.

There are several ways to insure that you can use material efficiently and accurately.

For best results, use center4 of bed, ensure that material is very flat, always in contact with bed, correct thickness measurement is entered (should be ok for Proofgrade).

I would suggest you practice with some cardboard or cheap material to get a better sense of how your alignment works. There may be an issue with your particular Glowforge, but 1/4" variation falls within present specs.

[lazer]

thanks for clarifying @marmak3261. I haven’t done extensive measuring myself, but do you know if it is a consistent offset? I have noticed it is pretty consistently printing off to the right, so I have been lining up my prints farther left than I want them and it seems to work better. I just want to make sure I dont overshoot to the left and have the printer offset in the opposite direction and throw me a curve ball

[Jules]

Hi lazer,

Unfortunately, that amount of variance is within operating parameters for now. (Improvements are coming.)

There is a tutorial here that will let you align your cuts and engraves perfectly together, although you will still need to be a little bit careful with placing the whole thing on the edges of the artboard…leave a little extra room.

Glowforge Interface - How to Align a Double Sided Engrave

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…

[rpegg]

You can think of the camera lens as similar to a fish eye lens. The external S/W has to correct the raw image to make it appear flat. And the resulting offset will likely vary depending on where on the bed the material is placed. For example: might be 1/4" left in one corner and 1/16th down in the other. From run to run the offset seems to be consistent for an individual unit.

[jaz]

Thanks for letting us know.

Like others have said, we’re still improving our layout and alignment, so your print may appear offset from where you put it by up to a quarter inch. For the most accurate alignment results:

• Use Proofgrade materials
• Enter the thickness of the material if it’s not Proofgrade
• Use material that is not warped or tilted
• Place your design near the center of the bed
• Reboot the machine if you see the alignment drifting

If you have any other questions, please post a new topic or email us at support@glowforge.com.