Camera doesn't read proofgrade material barcodes

Our camera is not reading the proofgrade barcodes. When we first got the machine it worked perfectly, but we have noticed over the last month that it doesn’t read the barcodes. We have cleaned the camera lens with a microfiber norwex cloth, but it doesn’t help. Everything looks blurry, and it appears there is a haze inside the camera lens. How do we fix the issue?

We use set focus on most projects, but would like our $6000 machine to do what it is suppose to do.

Most of the stickers on the proofgrade wind up being initially placed in the lower righthand corner, and the camera doesn’t reach that as well without distortion due to the fisheye effect.

Easiest thing to do is place the sticker in the upper left corner. (It reads upside down very well.)

Once you have cut up a sheet, the sticker may not be available anyway, so you can use the Unknown Material button at the top of the left column to choose your material and load the settings for it.

(Haze inside the camera lens is another problem entirely…you might want to let Support take a look at that. Did it get humidity or liquid inside it?)

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Try cleaning it with a Zeiss wipe or isopropyl alcohol. Don’t use anything but a lens cleaning wipe in your Glowforge.

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For sure clean the camera.
Most of the time I use a microfiber cloth to clean my glowforge except for the camera, mirrors, lense, etc, I ONLY use a zeiss wipe.
The norwex cloth is fine for everything else, but I’d only use a zeiss wipe from now going forward for the things I mentioned above.

And just a note - you can always just select the proofgrade material you are using in the drop down menu at the top left, choosing the name as it’s listed. That gives you the exact same settings. Mine doesn’t always read the barcode. It’s really no big deal. This machine is not something that you will never need to troubleshoot how to do something. Being a little flexible and figuring out how to do things goes very far with loving your machine!

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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear about the trouble @adorned34.

It’s possible for the QR code to look blurry but still be read properly. I’ve checked the most recent prints, and I can see in the software logs that the barcode was recognized successfully and processed by the software.

@jules has provided some excellent troubleshooting steps, did they help?

Next, I’d like you to run one more test. Could you please do the following?

1. Place a sheet of Proofgrade material in the bed of your Glowforge with the QR code visible
2. Open the Gift of Good Measure design in the Glowforge app
3. If your Proofgrade material is not detected, the app will say “Unknown” near the top left-hand corner. If this is the case, please take a screenshot of what you see in the app. Please include the “Unknown” message at the top-left, the rulers, the visible QR code, and as much of the app as possible:

  • Mac: Press Shift-Command-4 and click and drag a box around your image. You’ll find the screenshot file saved on your desktop

  • Windows: Click on the Start Menu and search for the Snipping Tool. Open the Snipping Tool > New then click and drag a box around your image. Click the Save icon and name and save your file

4. Send us the screenshot and we’ll investigate.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to do this! I’m so sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you.


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