Camera issues / incorrect placement


I just started having issues with my Glowforge camera. As you can see in the image, the top half is a screen shot from the software showing the cutting board and my artwork. In this image, the cutting board appears to extend slightly over the front part of the tray. I aligned my artwork according to this image. The bottom half of the image shows a snap of the cutting board in the machine, showing that it is not in the location shown in the software and the artwork printed in the incorrect place. Nothing was moved after the machine took the initial bed image. This has happened a few times today. Nothing has happened to the Glowforge. Haven’t moved it. It was working fine yesterday. Any suggestions?

Welcome to the forum.

Are you using the set focus tool on the exact area of the material where you intend to place the design before you place the design?

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Sorry, completely new to this. Had my Glowforge for about a week now. No, I haven’t done that, but I also haven’t done that previously with no problems.

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The lid camera has a fisheye lens, but the software adjusts the actual view into a view the user will find helpful. The set focus tool tells the camera exactly where to focus and you can then use it for placing artwork. Click the three dots in the interface, select set focus, then place your cursor where you intend to print and click. Watch that the focusing beam lands squarely on your material and not on a void. After the image adjusts, place your artwork. You will have much better outcomes.

Also, there is a lid camera calibration program that you may want to use. Here is a link to that process and a discussion of alignment issues. Alignment – Glowforge

Also, the Glowforge specs state that the camera alignment tolerance is within 1/4". The camera alignment is most accurate when the material and artwork are directly under the camera.

Wow, awesome. That’s extremely helpful. I just tried that with a wooden coaster and it worked perfectly. :laughing: Just wish I’d know that before I blew up a good cutting board. Oh well, live and learn. Thanks SO much for the help.

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The actual camera image looks like this:

So when you do stuff mostly in the middle things look right…and then they really don’t! Set Focus is your friend. I use it on every project (often multiple times in different spots) even when using PG. Perfect placement :slight_smile:

Now, that being said, there is also a Camera Calibration that you can run that gets most folks even better alignment when using Set Focus. “Within spec” is within .25", but after calibration most folks are within .025!

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The deck lid camera, as mentioned, is a fish eye lens. What this means, is it is at most error prone on the edges. If you wish to rely on the camera for image placement, try to put your material directly beneath the camera. It won’t be perfect, but it will be much better than along the sides or the top or bottom. Calibration can help, but it will never eliminate the parallax error.

Thanks so much for all the help and tips. Absolutely fixed my issue.

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@jeffokelley I am so sorry your design was not printing where expected. I am so glad that our amazing community was able to help you resolve the issue. Set Focus is a great tool to help ensure your prints are where you want them to be.

I am going to go ahead and close the forum post. If you ever have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.