Camera View & Item Placement (Shift) Issues

Two issues to report. It’s been a few months since I’ve used the Glowforge consistantly, other projects got in the way of time. Anyway, I’ve noticed two things that are of concern that seemed to be fixed with my replacement unit, but now seem to be creeping up again.

  1. As you can see in the picture the area that it takes a photo off seems to have drifted to the right and down. It’s showing parts of the tray, a large part mind you, that is not part of the 12x20 printing area (outside of the crumb tray area).
  2. Looking at the picture below, you’ll see I’m experiencing issues with where I align the artwork and where the print/engrave actually occurs. This is causing a significant error as my items are not centered on my material. I am using material thickness measurements derived from using a caliper and inputing those correctly to ensure proper focus. You can see the right plaque is well aligned after print, however the left one is WAY off.

Any help would be appreciated. It is hard to produce a consistant high quality end product if visual alignment is so far off.

EDIT: Just to clarify, my replacement was due to it not cutting through the material, not the drift. I had a small amount of drift before, but not enough to be concerned about. In this case the drift of image to engraving placement is actually impacting the quality of product I delivery and causing me to have to do single plaque per engraving session versus getting multiple done at the same time.

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We’d like to have you try a few troubleshooting steps for us:

  1. Turn off your Glowforge.
  2. Check for small pieces of debris or dust.
  • Check the lower door to make sure it closes all the way. It may require some force to open, but open it, wipe any dust off the edges, and close it all the way.
  • Remove the tray and clean any dust or debris from the surface underneath. Pay careful attention to remove all debris from the four dimples where the tray rests.
  • Check the lid to make sure it closes all the way. Small particles of material, such as dust or debris, can prevent it from closing completely.
  1. Check the surface your Glowforge is on to make sure it’s flat. Ensure it is not twisted slightly and that there is no debris propping up one side of the machine.
  2. Turn your Glowforge back on.
  3. We included an extra piece of Proofgrade Draftboard with your materials shipment for troubleshooting. Place the Proofgrade Draftboard in the center of the bed and print the Gift of Good Measure in the area of the bed where you are experiencing the most alignment issues using the default settings.
  4. When the print finishes, leave the lid closed and wait until the fans stop and the picture updates. Without moving your artwork or your material, take a screenshot of the Workspace to show us the difference between the artwork placement and the actual print placement. Make sure to include the rulers in your screenshot and show as much of the bed 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 type “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.
  1. Send us the screenshot along with the date and time of the print, and we’ll investigate.

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.