Cant Engrave this Photo :(

So I have engraved this photo before but for some reason I can’t get it to fire off again, I have been dialing the right settings I want and I want to do one last run of this photo.

However, no matter what I do I cannot get it to start the job in the :glowforge:

I can load it in just fine (also note the settings I have selected):

After about 3 minutes I get this:

Can one of you guys try it out to see if it works for you with those settings? (svg Below)
kids_withFrame.zip (197.9 KB)

1 Like

I tried downloading your image as an svg but all I get, on the computer and in the GFui, is a black square.

Try zipping it?

Sorry updated. :slight_smile:

I got the same error (took longer than 3 minutes though).

Does it need to be at 1355 lpi? I was able to get it to agree to do it at 675 lpi for a total time of 55:34.

Also, I notice you have the focus height at .433, is that what you intended for this .125" material?

2 Likes

Not what I intended good catch on the focus height!

I’ve tried as low as 225 with no joy, but that was for the thicker non-proofgrade material.

Ill try fixing the focus and let you know what happens.

3 Likes

Yeah, I’ve been having trouble with photo engravings as well. Things like what I’ve done in the past just refuse to process.
Reta says that they are working on it.

5 Likes

That worked @cynd11!

Thanks!

5 Likes

Awesome. :grinning:

2 Likes

After you engrave the photo, please post a picture of the finished product. That looks like a very sharp picture that should make a great engraving. :grin:

1 Like

Ditto what Mark says. I’ve been having issues with this too.

Check the focus height, my max is 0.400". If I set it higher than that for proofgrade material I get the same error message.

2 Likes

I got the same thing twice tonight…also working on a photograph

edit…I just looked at my focus height, too. I was still at something I had used previously. And even though I’m now using PG maple, and it identifies as such, the focus never changed. Dang!

1 Like

It just now happened to me again. The common denominator is using 1355 LPI. That’s what I was trying to use every time I got this error.

I don’t no why all errors are “An error occurred”. That is terrible software design. It should say things like focus too high or design uses too much memory, etc. Then you would have some chance of changing something to work around it.

Looks like error messages are totally obfuscated like everything else.

4 Likes

Yeah, it’s a pretty useless error message. I have a little checklist of steps to do based on whether it comes up in the catalog page view or the print page. The first is usually a file size, number of nodes or complexity of the design so I’ll look at those items including breaking a design into multiple files (something I’m fairly used to doing because of limitations on the K40 or Redsail).

The second is usually due to the same issues as the first or due to the number and complexity of the operations being performed. In this case I will do the job in multiple steps by ignoring operations and running it and then ignoring what I did the first time and process the next operations. If that doesn’t work I find that for engraves it’s either the LPI setting (lower it to get past the error) or for bitmaps, it’s the source resolution - I’ll resample it in the design software to 600 or even 300dpi.

I’ve only had a single project I couldn’t find a way to deal with.

5 Likes

I wonder if it simply errors if the total size of job sent to the GF is bigger than its buffer. I think Dan mentioned it is planned to send multiple chunks, but currently it has to fit in one. So it could be something like the total number of movements plus the number of pixels of raster.

1 Like

These are great tips that should be in the Tips & Tricks section! I’ve bookmarked your post.

1 Like

there’s definitely a hard cap that’s been mentioned, but you don’t know what it is unless you run into it when trying to cut a job that has too many instructions (which is why so many people have seen random errors that suddenly work by reducing resolution or something).

3 Likes

Yes, so they should say “this job is too big” instead of “an error occurred”.

2 Likes

The thing that really bothered me was that I had just finished doing some tests using BB and was able to use the 1355 LPI. Probably just coincidence, but when I started using PG maple, not only did it not change the focus, it wouldn’t do 1355 at all. I was only testing a 2 inch area of my photo, with other engraves and cuts ignored until I found what I liked.

3 Likes