Complete List of Premade Glowforge setting

Hi there,

I’m wondering if there is a complete list wondering around for the default Glowforge settings? I’m usually working with wood or leather, but I’m trying out new materials and I’m wanting to look at the various preset setting for other materials for the Glowforge (like the auto settings for phones or macbooks…)

It’s weird trying to use the GFUI to find the information. I’m hoping a complete list exists somewhere? I hope this makes sense.

TIA

I know that doing a “search” is your best bet. I just search for what I need and use their suggestions, and if it works for me I keep the settings in my own little spreadsheet. Yes, there are usually several different answers, but it’ll still give you a good idea. And regardless of what other people have, it’s still a good idea to do your own tests using one of the “material tests” you can find in the free designs section or design your own. I think there is a spreadsheet that has a lot of info on it, but I’m not by my computer to find it easier right now.

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I’ve never heard of anyone making a list like that, but I suppose there could be one. Really though, it wouldn’t take all that much time to just scroll through the list of Proofgrade presets and write them all down.

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The problem is, I don’t Know what presets are already in Glowforge. Even when I type “Wood” I don’t get all of the options available. If I type “medium” I don’t get all of the options . Or “cellphone” or laptop, or any thing else. The dropdown only populates are few options and I have to tweak from there.

This isn’t completely about me wanting to find/make custom presets. (I already have to do that with leather and acrylic.) This is about me understanding what is already built into the Glowforge.

Surely I’m not to only person having this problem with the GFUI or curious about a full list of Presets included with the machine?

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I’m not wanting a list of custom settings. I want to know the setting options built into the Glowforge.

I already do what you’re saying, I want to know what is built into the GF machine.

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The settings for all the varieties of hardwood, plywood, MDF and acrylic are all listed here. At the bottom of the page are downloadable zip files of all the settings as printable infographics as well.

Unfortunately this compilation isn’t exhaustive and doesn’t cover the more exotic presets like phones and computers.

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Perhaps I am misunderstanding the question, but making custom setting for each material and each action (Engrave/Cut/Score) in the GFUI and saving them with descriptive names keeps a list right there in the app.

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Just typing the word ‘wood’ into it is too general. You should be able to open a window like this and either scroll through them or use the search tool.

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What is in the list, IS what is built in.

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You can’t scroll through everything, though, just recent materials or a few matches for your search. If you don’t know what to search for, you won’t discover all of the materials. An exhaustive list of all the presets available would be handy.

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Oh. :grimacing:

Sorry, I misunderstood. If I now understand what you meant, I think you can find GF settings on the left of the dashboard after you choose your material. For instance, if you select “medium draftboard” and choose cut, engrave or score, you can see the default settings by clucking on the “>” beside the “proofgrade”.

No, Ellen…I think they want ALL of the settings available. I thought the same as you. Read Dan84’s post just above.

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Quickest way to get a list is to check the Shop for what they are selling, then add Copy Paper and Laptop.

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I’ve tried doing that in the past and my setting are only saved sometimes…

Only two out of the dozen or so I’ve tried to enter as my own custom setting have been saved and even then they don’t show up all of the time. I don’t really trust the GFUI to remember my specs - that’s another reason why I won’t to know what ALL of the defaults settings are.

Thank you @dan84 - I think that’s as close to the answer as I will get.

I’m surprised Glowforge hasn’t made an official list of the default materials settings with how much they tout the GF’s capability of cutting or engraving anything*. Your link looks super helpful, I hadn’t heard of that site.

(* = not literally everything, but with the branding, demos, marketing, ads still invading my social feeds… it’s part of the hype for the machine.)

I’ve never seen anyone ask for it. If I have a material that I think is like maple ply, for example, I just choose maple ply and adjust as necessary. It wouldn’t really be beneficial for me to have a list of all of the settings. I’m not saying it’s not beneficial to you, but it’s just a use case I haven’t yet seen crop up.

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That’s missing the point still: How would you know that you can choose maple ply as a starting point? How did you know maple ply was in the materials database? You might have lucked out and found it in your sample materials, or you might have browsed Glowforge’s store and seen that it’s something they sell. But that would never allow you to discover that the database includes cardboard, printer paper, or iPhones. Nothing in the GFUI tells you those are available, nothing in any tutorial or support document does either.

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Another thing that the GFUI doesn’t make clear is that you have 4 different lists of saved settings, and what kind of artwork you upload dictates which of those lists appears. The main confusion point: Vector Engrave and Bitmap Engrave have separate saved settings lists. If you have some vector artwork on your screen, and save a custom engrave setting, you will only see that setting when engraving vector artwork in the future. If you upload a bitmap graphic like a photo, that saved engrave setting will not be in your engrave settings list any more, as now it’s showing your Bitmap Engrave list. If you want to use the same settings again, you have to save them again to this second list.

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Just one thing to point out - it’s easy to know that maple ply is in the material list because it’s one of the proofgrade offerings. There are settings for anything that is proofgrade, plus other things (cardboard, copy paper, laptop, etc).

I could be wrong, but I think that there could be occasions where updates are made to the Glowforge and therefore changes made to settings in response to those updates. In that case, it would not be a good idea to use the same settings as before.

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