Custom Inkscape, Illustrator, CorelDraw and Affinity Designer Color Palettes for ordering operations in GFUI

Every time I try to download and save the one for Mac (AI) I get a message that says can not convert post script? UGH I"m so confused, I had it on my old computer but can’t figure it out on the new on. when I look at the download it says “glowforge.ai.ps” sorry folks I’m so frustrated and feel so stupid right now

Which of the above ai palettes are you trying to download? Not sure where the PS is getting added to the download.

I’m not sure I just bought a 2019 Mac book pro and redownloaded the adobe cloud suite so it’s definitely the most current version. It comes up on the stream as .ai and as soon as I click on it the .ps message pops up

sorry the one in the youtube video
glow forge.ai from Apr '17

So is it actually downloaded locally? If so, can you change the name of the file and strip off the “ps”. Then move it to the correct directory.

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I got it!!No idea how but it worked!! thanks for reaching out!!!

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Thank you for this!!!
I’m no computer savvy at all, but somehow (don’t ask me how, I don’t think I could do it again, LOL) I figured how to paste the file to the correct folder and it worked!!! This is gonna be life changing!

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Order of Operations

Hello, I just got my GF yesterday, and thanks for doing all this work. As I understand it, the colors you have created here are for the order of operations on how GF will cut certain colors first, second, third, … etc.

Height Depth

I’m curious to know if certain colors in RGB or Greyscale have different height depths also? When GF makes a score, cut, or engrave such as what @rbtdanforth was talking about with 3D greyscale height depths. Does the greyscale gradients from 100% opaque to 0% opaque or 255 opaque to 0 opaque and anywhere in between determine height depth? Color = Order of Operations, Greyscale = Height depth?

I noticed you had a PLYWOOD depth template for Laser cutting materiale template by Noloxs that shows different percentages for engraving. Does height depth matter in scoring and cutting also?

I guess I would have to do some testing also on different Proofgrade materials also to see the differences with the PLYWOOD depth template, but wanted to know the above about what determines order of operations and height depth.

Thank you guys for all your hard work and those who have contributed to this thread.

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The only time grayscale becomes relevant in depth of cut is with a variable engrave. You still set the power to what you want and the computer will use that number as 100% which it will use as black and there are 255 shades of gray that the computer will use to calculate the amount of power to apply.

Pure White is special as that shade will be ignored so the image that is always rectangular will not have the laser head uselessly going back and forth, doing nothing.

Using color in that part of the work just creates problems as the solid color of equal intensities reads quite differently as it tries to estimate how it looks to the eye. So pure blue will be darker than the same intensity in yellow.

In Gimp or similar image editor there will be a command to desaturate colors to zero and that will make it easier to see the amount of cutting. It is a good idea to play with brightness and contrast so some areas will be completely black and others nearly white.

Getting the best result will be when the darkest area is black but distinguishable from the area that was just a bit darker. As you increase contrast the areas will pile up at the top and bottom losing information and you want to stop just before that happens.

Obviously the more power you call out the greater the range from full power to zero power and the more distinct the relief engrave will be, therefore you will want to increase speed rather than reduce power if the effect is too strong. The higher LPI will usually also produce a better effect.

This is a totally different thing from all other types of lasering. Every image will have its own layer in the GFUI so its color is irrelevant and I believe they will always be at the top when loaded, Only vectors will load according to color and if you are seeking a faithful representation of an image you will want to use dots and not vary power as vary power is about how deep the cut is rather than how dark it is,

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@rbtdanforth thanks for the speedy reply and the differentiation between color and greyscale.

I’m new here and still trying to understand terminology. What is LPI? Is GFUI = Glowforge User Interface = the Glowforge App online?

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Yes

Lines Per Inch

There is a lot of discussions and opinions. Certainly no matter what the speed doubling the number of lines will double the time taken and for some folks, the time it takes to do the job is the primary consideration. For myself, the time taken is so short compared to something like a 3D printer, I give the extra time very little consideration compared to even a slight improvement in the result.

The new “High Speed” improvements are particularly relevant to relief carving as to get the better results of 1355 LPI (the highest available) you need a speed high enough not to burn through the material. The extra time getting up to speed and slowing down uses more time than slower speeds plus all the extra lines take a lot longer as well but with 1000 speed and full power the maximum LPI without burning through is far less.

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Blockquote
@rbtdanforth
The only time grayscale becomes relevant in depth of cut is with a variable engrave. You still set the power to what you want and the computer will use that number as 100% which it will use as black and there are 255 shades of gray that the computer will use to calculate the amount of power to apply.

Have you tested grayscale variable engravings on different surfaces?

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In that it is just like other laserings. Anything a laser will cut , it will engrave to depth. Aluminum, rocks, tile, etc. cannot be cut and so cannot be depth engraved. Acrylic and woods of about any sort that can be cut can also be relief carved though the settings will vary a lot depending on what it takes to cut it and that is an array of rabbit holes that each case needs work and research for those specifics, but very rewarding.
A few examples…

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@CreativeEngraving, do note that higher-LPI bakes the material much more (for instance while engraving anodized aluminum if you crank it up to 1300lpi, it goes over the same area a lot of time (well I guess specifically 1300 times/inch) and all that heat in a small area can cause bleed of the bleaching process. On wood or other bakable materials, it causes a lot of local char. I find the trade off to have worked helpfully in some instances (on some materials), while on others it just baked the crap out of my piece. When picking a resolution (of any imaging process) it’s important to determine what the base material can show. For instance on a porous wood, the surface of the wood isn’t that accurate so 1300lpi is unlikely to yield enhances quality, while in anodized the surface is insanely smooth, so might. Also your source material needs to have the quality too. So a ratty GIF file isn’t going to take advantage of more passes. I will note that sometimes on anodized I have had small text have small gaps in the white part (where the laser has bleached) and increasing LPI helped by making sure to cover any gaps.

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I wonder what that would look like in clear acrylic put in to a led base. Cut out the true black pieces in the center.

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If you have twice the LPI at twice the Speed the amount of energy applied per square millimeter should be about the same with the exception that there is a chance to cool as the head gains and loses speed after each pass.

That is what I see as the bonus in higher speed. Without changing the speed you will either cut deeper or need to cut with less power. With a thousand zooms top end cutting back either power or LPI are the only choices in most cases, neither being a good thing for not having a lot of grain or LPI ridges show up.

As for wood not being able to show the detail I offer this 1/8" Baltic Birch engraving…

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It will look something like this…I did this in a thick colored translucent acrylic…

(I’m still trying to figure out how to best backlight it. I prefer to have the light come through evenly from behind. (Basically the project got shelved.)

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Would enhance any shelf it landed on I think!

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Chuckle. Thanks! It still needs some cleanup…the base image could use some work. (Got some rough edges and noise.)

I might pull it out again one day if I get bored…just had other things to do. I think that was the project I was working on to test the Compact Filter and develop some 3D engrave skills/techniques.

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Why not something like this to light it up? Round Lamp Tube

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