Cut order?

my google-fu has failed me – someone has probably asked/answered this before but I can’t find it via any search terms I’ve thought of…

How does the GF determine what order to do things?

Watching the videos that are appearing now I haven’t sussed the rules… sometimes it looks like a vector outline cut is happening first, sometimes later in the process. Are the actions based on layering? By that I mean whatever element is in the first layer of my design (or was the first element created) gets done first; each successive layer is done in order

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drag and drop layers to shuffle the order, I believe.

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Thanks. Rearranging layers is easy enough in my app of choice Illustrator.

It just seemed to me that cutting the outermost edge/line last would be, conceptually, the best. But I didn’t know if GF used some special algorithm to determine order, or if doing raster before vector was always the rule, or whatever.

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In most cases I would bet you are right, but I don’t know how the GF web app will order the layers on import, or differentiate between operations on un-layered source inputs like traces. It might preserve the layer-order from an AI file, and that would be good.

Regardless of how the GF determines the initial order of operations, you will be able to re-arrange them at will in the web-app.

This might help. Its from April, but looks very similar to what was at Maker Faire.

Each layer will be a different step, which you can then arrange as you will.


from:

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I believe that’s correct.

I think you can rearrange them in the Glowforge software itself, too.

  • Tom

Correct - drag and drop to re-order.

Note that it ignores “layers” in your software; each step is a different color.

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Cutting last is the best option because if something is not perfectly flat it can drop lower than the surface and end up with the raster work slightly out of focus. and Believe my plywood and wood will not be perfectly flat especially if its been shipped or stored moisture gets in and causes warping. or just standing on edge will cause warpage.

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Agree. I raster & score (cut but with low power to make lines fast vs raster) first and then I do cuts from the inside out. For the rasters I do those from the bottom upward since I usually home my machines to the lower left corner. That minimizes the lost time while the head moves to go somewhere else on the piece. For small stuff it’s not material but for longer engraves it can make several minutes difference so it’s just a habit I use all the time.

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My machine homes to the upper left corner so i try and do I guess the opposite from your machine but tis just they way the machine is. I also have noticed on my machine it can follow the order for how i design stuff in illustrator