Since you’re just starting out, I recommend you read this link. This is a discussion of how color palettes work with the Glowforge. Each distinct color you draw with as you create makes the image look cool to you and other humans, but the Glowforge uses colors to determine the order of operations. After you read the thread, scroll through the comments, and you’ll find that other users have made custom palettes for different software (I’m an Inkscape guy), and now my default Inkscape palette is 16 discrete colors the GF recognizes as different, so I can order things as I want them in the cut file. For example, I have a slate coaster with one spot of color in it. What I do is color that engrave differently from the rest, and put a piece of tape over the coaster. I get the option to engrave JUST that one spot, since it’s seen by the GF as a discrete step. After I engrave it, I paint it with the tape in place since it’s a perfect mask it comes out straight and true. Then I can engrave the other parts. Or you can have the GF cut an outline in some cardboard, and then place an item in the cut out spot, now that you know exactly where it is, and do everything BUT the outline. There’s lots of reasons to change or control the order of operations in your cutfiles. Have fun, and by all means, show us what you’ve made. We love to see it!
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