Jules
October 14, 2018, 4:00am
4
Actually, you have to create the vector paths in it for the laser to follow. (Requires using an Auto-Trace program on a bitmap image to generate the cut lines.)
We’ve got rather a lot of tutorials that explain what’s going on…most are just a page or two, but they can really help with understanding:
The Glowforge team recommends working through your first prints by following along with the examples shown here to learn where everything is:
Make a snap and store box with your personal touch
It’s time to customize a print with your very own artwork. Not one for artwork, you say? Don’t worry - with your Glowforge, even simple doodles lo...
What Your Laser Can Do
To create a great design for your Glowforge, it’s useful to understand the three things your laser can do.
Cut: The laser moves slowly along a path, at full power, to cut a...
That particular page is also handy if you have any problems to Troubleshoot and you can access it by clicking on the Support button in the app.
Once you have run through the sample prints, some of the customers have put together some handy Tips sheets and a lot of tutorials in the Tips and Tricks section of the forum.
Some good ones to start with:
The Trace Tool in the Glowforge User Interface can be used to scan printed artwork for engraving, and to create cut lines around the artwork, or inside the artwork, by clicking with the mouse.
There are a couple of ways to do things with the Trace Tool.
(I’m going to borrow one of Glowforge’s freebies to demonstrate since my drawing skills are non-existent. I printed this airplane out - pretend it’s hand drawn.)
The Dashboard: Sign in to app.glowforge.com
[dashboard]
Keyboard Shortcuts and Maneuvering in the Interface:
Copy (Select item)… CTRL/CMD + C
Paste (Select item)… CTRL/CMD + V
Undo … CTRL/CMD + Z
Delete (Select item) … Press the Delete key on the keyboard.
Update on Delete: _After the Autosave Settings Saver migration on 01/08/2018, if you delete a part or item from your file it will stay gone when you close it.
The next time you open the file, it will not be there.
If yo…
I’m going to demo an alignment process below using my (ancient) version of Adobe Illustrator, but the process is the same for Inkscape or CorelDraw or Affinity Designer. Whichever one you like to use, you’ll do the same things, with the tools in that program. (I’m also going to give you the thought process that goes into creating a design with 2D Design software, to keep from having to write another one up, so if you can slog through it, you’ll pick up some stuff you need to know to make thing…
It’s soooooo easy to create files easily in programs like Illustrator, Inkscape, CorelDraw and Affinity Designer if you understand what the Glowforge interface sees when it looks at your file.
(Think of this as a last batch of Tips and Tricks, then I’ll quit bugging you.)
For All Programs:
If you want to engrave a bitmap (raster) style image and include it inside a vector SVG file, you need to Embed the image in the file if you want it to stay aligned inside the SVG file. Otherwise you will need to re-load the raster file and use the camera to align it visually.
(That’s fine, but you will completely lose the benefit of more accurate alignment that you get from the design software.)
There are instructions for how to Embed raster images for some of the main 2D…
We’ve also got some of the basics covered for a lot of the design programs commonly being used in the Matrix, if you need anything specific.
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