I also have the question of how does one decide on the defocus setting? Trial and error I presume?? The difference between your two engraves is amazing! Thank you!
As with any settings, testing.
Print some small samples at different settings, and see what looks/works best.
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that’s what I assumed…my toughest predicament is when someone brings me let’s say, a cutting board and I can’t test bc I don’t have that same exact material. Hope that makes sense.
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It does. Buy something similar and test on that, it should get you in the ballpark.
You can also “sneak up” on the best settings, erring on the side of lower power. If it doesn’t look great first time, repeat the print (without moving the material…)
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I found (with acrylic) that you’re looking for ~1/4" - WAY bigger than I first expected. I started testing at .01 and wasn’t seeing any change for many many iterations 
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The comment you replied to was the one with the settings I used. Generally I’ve found defocusing of around .175 is good enough for ~300LPI acrylic.
Lower LPI needs more defocus as the passes are farther apart, higher LPI less.
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Hi, this looks great. Do you mind sharing the full settings you used to get this effect? Then I can type them in next time I’m engraving/cutting acrylic
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Hi Amelia - and welcome to the forum.
FYI, custom settings are only allowed to be shared in the Beyond the Manual section - as this is Made on a Glowforge they won’t (or shouldn’t) be here.
That being said, this isn’t an ajustment to the settings, they likely used the PG ones for acrylic - this is an adjustment to the focus. If you’re unfamiliar with how to adjust your focus might I suggest checking this out:
There’s a wealth of information in the support section, as well as here in the forum - enjoy the ride!
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