Desperate need of help...what are these dotted lines?

I’m recovering from an illness and have not used my glowforge in well over a year. I am trying to cut a previous design using a 1/8" (0.15 according to my callipers) piece of walnut plywood I used the last time I made this project. I am trying to use the proofgrade settings I used last time. All my lines are no longer solid but more of a dashed line and the GFUI wont let me use proofgrade settings. It shows how long it would take but the Print button is greyed out and I can’t get passed the “not proofgrade, danger” warning.

of course I have waited to the last minute to do this but thought since this is a project I have made many times that there wouldn’t be any issues.

It was my intention to try it first on home depot black/white board with settings I’ve used before on other projects in order to save time and not have to paint, It didn’t even come close to cutting through, and I didn’t notice until I moved it. I didn’t notice the lines were not solid (60 year old eyes) before sending the first try through and before wasting time and materials again, I thought I would plead for help. I am totally lost.

I also have to engrave a leather journal cover (which I have never done before… real veg tan leather) so if you know good settings for that as well as good settings for engraving an acacia cutting board (again, never done before) I would be eternally grateful. I planned on researching these new topics while cutting my familiar project,

Sincere thanks for any and all suggestions!

I can’t help you with all of your questions, but I can tell you about my experience with the Home Depot white / black board. My Glowforge won’t cut the type that my Home Depot carries - there are apparently different types. There are people here who can cut it and people who can’t. I can’t promise you that this is your problem, but it might be.

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Thank you so much for your input. Do you have any ideas about why im getting these dashed lines instead of smooth lines?

I am not as experienced as other here, so I don’t know everything.
I see dashed lines when something is off the edge of the material.
Even just a little bit off will make the whole thing have dashed lines instead of solid.

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if you’re seeing a red dashed line, that means the artwork is outside the area that can be cut and/or engraved. you’ll need to move it inside the cuttable/engravable area.

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That means the item is outside the print area. You can’t print any part of an object unless the whole thing is within the printable area.

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Share a screenshot so we can see what part of your design is outside the printable area. Also you need to select a material.

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Am I Crazy but weren’t all the lines for cutting smooth? the artwork is not outside the cutting box. My issue is that the lines used to be smooth lines with no gaps and now they are expressed as dashes instead of smooth lines. When I look at the back of the home depot board that did not cut, I can see the dashes that are making up the cut. On the front of the board the lines look smooth. Again, I haven’t used GF in over a year but my memory is that the uploaded artwork was expressed exactly as created and not transformed into all dashed lines. Am I making myself clear?

There have been changes to the interface. Dotted lines appear until the design is acceptable for cutting or engraving. Screen shot please. Have you selected a material?

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not correct screenshot. used all proofgrade settings for medium walnut

And of course now the light is on and it is cutting out.

Any suggestions for settingd for engraving the leather journal ? I have nothing to practice on so very nervous.

Any suggestions for settings engraving for acacia cutting board? Nothing to practice on with this one either.

Made on a Glowforge is the forum section for showcasing pictures of items you have printed. It’s not for getting help, and also we can only discuss settings for non-Proofgrade materials in Beyond the Manual.

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Thank you and sorry. I’ve been away a while and need brushing up on my manners.

Start with the Proofgrade leather settings - thin, medium and thick leather have identical engrave settings. Make sure that you use the set focus tool before placing your art and maybe run a light engrave on masking tape to make sure you have your artwork aligned as desired before clicking print for the final project.

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I know you said this wasn’t the correct screenshot - just wanted to check that you caught the connection to picking a material (instead of unknown) and the dotted lines going away?

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