Engraving is not center as the app show

Hello everybody !

First time to post and hopefully I will have help as I saw always.
I am new glowforge owner. I am trying to learn.
I did engraving on wood and I center the sentence on the app but when its engraved, it did not center as you can see in the pictures!!
How can I fixed that especially I would like to engrave on a lot of things.
Thanks

Setting your material and then selecting “Set Focus” before you put your design in will help a lot.

5 Likes

The camera is a fisheye and what you see on the screen doesn’t necessarily match what/where it engraves. You can calibrate your machine but i still had issues. The easiest fix for me is to use a piece of cardstock, paper or cardboard, cut the design out then put your i.e. N exactly where the cutout was. It may look ‘off’ on the screen but it will engrave exactly where it appears on your design.
I hope that makes sense. Works perfectly!! If I’m in a huge hurry I place my wood directly under the camera-it’s the most accurate and i can get by unless it needs to be exact…
Welcome to the forum!!

(Also do a search for jigs…that’s what I’m talking about…)

2 Likes

Use the set focus tool before placing your artwork. Make sure that the red beam lands on your material. Keep using the set focus tool until the beam lands squarely on your material, then place your artwork.

2 Likes

Placing your project directly under the camera also helps.

1 Like

I was having this issue as well, on some engravings I wanted on some pieces I had cut. I wanted engraving on BOTH sides. I engraved and cut the front side in the same job, then flipped it over to engrave on the back… but it was way off. The engraving was perfectly placed when it also cut in the same job. For the flip side, I found that if I chose “unknown/uncertified” setting for the wood and manually entered the thickness there, then it engraved just fine. It seemed that if I chose the wood the engraving would be off. (I wasn’t using Proof Grade, nor did I try that).
And using the “Set Focus” each time as well…
Not sure why… but I was able to cut 5 items out and had successful engravings in the back side of each one by doing this.

If you have run the calibration, and used Set Focus the accuracy can be amazing. In addition if you use the precision placement and and write down the numbers so they are the same, it will cut at that location no matter what the image looks like. The only issue then is to hold the place stable in the crumb tray. I have a 2"x4" tile that I can place against the front of the machine and have both a reliable distance and more importantly parallel face to place the material.

I routinely engrave on both sides and thus get very accurate results.

Oh no, I’m sorry you’ve hit a snag.

There are some excellent suggestions from other members on this thread.

Would you let us know if you experience an improvement when using Set Focus?

Set Focus measures the distance between the printer head and the top of the material at a spot you choose. This allows the laser to focus precisely during printing. Also, since objects appear bigger when they’re closer to the camera, knowing the precise distance makes the camera image more accurate.

When you use Set Focus, your print will also start faster because your Glowforge will not autofocus at the start of your print.

Let us know how it goes!

do you know how to calibrate the camera? i tried looking it up but i couldnt get to where
they started the video

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate it. :slight_smile:

I’m checking in to see if you are still having any trouble with your engravings not being centered on your design.

Did you see an improvement in your experience when using Set Focus?

Let me know if you are still having trouble so I can help!

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.