Hi there. I’m having an issue engraving on anodized aluminum. We get everything setup…perfectly centered…hit print…and the engraving is off by ~1/2" left or right each time. What would cause this and how can we fix it? Thanks in advance!
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Welcome to the forum.
Alignment can be improved in a number of ways. First, have you performed the lid camera calibration? Did you use the set focus tool before placing your artwork? Did you accidentally move the printerhead while the machine was turned on?
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Thanks for the quick response! Yes, I did the lid camera calibration around 3 hours ago and nothing changed. I did use the set focus tool before placing my artwork and I made sure that the Glowforge wasn’t touched by anything. Sometimes when using the set focus tool however, I would get an error that would make me either refresh the Glowforge page or power-cycle the Glowforge.
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How thick is the item you are engraving? When you used the set focus tool did you make sure the beam landed squarely on your material?
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The aluminum I’m engraving is .50 mm thick. The beam from the set focus tool looked to land squarely. I wouldn’t say it was exact but it was very close.
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Is the item positioned so that the spot you’re engraving is directly under the camera, or is the engrave taking place at some point to the left of the crumb tray center?
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The item we’re engraving is about 2 inches from the left side of the crumb tray. Does it have to be directly under the camera to prevent this from happening?
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1/2" variation is outside of the specs stated by Glowforge for their camera alignment. It is also not what most of us experience if the lid camera calibration shows alignment with the targets. I suggest turning the machine off and back on so that it calibrates, then placing your material as close as possible directly under the camera and see if you have a better result.
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That seems to have made it a lot better, though still a little bit off when comparing the SVG design to the actual engraving. Is there anyway I can tweak it to be more exact or will I have to live with it being like this?
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It looks like you are engraving on a simple rectangle. I would say a jig would give you absolutely precise placement. In terms of being centered as you wished, how accurate is it?
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There’s no way the camera can be accurate enough to do what you want, IMO. There’s another thread where I explain why I think this. But it comes down to one word: Geometry.
Throw a box around your artwork, simple outline, the size of your aluminum blank. Tape a sheet of cardboard on the crumb tray, set all the artwork except the box to IGNORE, and cut out just that box. Remove the cut out chunk of cardboard and insert your aluminum blank. Then set the box to IGNORE and all the artwork to Engrave and have at it. Your engrave will be perfectly aligned with the aluminum blank.
I’ve done a lot of anodized aluminum engraves and every one has come out perfect on the first try using this method. Even double-sided.
As far as my experience goes, the camera is really only good for approximate alignment, or for scanning something you don’t need to reproduce with 100% fidelity.
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You have been extremely helpful. I will make a jig to help get that exact placement. Thank you!
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Thank you so much! I will try this method, sounds like it works really well.
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This method works wonderfully!
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You’ll never go back! 
Hi @ceunderwood2003. I’m sorry to hear that you ran into some trouble with the alignment of an engraving attempt. I was reviewing the thread and saw lots of great advice, and progress made to help you with this. Feel free to let us know if the latest suggestions from @randy.cohen were able to help resolve this, or if you’re running into any further trouble. We can gladly continue with any needed troubleshooting and will look forward to any updates. Thanks!
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen any replies on this thread so I’m going to close it. If you still need help with this please either start a new thread or email support@glowforge.com.