We’re bringing you something magical
As someone who spent years learning to be a (quite frankly, mediocre) woodworker, I was always a little jealous of people who could express themselves easily through wood. I can’t count how many times I’d have an idea that I couldn’t bring into the world because I couldn’t create the art that I needed to make that happen. I had the inspiration, but making it a reality was just out of reach.
I’d spend a lot of time scrolling through stock art websites, feeling a little letdown because I could never find the perfect fit. The art I wanted didn’t exist anywhere but in my head. At least, not yet.
We’ve always said that Glowforge is about enabling anyone to print anything. We use technology to superpower your creativity. And that’s never been truer than it is today.
Today we’re launching our newest, most exciting feature yet: Magic Canvas. (You may already have read about it on TechCrunch, but we have so much more to say.)
With Magic Canvas, we’re taking cutting-edge artificial intelligence research and putting it to work to help you express yourself. We take a world-class supercomputer costing many thousands of dollars in a Google data center and we dedicate it to fulfilling your creative vision for just a few seconds.
At the end of those seconds, you have something amazing and beautiful that has never existed before. And you can keep doing it, again and again. Chase your imagination as far as it will go; there are no limits to Magic Canvas.
Today we’re bringing Magic Canvas to Glowforge Premium, our suite of tools for making you the best creator you can be. It’s all about bringing your vision to life, with thousands of fonts, millions of images, and now Magic Canvas, a creative space as wide as your imagination.
Let me show you how it works.
A little while back, my daughter had the idea of our pet guinea pig playing a double bass, her instrument in the school orchestra. Well, as you might imagine, there aren’t any pictures of a guinea pig playing a double bass (it would have to be a very small instrument, or a very large guinea pig). And as we searched the internet, we realized there weren’t even any illustrations of her vision.
With a little magic, though, she had this:
With our Glowforge, she turned that image into a pair of acrylic earrings. And now the whole school orchestra wants their own set. Not a guinea pig though - puppies playing piccolos, snakes on trombones… their own life experience, customized for them.
I have a friend who’s an avid poker player, so I wanted to see what Magic Canvas could make for them. After a bit of experimenting, I decided to prompt it with the classic “dogs playing poker.” Here’s what I got:
And here’s how that looks engraved on a playing card box I found in the Catalog:
It’s one of the quickest journeys I’ve ever had from idea to finished product.
My favorite thing is exploring an idea with Magic Canvas. The other day it was “cute cartoon robots.” I’d give Magic Canvas the prompt, then get lost in scrolling through all of the funny and surprising results. I had some extra Proofgrade nearby, so I decided, “Why not print some robot coasters?”
It was so fun and easy that this may become a whole series.
And one more thing! I’ve already shared the story of how I customized a pair of jeans in memory of my sabba, the cousin who was like a grandfather to me, and who left me a mechanical pocket watch I’ll always cherish.
I took inspiration from his watch and made this clockwork pocket:
I think I shared this earlier, but with one detail missing. I used Magic Canvas to make this design. With Magic Canvas, I first generated full-color images of jeans with engravings, which gave me the clockwork pocket idea. Then I used the photograph style to create the gears. That meant I went from a vague idea to an actual design, and finally to a pair of jeans that I can hold in my hand and think about everything those intricate, interlocking gears mean to me.
I want everyone to see for themselves what Magic Canvas can do. It’s available today for everyone who has Glowforge Premium. If you don’t already, now’s a great time to try it — we’re offering discounts for monthly and annual subscriptions.
And finally… we’re so excited to share Magic Canvas with you that we’re having a contest. Show us what you’re making, either in the forum or on social media, and you can win a $1000 gift card for Proofgrade materials! You can learn more about the contest here.
I can’t wait to see what you create!
