I did my first project yesterday on the default setting for the proofgrade wood I was using, & it didn’t even cut through the masking on the engraving the 1st time.
So I flipped the project over & reprinted it editing the settings & It was better but I had the same issue.
What could be wrong?
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It could be that the material was warped and not perfectly flat against the honeycomb tray. Even the slightest warp can be enough to defocus the laser and result in a poor engrave. Have you had a chance to cut the honeycomb hold down pins to compensate for materials that aren’t flat. If not, I suggest you give them a try. Here is a link to the file. Honeycomb bed holdown pins
Official support personnel will get back to you and can be more helpful, but while you wait I would suggest printing the Gift of Good Measure on proofgrade material using proofgrade settings. If it doesn’t turn out perfectly, post pictures of the result (front and back if it doesn’t cut completely through) along with the date and time of the print. Support can then look at your machine logs and be able to offer assistance.
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I did just get that proofgrade wood straight out of the box. I had it unpacked for like 12 hours. It looked perfect to me.
I’ll print those pins too. Thank you for the advice!
I’ll print that gift of good measure on that same piece of proofgrade wood.
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Is your artwork completely black or different shades of gray?
Shades of gray = less power if your using the vary power in your engrave settings. Delicate lines and light shades have a hard time punching through the masking. You can remove the masking before engraving, with the finish on PG soot/smoke stains will be easy to wipe off.
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There is shades of grey in it. I sharpened it up & darkened it with Inkscape before, I printed it the 2nd time.
That could be it. I also am not 100% sure I made sure it fit inside the crumb tray perfectly. So you both might be right.
Thank you!
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That is a really good sign. It means your Glowforge works well and something else has caused your project to be less than perfect.
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I’ll try removing the masking…
And do it on another piece of proofgrade. 
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I’m doing the tutorial cuts now.
We just had a power blip & messed up one, I’d there a way to pick up where it left off or is the print ruined?
Can I put the Glowforge on a uninterrupted surge protector?
Glowforge instructions say not to use a surge protector. You can rerun a job if you haven’t moved anything, but it won’t restart where it stopped. It will start from the beginning. Until you are more familiar with the interface, camera and alignment I suggest redoing the job.
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How about when I make a design in the GF designer can I delete a layer like someone’s name on one I have saved & replace it with another name?
Yes that works very well. If you want to keep a name rather than delete it, just drag that one off the Glowforge bed and replace with the next name
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How do you delete a layer, like if you mess up & put too many?
Select any item you don’t want and press the delete key.
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I’ll try that thanks!
I have one more issue. When I was doing the tutorials yesterday I ended up doing the tags like 6 times & it still says I haven’t done it. It wont let me make the box, & for my biggest idea for selling I might need to know how to scan an image in the machine to engrave it,
I cant get past the tags, it shows I made the gift of good measure just fine, & when I click in the box it brings up the 1st screen & wont load anymore of that tutorial.
I don’t know about the tutorials because they came way after I started using the Glowforge. Here is a good place to start concerning the the Snap N Store Box and using the scan function.
Just go to your dashboard and click on the Snap N Store box.
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That’s what I’m calling a tutorial. 
I’ll try it from here & see if it’ll open the box & let me make it.
@a-w-nichols
I’m so sorry to hear your Glowforge is having an issue with engraving.
I see that the community has provided some good advice on the next best steps. I’ll keep this thread open a little longer, and see if any of those steps helped. Let us know how it goes!
Something that may help with changing settings would be or trying different proofgrade settings like SD graphic and draft graphic settings to see how they turn out. https://support.glowforge.com/hc/en-us/articles/360033633574-Working-With-Manual-Mode
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This advice helped a lot. I sharpened the image & reprinted it on proofgrade draftboard. Made it smaller & made a keychain out of it.
Hi @a-w-nichols. Thank you for getting back to us, and I’m so happy to see that advice from fellow Glowforge owners was able to help you get that first project printed. I am going to move this thread into the Everything Else part of the Community to allow for any further suggestions or tips from other users. Feel free to create a new thread if you run into any technical issues as you print, and we’ll be happy to help. Happy printing!
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