Glowforge Interface - Splitting a Large Image for the GFUI - No Lines Method šŸ¤”

So Iā€™m having some issuesā€¦Whenever I select something and CTRL+J it does paste to a new layer but no longer keeps it selected so I canā€™t delete it from the main layerā€¦any ideas? Using photoshop CC.

CTRL click on the icon for the Layer to select everything in that layer.

Then click on the bottom layer without the CTRL key to move to working on that one.

ohhhh. Thank you. While youā€™re here, running into a new problem. Doing a full bed engrave, and Iā€™ve busted this picture up into 13 different parts. And it still canā€™t engrave the biggest (which isnā€™t very big) one. Pulling my hair out on this one.

Might be something else locking it up, or it might still be the sizeā€¦full bed engraves are going to be tough to pull off.

If you reduced the LPI to 195, and taking it in steps doesnā€™t do it, all I can suggest is to reduce the ppi further. That might not work, depending on what you started with.

Ya, this is the most disappointing thing for me on the glowforge. If it wasnā€™t cloud based we wouldnā€™t need to jump through hoops just to do large projects. Any idea when theyā€™ll finally address this?

I know theyā€™re working on it now, but I donā€™t know any more than you do when it will be ready.

Is this something you have commissioned?

Oh no, Iā€™m just a hobbyist. Just a lot of projects I had planned for full bed stuff, you know?

Yeah, Iā€™m just a hobbyist too, which does take some of the pressure off at least. :slightly_smiling_face:

It will get better, and in the meantime, thereā€™s still a bunch of fun things to try. Give reducing the LPI and ppi a shot. Might work. Canā€™t hurt.

Will it destroy the resolution of the image? I will admit itā€™s a complex image to translate to engravingā€¦thinking was if I could pull this one off I could pull anything off on this thing.

Changing the LPI down to 195 wonā€™t do a thing to it - should still engrave perfectly. If you havenā€™t done that yet, thatā€™s the first thing Iā€™d try.

You also want to take it in steps when you get it into the interface - just engrave the largest one first with all others set to ignore, then turn one on at a time. Donā€™t move the material or the placement of the images on the screen in between engraves though, and donā€™t exit out of the file.

oh ok, I wasnā€™t sure what LPI actually didā€¦So if it wonā€™t do anything to it, what does LPI do?

LPI (Lines per Inch) is the number of times per inch the head travels back and forth. At higher LPI values, the beam passes over areas it has already burned, so you donā€™t actually gain anything from a burning standpoint, the hole just gets deeper. (Itā€™s useful for 3D engraving - not as much needed for image rendering. In my opinion.) And it generates a LOT of additional data for the buffer to have to deal with.

I explain why itā€™s a problem for large sized engraves in another tutorial here:

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Well then. You are a font of information. Thank you Jules. Iā€™ve utilized a number of your tutorials for learning how to do things (didnā€™t know how to use photoshop/illustrator AT ALL when I got my GF for example). Thank you very much.

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I love hearing that - we always need more designers in the world! Canā€™t wait to see pics of your project! :grinning:

I read the tutorial you linkedā€¦Will it treat the gradients in PNG the same as like a BMP for depth engraving purposes?

Depends on whether you choose 3D engrave for the bitmap image or dots (dithered).
(You want to use dots for a large image.)

What if I do neither and just do the grayscale by varying levels of power which is essentially the same as the Proofgrade 3D engrave setting?

Also, random aside, what do you use to dry off your pieces after you soap and brush the resin off? I find i get little particulates of towel or whatever on it and am trying to avoid that.

I believe Iā€™d stick with the dithering. (dots). Donā€™t know if it will process a full bed 3D engrave. :wink:

So, I used rectangles to make little square parts of my imageā€¦Had about 20 of them, they were perfectly aligned in illustrator/PS, the image looked as one (they were all separate layers) but when I imported it into GFUI, it has little tiny lines separating them. I thought maybe it was just a UI thing but would print without them, but no success, it printed the little lines. Any idea why it does this but not with the magic wand function?